We know and understand how disappointed you are that there was no resolution from last week's first Court hearing for Summerhall Management, and the further delay this causes to your Fringe payout.
The board and executive have taken extensive legal advice on this matter, and at the moment the Fringe Society are not in a position to make payment of Fringe Box Office settlements to Summerhall companies directly. This is a very difficult and challenging situation, and we know the strain that it puts on you as individuals and companies. We want to explain in more detail here to offer further clarity on the ongoing situation.
- Summerhall Management’s accounts are currently frozen, they are under petition by HMRC, and they are challenging this petition in Court. If successful then their accounts will be unfrozen and we will look to make pay-out to them immediately. If they are unsuccessful, then a liquidator will be appointed and we will engage directly with the liquidator.
- As Summerhall Management are in a position where a liquidator may be appointed, the Fringe Society must have certainty before funds are transferred to ensure they are not lost. On the basis of legal advice we have taken (which we cannot disclose in detail without prejudicing its confidentiality), we are actively holding the payout pending the appointment of a liquidator as we consider this approach offers the highest likelihood of success of protecting your funds.
- We have explored the viability of avenues to influence HMRC on this issue - politically, publicly or through legal routes – however HMRC are a non-departmental public body (NDPB) and their petition is against Summerhall Management; unfortunately, we are unable to influence that process, with Summerhall Management placed to defend the action.
We’ve spent time considering what specific action we could collectively lobby for, however with no route to influence the Court proceedings or HMRC we don’t believe that there is anything we can do as a community at the moment.
We want to reassure you that we need to be in the strongest place to advocate for you collectively, and for now we must follow legal advice to ensure we protect your position.
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We also shared details of support that the team have secured from Health In Mind, the Fringe Society’s mental health and wellbeing partner during Fringe 2024, to offer one-to-one virtual wellbeing / crisis meetings for affected artists who are struggling.
Unless there is a significant change ahead of the new Court date, which we have been advised by Summerhall is the 29 November, there is unlikely to be any further detailed update or statement from the Fringe Society on this matter. If anything should change, we will be in touch with artists directly at the earliest opportunity, and in the meantime continue to be available to talk to any artists and companies individually if they have questions.
