Edinburgh’s Christmas has been saved, after another company stepped in to run the city’s festive attractions, when the original firm pulled out.
Unique Events and Assembly Festival’s joint company Unique Assembly has been awarded a one-year contract to run the Scottish capital’s Christmas celebrations, after councillors agreed to the move in a closed-doors vote.
The last-minute deal comes after Christmas could have been cancelled in the city.
Angels Event Experience was set to pay the City of Edinburgh Council £5.5m for the right to stage events over the next five years, but pulled out late last month.
Council leader Cammy Day said he was “delighted that we’ve been able to find a solution so quickly, ensuring Edinburgh’s world-famous Christmas celebrations can go ahead this year”.
William Burdett-Coutts, of Assembly Festival, and Penny Dougherty, of Unique Events, said it was their “priority to ensure that Edinburgh’s Christmas celebrations return in style for the benefit of the city, our fellow residents and visitors”.
They added: “While we are taking on Edinburgh’s Christmas at very short notice, we fully understand how important these events are for the city and businesses who have already endured difficult times in recent years.
“Celebrations will definitely include the traditional Christmas markets, ice rink and the Christmas wheel alongside many of the elements that visitors love about coming to Edinburgh city centre in the winter.”
The deal will see Edinburgh’s popular Christmas market and funfair attractions in east and west Princes Street Gardens return, as well as a new ice rink and other Christmas attractions in George Street. Santa Claus will also take up residence in west Princes Street Gardens.
Roddy Smith, chief executive of business group Essential Edinburgh, said it was a “a hugely important event for the city centre and all our businesses”.
Angels Event Experience was awarded the contract in June to deliver the event, due to run from November to January.
But the City of Edinburgh Council was informed it was not able to fulfil the contract in September, putting at risk an event which has been estimated as being worth more than £100m to the local economy.
Day has now committed to a “full review into why this happened”, but said the new plans “will deliver on the key elements of our public consultation, including reduced use of green spaces, more accessible and family-friendly attractions, greater use of local traders and a more even spread around the city centre”.
Part of the special meeting of the authority’s finance and resources committee was held in public where councillors were told about the “nine principles” of what a new Christmas market was going to look like in the city.
Paul Lawrence, the authority’s executive director of place, said one was “extending the footprint outside the city centre”, but in the discussion, before the deal was agreed in private, he said: “That will be harder to achieve in the early part of this contract because it’s going to take a bit of time to put it in place.”
Asked about ensuring planning and licensing permissions could be won in time, he told the meeting that the timing was “tight” but as long as a decision was reached at the meeting he hoped there would not be any issues.
Unique Assembly will have the option of a one-year extension should pre-agreed measures be met, the council said.
Despite dropping out, Angels Event Experience will still have an involvement in the operation of the Christmas market, as a subcontractor to the firm.
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