Edinburgh Fringe and the £900,000 Mistake
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/aug/23/edinburgh-fringe-festival-box-office
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"The full seriousness of the failure of a new box-office system at last year's Edinburgh fringe festival has been revealed with the publication of new accounts.
At the Festival Fringe Society's AGM in Edinburgh yesterday, the board said the failure contributed to losses of £882,407, leaving the organisation in danger of collapse.
The society had appointed the IT company Pivotal Integration to create a new ticketing system. However, its "liquid box office" was suspended the day after it went live, tickets were sent out late and popular shows were overbooked. The system was replaced by one created by ticketing company Red61, extra staff were hired, and by mid-August Pivotal had gone into administration.
Accounts for the year ending 30 November 2008 reveal that income was £2,163,771, while a total of £3,046,178 was spent.
"There's no question we came very close to the edge of the abyss," said Tommy Sheppard, a board member and director of the Stand Comedy Club. "There were times around the turn of the year when we were looking at the cash flow on a week-by-week basis to make sure we had enough money to pay people."
He said a £125,000 loan from Edinburgh council – now repaid – an advance from the Scottish government and funds from the Scottish Arts Council proved to be lifelines, and that the society was now "very much on the mend".
According to the accounts: "The Trustees expect that it will take at least three years to establish an adequate level of reserves." The society has net current liabilities of £671,833 against net assets of £48,442.
Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Festival Fringe Society, said it was now "robust". However, she acknowledged that 2008 was a "difficult year that highlighted what a fragile and vulnerable enterprise the arts can be"."
At the Festival Fringe Society's AGM in Edinburgh yesterday, the board said the failure contributed to losses of £882,407, leaving the organisation in danger of collapse.
The society had appointed the IT company Pivotal Integration to create a new ticketing system. However, its "liquid box office" was suspended the day after it went live, tickets were sent out late and popular shows were overbooked. The system was replaced by one created by ticketing company Red61, extra staff were hired, and by mid-August Pivotal had gone into administration.
Accounts for the year ending 30 November 2008 reveal that income was £2,163,771, while a total of £3,046,178 was spent.
"There's no question we came very close to the edge of the abyss," said Tommy Sheppard, a board member and director of the Stand Comedy Club. "There were times around the turn of the year when we were looking at the cash flow on a week-by-week basis to make sure we had enough money to pay people."
He said a £125,000 loan from Edinburgh council – now repaid – an advance from the Scottish government and funds from the Scottish Arts Council proved to be lifelines, and that the society was now "very much on the mend".
According to the accounts: "The Trustees expect that it will take at least three years to establish an adequate level of reserves." The society has net current liabilities of £671,833 against net assets of £48,442.
Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Festival Fringe Society, said it was now "robust". However, she acknowledged that 2008 was a "difficult year that highlighted what a fragile and vulnerable enterprise the arts can be"."
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nazbags
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This is really pathetic. I was at last year's Fringe and it was one of the coolest experiences, planning on being back for 2010. Would be a shame to lose one of the greatest festivals in the world because of poorly managed money.
- 2 years ago
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nazbags
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matlaroche
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typical scottish balls up, look how they run their banks (RBS) and their criminal justice system....Lockerbie anyone anyone?
- 2 years ago
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matlaroche
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