The Stage

Edinburgh fringe’s £250,000 bail out eases box office system woes

Published Tuesday 16 December 2008 at 15:40 by Thom Dibdin

Full coverage of the Edinburgh Festivals

Edinburgh Festival Fringe is to receive a £250,000 bail out to ease cash flow difficulties, allowing the organisation to adopt the same box office system as the main fringe venues in time for next year’s event.

The cash, which is part loan, part one-off grant, will also help pay for the appointment of the new post of chief executive, replacing the post of fringe director.

The announcement follows the catastrophic failure of the newly-installed Liquid Box Office system at this year’s fringe. The suppliers of the system went into administration, EFF director Jon Morgan was forced to resign and, as reported in last week’s Stage, producers are threatening to boycott next year’s event because of subsequent late payments.

A fringe spokesman told The Stage: “At this point of the year, when we need to invest in a new box office system. There is not an income coming into the festival to provide for that, so this is a short-term cash flow solution.”

He confirmed that Red61 is on the verge of being chosen to supply the fringe’s box office requirements. The company’s VIA ticketing system is widely used by the fringe’s main venues and it was the company which stepped in with equipment and software to ensure the 2008 event went ahead, after the failure of the other technology.

“The fringe organisation was not in a position to sign off on a box office system without having the funding in hand to pay for it. This money will allow that to happen,” the fringe spokesman added.

The finance will also help facilitate the appointment of Morgan’s replacement, the formal process of which will begin in January. The post will be advertised on January 12 and interviews for that post will take place on February 14. In the meantime general manager Tim Hawkins will oversee the day to day running of the festival. The decision to appoint a chief executive - as opposed to a director - indicates a recognition that the post is more administrative than artistic.

The Organisational and Board Review of the festival, announced at the Fringe Society’s annual general meeting, has only reached its draft stage. A final version will be made public in early January.

The decision to go with Red61 should stop a repeat of the failure to report ticket sales information to venues and producers, which led to last week’s boycott threat.

The spokesman confirmed to The Stage that no compensation had been handed out following the difficulties. He said: “No companies or venues have filed for compensation to the fringe. Every venue has been paid, and paid in full, and every company has been paid, and paid in full.”

The festival’s bailout comes in the form of a £125,0000 interest free loan, which the City of Edinburgh Council is due to agree this Friday, as well as a one-off £65,000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council and an advance on future funding of £60,000 from the Scottish Government.