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Russ McLean

Argyll Group Ltd, formerly Argyll Group plc

LinkedIn From March 1982 to March 2025

The undernoted is an excerpt from the LinkedIn website (source: here). Some of our shareholders from the Unique Property plc and Argyll Group plc (public limited company) days have advised they do not subscribe to LinkedIn and therefore they cannot access that website or the relevant page for their due-diligence. For the sake of good form and full transparency, here is a screenshot that the subscribers to LinkedIn can see. It is placed here so that our non-LinkedIn shareholders can see the content.

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LinkedIn Entry Completed At This Line.

Original Source: Click Here.

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This additional narrative is included as part of the new FULL DISCLOSURE protocol that affects directors of public limited companies (plc’s) and related organisational structures form our related UPC divisions and the 2023-2025 law (here) as amended. Rather than be behind the process, the undernoted is included to make sure that an accidental omission or infraction of statutory instruments is diligently prevented.

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Russ McLean

Deeper Due Diligence Information

For friends and colleagues who require a more comprehensive background set of details; for example, dating back to the UK Home Office gold-standard of being positively vetted (here) for employment as a police officer the undernoted i s provided.

Indeed, some 40 years later, Russ McLean still requires positive vetting for when the Friends of TS Queen Mary charity patron, HRH Princess Anne visits. Though as he has retired from that charity trusteeship and friend, Iain Sim now operates the FOTSQM charity, so those positive vetting occasions are fewer.

^^ Princess Anne Aboard TS Queen Mary ^^

Photo Attribution Thanks To Martin Shields

The employment of Russ McLean with Strathclyde Police was curtailed prematurely by spinal injury whilst on duty.

Subsequent repeat spinal injuries in remote call-outs where there is no extra emergency personnel meant degradation of spinal structure, eventually requiring spinal surgery. This extinguished a physical ability to return to that vocation as a police officer. The events were upsetting as a career path was already being established following successful completion of 2 year probation, then various courses such as Advanced Police Driver training and passes. Then stints with Traffic and CID for next career phase. As years progressed, added responsibilities as sector station officer directing full shifts from large hub stations within a division of the second largest police force in the UK at that time meant when a career change was unavoidable, it hurt. But then again, that path ended up with the old adage of having been able to enjoy: “the rich tapestry of life.”

^^ Constable Russ McLean & Sheena ^^

Ironically, it was career progression to take responsibility for an injured police officer who himself had suffered spinal injury, that resulted in a second and tertiary spinal damage. The triumvirate of which eventually ended Russ McLean’s service only part way through what would have been a 20 to 25 year career.

Bona Fides can be provided that there were no demerits nor adverse reports for Constable McLean’s police service.

There were however merits and commendations, from Chief Constable Sir Patrick Hamill and following Sir Patrick, then from Chief Constable Sir Andrew Sloan. These were especially appreciated (example: here) as the Chief was held in very high regard amongst the rank and file of Strathclyde Police (here).

At one such meeting, Sir Andrew was standing with one of shortest police officer’s in his 8,000 constabulary (P.C. McLean). Chief Constable Sloan was famously rejected by the police (on first application) many years earlier, for being under height requirement. So he initially joined the Royal Navy. 

At one ceremony, upon looking at his constable on inspection parade, Sir Andrew remarked: “A bit on the short side, officer?” The rejoinder from the recipient was a simple three words: “With respect Sir!” as Constable McLean riskily returned the observation after the protocol of answering once spoken to was observed!

The similarly short Chief Constable burst into laughter. Unfortunately, a furious divisional commander was glowering at the young police officer. Made all the worse as Sir Andrew headed directly towards the constable and sergeant’s canteen and spent a full hour chatting with his rank and file police officers. It was that, and his wish to listen to front line police that made this particular chief constable much respected and appreciated.

^^ Chief Constable Sir Andrew Sloan ^^

At A Strathclyde Police Event

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Returning to our own managing director of Unique Property Bulletin Ltd., and the division within the company: Unique Property Club, the injuries sustained during service in Strathclyde Police led to a premature ending of what was already an established and promising career path. The change in direction is a penultimate irony as those disabling events have led directly to your door and in many cases vice versa ~when Unique Property Club members visit and stay at the actual lighthouse, or castle, or island buildings of which they own shares.

The misfortune in the late 1980s has meant you are now reading these words, and hopefully at some point you will be able to realise your wishes too.

As the cover of our Unique Property Manual were carefully chosen…

^^ Unique Property Manual: 2012 Edition ^^

This book is currently sold out. It will be listed below, when the new edition is available…

Little did we realise that 12 years later, the random lighthouse station chosen for our front cover would have been bought by our Unique Property Club (here) as the 34th adventure…

^^ Tod Head Lighthouse Station ^^

Unique Property Club Project #34

The well proven Unique Property Club principle of splitting a large lighthouse stations into the 4 constituent dwellings and making these for sale at a much more affordable set of homes has been shown to work, time and time again.

This is the FIFTH lighthouse station Unique Property Club has bought to renovate and split into affordable homes.

It isn’t just unusual property we seek to bring back to life. There is the “Rescuing The High Streets” and “Saving The Last Village Shop” endeavours (click here).

Plus, every now and then, what might have been rescued as an exotic, unique houseboat (to save an iconic ship from being scrapped), turns into a serious and smile-inducing registered charity. With the purpose of restoring the ship and making it seaworthy again, so that it can discharge its original and proper function…

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Friends of TS Queen Mary Charity Adventure

^^ Aidan O’Donnell + Russ McLean + Iain Sim ^^

Trustees of The TS Queen Mary Charity

^^ Prepared & Registered at OSCR in Dundee By Russ McLean ^^

In 2015 the TS Queen Mary was provided with the appropriate Load Line Exemption Certification etc., and towed from Tilbury Docks near to London to the Dales Drydock at Greenock near to Glasgow…

^^ TS Queen Mary Coming Home ^^

Then seeing the ship from one of the best locations in the maritime world, it soon became clear that in 1933, the shipbuilders constructed these vessels to las, such was the good condition of the hull.

^^ TS Queen Mary At Drydock In Scotland ^^

Here is a comparison of the “before” and “after” condition as work progressed to return the ship to static quayside museum and educational duties…

^^ TS Queen Mary “Before” and “After” First Phase of Restoration ^^

For further detail of the TS Queen Mary adventure, please…

Click Here

Technical Specification As Best As Is Possible On The Quixotic Wikipedia: Click Here

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^^ Chief Engineer Donnie Woodrow + Harbour Master Russ McLean + RNLI Coxswain Jim McPhee ^^

Previous career included driving ships such as MV Lochmor along with the benefit of remarkably decent and kind friends. In this instance, Chief Engineer Donnie Woodrow to the left and RNLI Coxswain Jim McPhee to the right. Happy days indeed.

 

^^ MV Lochmor At Annual Drydock Survey ^^

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Going further back in the career path and 1984 saw duty on the Island of Islay…

^^ Russ McLean and Sheena McGillivray on The Island of Islay ^^

Start Your Unique Property Sleuthing Practice.

What do you reckon?

Is this the spot where Russ & Sheena were standing?

Click Here

& Compare The Photos/Buildings.

From this end of the keyboard it is a hugely dissonant thing to compare the modern day (via interactive computer) to an event that took place exactly 40 years ago!

The Google Streetview interactive system is a genuinely excellent facility to help you find the unique home that you have been searching for. It can also give you an insight into the neighbourhood where you may be living as you can have a remote “virtual” wander around the area. Though please bear in mind that some of the information on these Google Streetview facilities may be a year or two old. It is mind boggling how Google managed the digitally map vast swathes of the planet in the first place. Credit is due to Google in buckets as the company manage to update these interactive maps on a regular basis. Thank you Google.

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Police Service

The recent FULL DISCLOSURE legislation (example: here) surrounding parts of the employment covered in this LinkedIn profile now require an enhanced  duty of candour (from 31st January 2025).

Consequently, there is additional information that is not entirely comfortable to include. However, our legal team said it is important to cover all matters in order, penultimately, to be able to continue one of the core vocations as it transitions from PRIVATE-EQUITY to the PUBLIC DOMAIN…

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This is particularly relevant as there is activity to assist the appropriate parliamentary committees fine-tune new legislation. Particularly, the addition of more protection for shareholders of both private and public limited companies.

For example here are some of our principle internal rules by which each of our current, nine project companies must abide. There may be some benefit to the government in volunteer organisations creating hundreds of jobs, at no cost to the taxpayer and in a way where the shareholders have an enhanced amount of meaningful protection…

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Leaving the assistance at parliamentary committee and consultation stage of nascent legislation aside, this segment is primarily expanding on police service.

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This Commendation Example Is Include As

There Can Be Questions Raised

When A Police Career Ends Earlier Than Normal

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Full Disclosure Protocol

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Police Service In Detail

=> Basic Training: Tulliallan Police College: Pass.

=> Advanced Training: Tulliallan Police College: Pass.

=> Two Year Probation Period: Pass.

=> Confirmed In The Rank of Police Constable.

=> Advanced Police Driving Course: Pass.

=> Station Officer Shift Command Duties: Commenced.

=> Deployment Relief: CID. Career Choice Assessment.

=> Deployment Relief: Traffic Department: C.C.A.

=> Rural Duty Station: Lochgilphead: Officer Relief.

=> Rural Duty Station: Island of Islay: Officer Relief.

=> Station Officer Shift Command Duties: Islay.

=> Divisional HQ Training Officer Duties.

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Police Medical

Tulliallan Police College: Offical Course Photograph 

This is one of the most controversial elements of FULL DISCLOSURE law. 

However, given that the subject person on this page has nothing to conceal and especially as he is passionate that we continue to create jobs, plus at least one more registered charity (Community Owned Power Generation Stations ~ Google: COP-GS), then the release of medical records to comply with FULL DISCLOSURE is complied with happily.

 

Having to retire from the police due to injuries sustained whilst on duty was an unhappy event. But the resultant life has proven to be useful in spite of the following matters:-

Spinal Injury 1].

Lifting a waterlogged casualty out of Campbeltown Harbour at 2am when there were no other police officers, nor members of the public to assist. That triggered the first injury of the spine. Fortunately the casualty survived.

Spinal Injury 2].

Lifting a severely injured, stretcher bound (heavy) farmer onto a hovering helicopter. The pilot could not land the aircraft due to waterlogged and unstable ground and had t hover 12 to 18 inches above the mud. The ambulance paramedic plus helicopter doctor lifted one end of the stretcher above shoulder height whilst constable McLean lifted the other end of the stretcher (solo) at his end.  That triggered the second injury injury of the spine. Fortunately the casualty survived.

Spinal Injury 3].

A casualty was discovered at 1am wedged in a difficult position at a public locality. This casualty had been drinking and was choking. He soon became unconscious and cyanotic due to lack of oxygen. Medical and other backup was at least ten minutes away, so Constable McLean required to extract the patient from harm’s way and clear his airway. The casualty was approximately 19 stones. This manoeuvre triggered the third  injury of the spine. Fortunately the casualty survived.

For full disclosure (and possibly educational purposes) here is just one portion of the nascent full disclosure medical records relating to the ending of Constable Russ McLean’s police career…

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MRI Scan of A Normal Spinal Disc

^^ A Relatively Normal pinal Disc Cross Section

 

MRI Scan of A Normal Spinal Disc

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t this point, the medical records and FULL DISCLOSURE issue in terms of nw legislation  (here) becomes somewhat gory.

It is not do much that there is an objection to GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018 (here) and GDPR.

The directorships that are held by Russ McLean have been very fortunate in bringing many closed-down shops, offices, hotels and especially listed buildings such as lighthouses back to life that he is a keen advocate of FULL DISCLOSURE.

At the time you may be reading this, we are still disucssing the best way to prsent details such as medical history in a way that OTHERS can so do too.

This part has to be thought though to a point where many people ding similar voluntary job-creation efforts are equally comfortable in disclosing matters such as their medical records.

To this end, please check back to this page soon.

Kindest wishes, Sylvia Platt, biographical content editor and volunteer at Unique Propert Club/Unique Property Bulletin Ltd., per Russ McLean.

 

 

So please keep

 

 

 

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whan we see how HRH Princess Anne 

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Buildings & Jobs

There are now 203 new jobs and 78 building renovations since the police career was ended by partial disability and the land-based nautical vocation (harbour master) expired due to inability to ingather relatively light (but water-logged)  ship heaving lines.

With a huge irony, becoming disabled and as one person put it at a particularly brutal interview on the east coast for a (non-physical) job as Harbour Master, he ignored the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (here) (now the Equality Act 2010) and said: “you are virtually unemployable and of no use to us Mr McLean”

The irony being that an “unemployable” disabled person was, through dint of fate and several very good friends, able enough to circumnavigate the particular set of challenges and go on to create 203 jobs across a 35 year period.

The LinkedIn page is necessarily a set of short précis. So a triumvirate of examples have been included in the second part of this page to provide real-world examples and links to the websites/further information, . Hopefully this is of help.

With respect to buildings. The project management of these as undertaken by Russ McLean ranges from historic Grade “A Listed buildings such as Noss Head Lighthouse Station…

^^ One of Six Buildings Restored ^^

^^ At Noss Head lighthouse Station ^^

Further details will appear in the nascent social media account known as the “Lighthouse Bulletin”. The purpose of which is to either bring lighthouse buildings back from ruination, or to prevent the risk of them becoming derelict.

Historically, since 1986, there have been:-

=> Davaar Island Lighthouse Station

=> Ailsa Craig Lighthouse Station

=> Strathy Point Lighthouse Station

=> Tod Head Lighthouse Station

=> Toward Lighthouse Station (R/O purposes mainly).

However, as of 23rd May 2024, upon a major review, and especially given the atonement we need to make in respect of Ailsa Craig Lighthouse Station* we are changing the format of how we:-

=> (i) Renovate lighthouse buildings.

=> (ii) Make each lighthouse home affordable to buy and to heat.

=> (iii) Ensure the safe and secure future of each lighthouse station.

This will change from our current propensity to

(iv) Purchase a commercial lighthouse station via a group of friends (all chipping in and banning bank mortgages).

We will now be including two new formats:-

(v) Purchasing dilapidated lighthouse stations such as Ailsa Craig and Neist Point via the Land Reform Act 2018 “Right To Buy.” (click here and archived: here).

(vi) A hybrid of “iv” and “v” above. Registering either a formal charity or a not-for-profit entity and bypassing what is, with all due respect, a challenging process in terms of the mechanics of the “Right To Buy” legislation.

The Land reform Acts 2003 and 2018 are truly excellent pieces of legislation. We also commend Mercedes Villalba MSP’s proposed…

Proposed Land Ownership and Public Interest (Scotland) Bill

Click Here

However, when the winds are Gale Force 11 (Beaufort Scale: Here) and the lighthouse roof has just partially blown off in a storm, sometimes there is a need to move faster than normal. Hence the option at “vi” being the registered charity or note-for-profit hybrid.

Whichever one of the three options deployed at (iv) and (v) and (vi) above, the lighthouse station will go from this….

^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station Before Renovation ^^

Transformed, with the much appreciated assistance of Northern Lighthouse Board assisting us in opening a proper (old school) trade account to access their bespoke and remarkable lighthouse paint (here ), we were very fortunate to achieve this…

^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station After Renovation ^^

Around the corner, the preparation work is more clear. According to the Northern Lighthouse Board team, the preparation is (in their terms), 80% of the work and importance in ensuring the best possible finished surface that will enable the lighthouse protective coat to last the longest…

^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station During Renovation ^^

This certainly appears to be true. Indeed, these walls were painted in 2018 and now, 6 years (plus several storms) later, in 2024, 6 years later, they have stood the test of time…

^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station After Renovation ^^

It is, of course, very important to ensure the integrity of the roof. Especially at a place and environment where the sun can cause heatstroke temperatures in the summer and the opposite rage of the spectrum can see horrendous storms and ice attack and attach (respectively) to the roof structure in the winters.

Fortunately, after specialist flat roof engineers inspected the main accommodation block roof at Noss Head, the “sponson” type material (used by the RNLI on their inshore lifeboats) and as applied to the roof at Noss Head had stood the test of time. This is it in 2018 at 17 years of age (the roof not Steve Williams)…

^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station During Renovation ^^

It Is Vital To Maintain The Roofs Twice A Year

^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station After Renovation ^^

The Paint Is As Prescribed By The Northern Lighthouse Board

The Roof Material Is As Prescribed By The Manufacturer

(30 Year Lifespan)

^^ Noss Head Lighthouse Station After Renovation ^^

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Lighthouse Buildings & Their Preservation

In terms of the protocols at (i) to (vi) as indicated above, in order to for the renovate lighthouse buildings to become viable and therefore produce sufficient budget funds to maintain the structures each year, a lot of thought and (35 years of) practical experience has been brought to the matter.

=> Crucially, each (former lighthouse keeper’s house) house should, wherever possible, be title-split and separately owned.

This might seem counter-intuitive. However, new legislation ensures communal areas are maintained to a high standard.

The reasons for separate ownership is vital to ensure the future s of these iconic buildings.

We have found that to be far and away the best structure. One relatively normal person/family can usually cope with one Grade A listed building. Both on a physical maintenance and importantly on a financial viability basis.

Whereas one person (even with the best of intentions), will frequently struggle to the point of collapse if they take on a full lighthouse station of many buildings to renovate.

The majority of traditional lighthouse stations around the UK, typically have 5 to 8 separate “Grade A” or “Grade B” Listed buildings.

Scotland “Grades” of listed buildings whereas other nations within the UK have “Classes” of listed buildings. Scotland (click here); England (click here), Wales (here) an Northern Ireland (here).

Listed buildings in Northern Ireland – Wikipedia

Additional material relating to and expanding/clarifying the LinkedIn summaries shall appear here soon.

For example: The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2018 introduced a further compulsory right, the Right to Buy Land to Further Sustainable Development (Part 5).

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To Access The Live LinkedIn Website, Please:

Click Here

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