Exclusive:TV festival 'did not contact' Edinburgh council ahead of plans to open relocation bids
The Edinburgh TV Festival said earlier this week it would open bids from other cities to host the event
Bosses at the Edinburgh TV Festival did not contact the city council before announcing plans to potentially pull the event out of the capital, The Scotsman has learned.
Edinburgh council confirmed it was not contacted before Thursday’s announcement. The festival, which has no permanent staff in Scotland and employs a workforce in its London office, said it would launch a bidding process inviting UK cities, including Edinburgh, to apply to host the television industry event from 2027 onwards. The process could see the event moved out of Edinburgh for the first time since it was founded 50 years ago.
Meanwhile, accounts filed with Companies House reveal the festival set up a working group to examine buying a larger property to replace its London headquarters, which would allow it to expand and hold events outside of the festival in Scotland, months ahead of announcing its plans to potentially relocate.
In its latest set of accounts filed with Companies House in May, the festival revealed it already had plans to buy a new bigger property to replace its base in Islington, where it could hold events and expand to “take ownership” of its “destiny outside of the three days of the festival”.
Festival organisers have cited “major shifts” in the sector as a reason for a potential move. However, organisers insisted it was not “necessarily” a withdrawal from Edinburgh, where the festival started in 1976 - or from Scotland as a whole.
The Edinburgh TV Festival is headquartered in London. Its registered address in Edinburgh, on Ainslie Place, is the office of its auditors Whitelaw Wells.
In its most recent accounts for 2024, the festival’s directors said they planned to sell the London property - believed to be its headquarters on Farringdon Road, which it bought in 2006 - and buy a bigger property where it could hold events and which could be used “for a range of quantifiable charitable purposes and supporting beneficiaries”.
It has recently advertised four new jobs, which closed for applications at the end of last month, all of which were based from its London head office.
However, organisers told The Scotsman they would not consider moving the main festival to London due to the focus on production in the nations and regions in the UK.
They said the “cost and availability of accommodation in Edinburgh” has been a “consistent point in the last few years” in feedback from the 2,000 industry delegates who attend the festival. But they said there were no current plans to alter the August dates of the festival, whether it remains in Edinburgh or is oved elsewhere.
A spokeswoman said: “This decision has been taken as part of a review into the next 50 years of the festival and making it more accessible to delegates, affordability being a key component at a time where the industry is facing great challenges, including that of a financial nature.”
Delegates and speakers at the festival have in recent years included David Attenborough, Billy Connolly, Tina Fey, Stephen Fry, Armando Iannucci, Rupert Murdoch and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
In the accounts, the festival’s directors listed strategies for managing potential risks.
The accounts said the festival had witnessed a “decline in sponsorship/delegate revenue for the festival resulting in a lower financial contribution to the charity” and “competition with both new and well-established/expanding events and with other schemes for funding and talent”.
It stated as one of its mitigation strategies: “Taking ownership of our destiny outside of the three days of the festival to safeguard revenue and engagement should the festival, or any large-scale event, be impossible to stage. Exploring expanding our space, having our own small events room/studio, working on retreat models will strengthen our ability to weather seismic national and global events.”
A Edinburgh council spokeswoman said: “I can confirm we weren’t contacted before [the announcement].”
On Thursday, Screen Scotland, which is a major partner of the TV Festival, said it would work with the council and the government to try to retain the festival in Edinburgh.
The organisation said: “Alongside our colleagues in Edinburgh City Council and within the Scottish Government, we will continue to work with the TV Festival team, executive and board to ensure that Edinburgh remains the Edinburgh TV Festival’s home for many years to come.”
A spokeswoman for the TV Festival claimed “key stakeholders in Edinburgh” had been contacted ahead of the announcement, but refused to clarify who the stakeholders were.
She said: “The festival team have been in contact with key stakeholders in Edinburgh in advance of this announcement being made. These stakeholders respect the need for this process and have welcomed the festival's express encouragement for the city to take part in this bidding process.”
She said there were “no plans” in regards to selling its headquarters at the existing time.
Organisers have insisted key elements of the existing festival would be retained, including the keynote MacTaggart lecture, which has recently been delivered by broadcaster Emily Maitlis, playwright James Graham and journalist Louis Theroux.
The festival is programmed by and for the television industry, by a rotating advisory committee headed by a new chair every year. It is wholly owned by a not-for-profit charity, known publicly as The TV Foundation, and is governed by its own board of directors.
Bid applications remain open until February 26. A decision is expected later in the year.
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