'Fundamental flaws' led to box-office collapse

Fringe officials were warned months in advance about potential chaos, yet they still ploughed ahead with their plans.

The system then failed on the day tickets went on sale, and no advance tickets were printed before the festival started, leaving promoters out of pocket.

Festival director Jon Morgan quit over the crisis, and the Fringe Society had to take an emergency £250,000 loan to keep operating.

The 48-page report by management consultants Scott-Moncrief found a ‘lack of strategic direction and transparency in decision-making’ in the society, and revealed:

• No proper minutes were taken of the society’s most important meetings, while everyday business was conducted on an ‘ad hoc’ basis.
• The choice of the doomed Pivotal system was based on a ‘subjective assessment’ that a custom-made system was need at a cost of £350,000, rather than an off-the-peg package, which would have cost £200,000.
• An ‘implementation group’, responsible for introducing the system was never even convened.
• Insufficient planning, a lack of risk management and a breakdown in internal and external communications.

• Potential conflicts of interests among the 15 directors, which includes Fringe promoters, which ‘give rise to concerns over the decision-making process’. However, no evidence was found of untoward behaviour, and the Fringe says board members are chosen because of their knowledge of the festival – so inevitably that includes venue boses.

Edinburgh city council had to bring in its own IT experts to avoid the box office going into meltdown, and the Fringe hurriedly adopted the Via system already in use by the ‘big four’ venues to ensure tickets got sold.

The Fringe Society is already undergoing a huge shake-up in the wake of the fiasco. Tim Hawkins, the Fringe's acting general manager, said: ‘Many of the recommendations are already being acted upon.’

Box office problems, combined with poor weather and the Beijing Olympics, were widely blamed for ticket sales falling almost ten per cent last year.

Published: 4 Feb 2009