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Dateline: 6th February, 2009

Edfringe Box Office Problems Report

The independent review by Scott-Moncrieff into the failure of the new Edinburgh Fringe box office computer system, which failed spectacularly in 2008, has been published. The authors are extremely critical of the Fringe Society and make numerous recommendations sbout the lessons to be learned.

The findings are:

• the Society’s general governance arrangements are weak. In particular, there is a lack of strategic direction and transparency in decision making;
• the Directors need to strengthen their procedures to reflect their ultimate responsibility and accountability for the Society’s affairs;
• the procurement process was fundamentally flawed as the decisive criteria for selecting a preferred supplier were skewed in favour of a bespoke solution despite recognition of the risks involved in such an approach and the identified risk of business failure of both relevant suppliers;
• the project suffered from poor project and change management particularly during the critical implementation phase;
• there was inadequate risk management during the project and no effective contingency planning;
• implementation suffered from inadequate project control, insufficient resources, over reliance on key individuals and insufficient independent scrutiny at key milestones;
• insufficient attention was paid to other changes required within the Box Office operations;
• communication deteriorated as pressures built during the project creating increased pressures on stressed staff and additional distrust among stakeholders as the system failed;
• improvement only occurred when crisis management was delivered by Directors and external staff.

The actual report runs to 40 pages and can be downloaded as a PDF file from the Fringe website.

A statement from the Fringe Board of Directors said, "We welcome the work of the Steering Committee in commissioning the report. Many of the recommendations mirror changes that are already well underway for this year's festival. With the help of the City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Executive, the Board has set a confident direction for the Fringe in 2009 and going forward.

"These steps are part of a radical process of change in the Fringe - specifically in relation to the staffing structure, the business model and the negotiation of a new Box Office system. These changes will ensure that the incoming chief executive inherits an organisation that can reinforce the Fringe's position as the biggest and best arts festival in the world with a box office system to match.

"The Board has recognised the box office difficulties of the past year and learned from the experience. The recommendations contained within this report combined with the ongoing process of change will allow the Fringe to greatly enhance the services the festival provides to public and performers alike."

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©Peter Lathan 2009