THE chairman of Aurora Petroleum has been nominated as vice-president of the The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).

Ken McHattie is the sole nominee of the ICAS Council ahead of the April vote.

If elected he is likely to then serve as deputy president the following year and be in line to become president of the organisation in April 2016.

Mr McHattie studied law and accountancy at Aberdeen University before joining Thomson McLintock. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1981 then as a solicitor in 1985. He worked with venture capital giant 3i before going on to become a partner in law firm Ledingham Chalmers.

In the oil industry he was part of start-up Tuscan Energy, was chief financial officer at the investment fund Energy Development Partners and has been the chairman of Aurora since 2010.