The mystery donor who paid for the body of Alex Salmond to be flown back to Scotland has been revealed as philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter.

       The 69-year-old was attending a conference in the city of Ohrid, North Macedonia, at the weekend when he fell ill and died of a heart attack.

       Sir Tom said the former Scottish first minister deserved a dignified return to the country of his birth.

       The chartered flight on Friday is expected to land in Aberdeen at about 1.45pm.

       In a statement confirming he was paying for the repatriation, he said: “While he and I disagreed on some of his ambitions, Alex Salmond devoted his life to Scotland and the Scottish people and as such he, and importantly his family, deserved the dignity and privacy of a private return to the home of his birth. Our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with his family at this time.”

       Sir Tom, from New Cumnock in East Ayrshire, started in business selling trainers from the back of a van and later founded Sports Division, which became Europe’s largest independent sports retailer until it was sold in 1998.

       He continues to invest in companies, as well as running his charity, the Hunter Foundation, and is reputed to be worth more than ￡700 million.

       In 2014, he described Salmond’s claims that an independent Scotland would retain the pound in a currency union with the rest of the UK as “disingenuous”.

       However, he was among those who paid tribute when news broke of the death on Saturday, sharing a memory on X, formerly Twitter, of sitting beside him at the Scottish Business Awards.

       “RIP @？AlexSalmond,” he wrote. “I remember sitting at the Scottish biz awards with him, he was doing 5:2 diet. The awards dragged on past midnight, he looked at his watch said to the waitress it’s a new day, I can have a pudding now. All the best to his family.”

       The former first minister’s family, along with Kenny MacAskill, the acting leader of the Alba Party which was set up by Salmond in 2021, will be at Aberdeen to receive the coffin.

       It will then be taken by hearse to the family home in the village of Strichen, 20 miles south-west of Aberdeen.

       Mr MacAskill said: “The family are incredibly grateful for the support which is being provided by a private citizen to charter a private plane to allow Alex’s body to come home to Scotland.

       “It brings a great deal of comfort to Moira and other members of the family to know that he will soon be home with them.

       “The family have asked that their privacy be respected at this time and will be making an announcement in due course about the funeral arrangements and a memorial service to honour the life of Alex Salmond.”

       Mr MacAskill also expressed the Salmond family’s appreciation to the North Macedonian government for “expediting” the process of releasing the and the Scottish and UK governments for their work in securing his repatriation.

       A statement from Alba said: “The private plane which has been chartered to bring Alex Salmond home will leave Ohrid St Paul the Apostle Airport (OHD) at an estimated time of departure of 11:00 hrs (North Macedonia) landing in Aberdeen Airport (ABZ) at an expected time of arrival of 13:45 hrs.”