Fringe failures exposed

Weak governance, a “fundamentally flawed” procurement policy and poor management of change and risk were cited as major failures in the implementation of a new box office system, in an independent report commissioned by Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe Society. The report, by Scott-Moncrieff Chartered Accountants, says that these factors “have resulted in a financial and reputational loss” for the Society. The new system, created by Pivotal Ltd, was commissioned in 2006 when it was recognised that the previous system had reached its capacity. There was also an intention to allow venues to share ticketing and retain audience data. Concerns that the new system would not be ready in time for the 2008 Fringe Festival were voiced as early as June 2007. The report criticises the risk assessment procedure and notes that the preferred supplier had never developed a ticketing system before. There was also a failure to follow through with consistent methodology and documentation. Following its immediate failure on going live on 9 June 2008, the Pivotal system was not made fully operational until 11 July. Among numerous failures identified by the report, governance of the Society was described as “weak”, with “a lack of strategic direction and transparency in decision making”. The Society’s Board of Directors issued a statement welcoming the report, and announcing “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”.