Review of Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society after venue bosses said it has 'lost sight of purpose'

Chief executive Tony Lankester the society’s AGM meeting on Tuesday board members are currently undertaking the review in the wake of the criticism.

Mr Lankester said: “Any organisation will change and shift over time, as the world around us changes, as pressures shift from one part of the environment to another. It's a natural evolution, it's a natural way of dealing with the world.

“And the Fringe Society is no different. More so because in our sector, the pressure does never quite go away. It genuinely does shift.

“What's difficult today might get relieved or solved today or tomorrow, but something will emerge elsewhere that needs attention and focus.

“So at the moment, the board and management together are undertaking a strategic review to define the things that we're going to focus on for the next three years.”

Venue bosses previously warned that the Society and its role needed urgent reform over fears it had become “bloated” in terms of administration, money and size of its operation.

William Burdett-Coutts, founder of Assembly, called for a review, saying: “As one of the longest serving members of the Fringe, I do think the Fringe Society’s lost sight of its purpose. Given we’re approaching our 80th year, I think we need a strategy or a review of what the Fringe Society’s role is and a rethink of what the purpose is.

“It doesn’t do that much for us. We go, ‘where is all the money going? and why do they need all of these roles?’”

He added: “Their role should be trying to ensure the Fringe remains sustainable. The reality is the finances of the Fringe are increasingly precarious at the moment. The Fringe Society needs to focus on how to keep the Fringe alive and its role in trying to achieve that.”

Mr Burdett-Coutts’ sentiments were shared by Underbelly director Ed Bartlam, who also pointed to the reduction in the Keep It Fringe bursary funding from £450,000 to just £30,000 this year and an increase in ticket commission cost retained by the Society through sales at its office box office as examples of this.

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Mr Lankester explained that while “some priorities might ebb and flow as we respond to the environment”, the core purpose of the Fringe Society in supporting artists, keeping the Fringe brand alive, advocating for funding support, and proving the value of the Fringe to the city year-round will not change, but the approach may.

He said: “The Fringe Society exists, as we so often say, to give anyone a stage and everyone a seat. That's not changing.

“What that looks like might change. How we deliver on that promise might change as we deal with things that crop up along the way. But those are tactics, not strategy.”

Mr Lankester added: “We're not lacking in focus. That is what we exist to deliver, and that's what we will single-handedly deliver going forward.”