ONE of the biggest producers at the Edinburgh Fringe no longer has the right to use the building it has called home for the last 20 years after allegations of mistreatment of staff.
C Venues has been based in the University of Edinburgh’s Adam House on Chambers Street since 2000, but its keys have now been over to the Gilded Balloon.
Last month, campaign group Fair Fringe released a dossier on C Venues, which stages more than 200 different shows at the festival each year.
It was accused of paying staff just £200 for working the entire festival, and of labelling them as volunteers or freelance workers to get around min- imum wage laws. Former staff members who spoke to Fair Fringe described “excessively long hours without proper breaks or days off, lack of training and bullying”.
According to The Scotsman, the university decided to stop working with C in December after a review of “terms and conditions around staff employment”.
A spokesman for the university said: “This change follows our yearly review of tenants, venues and operating models, with 2018’s review looking in particular at terms and conditions around staff employment. We are aware that Fringe venues employ a variety of employment practices.
“As part of our yearly review of tenants, venues and operating models we consider amongst other things the employment practices of our tenants.”
“After the last Fringe, and in light of our yearly review, it was decided not to renew the relationship with one client.
“We are comfortable that our continuing Fringe tenants satisfy our aspirations with regards to terms and conditions around volunteers and employment.”
A spokesman for C Venues said: “We are saddened that the arrangement between the University of Edinburgh and C venues for the festival use of Adam House has come to an end.”
Rory MacLean from Fair Fringe said: “This is a warning to all operators out there that you can’t underpay, mistreat and ignore the voices of Fringe workers.”
Fair Fringe organiser Kirsty Haigh said: “Organisations like the Royal Society of Edinburgh need to step up and not let C Venues operate in their buildings.
“We need to see the Fringe Society refuse to let C Venues – and other Fringe employers who don’t meet the Fair Fringe Charter – advertise in the Fringe programme.
She added: “Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen a tremendous amount of support for the campaign. This is excellent but it is also telling of how big an issue this is.”
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