London theatre producer calls for new post-Covid Edinburgh Fringe accommodation agreements

Richard Lambert of LAMBCO Productions, who in 2018 brought the Fringe First Award-winning production Skin Deep: The Body Image Show to the city, was left £3620.18 out of pocket last year when the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the annual arts extravaganza.

In a recent edition of The Stage​ ​newspaper, Lambert highlighted what he described as "a problem with the accommodation model" used by Fringe companies coming to Edinburgh. Recounting his 2020 experience, he says, "I made a booking for a five room house for the entire Festival to take a large cast to the Fringe. Then I made a later booking for another show to do one week at the Fringe – I paid two separate booking fees to an accommodation agency, £885 and £227.68, totaling £1112.68

"The first house had a clause in the contract that 50% rental, as a deposit, was to be paid within four weeks of the booking. So in January ​2020 ​I paid £2507.50 directly to the landlord. In total I had ​then ​paid out £3620.18​."

​So far so good it seemed, but then, at the time of the booking few were aware of Covid-19, let alone the havoc it would wreak. When on April 1, it was announced last year's Fringe would not go ahead, Lambert's thoughts turned to recouping his outlay. It wasn’t to be. Both booking agency and landlord refused to return any funds.​​

“I requested a refund from both. Neither would issue a refund, both holding onto every penny and referring me to the non-refundable clause in their agreements.​ Of course, at time of booking I never expected the Fringe to be cancelled and had never heard of COVID-19,” says Lambert.

"​I understand a non-refundable clause in normal situations​. If I had cancelled as I could no longer deliver a show for the Fringe​, fine, but when ​Covid and the ​​government causes the ​Fringe ​to be​ cancelled, ​that's not fine because​ I'm not going to use the accommodation.​"

​Lambert had learned of the agency from the Fringe website, however, despite ​letters of ​support ​from ​the Fringe Society and his venue Space UK, ​he found it was impossible to recover his deposits​​​. The Fringe has confirmed that the agency concerned is no longer one of their accommodation partners.

"The agency state​d​ that they supply accommodation for Edinburgh and it was irrelevant whether or not the Fringe goes ahead. Their argument is that the accommodation was still available in August for my use and their service wasn't linked to the Festival - I'm not casting eight performers to holiday them in Edinburgh for a non-existent Festival,” the producer explains.

​"They offered credit notes for future use, however, there's no guarantee​ ​there'll be a Fringe this year​ and while a credit note is not so bad for me​, ​there are​ ​a lot of people who literally dig into their piggy banks to make Edinburgh happen for them​. They ​are not going to be able to commit ​to​ coming back next year.​"​

“To me, the terms and conditions ​are​ unfair – the landlord had six months advance notice of the cancellation. I did take him to court, unfortunately, although sympathetic, the Sheriff couldn’t support my claim."

Ironically, had the 2020 Fringe gone ahead, ​it is unlikely Lambert would have been able to use the accommodation anyway due to Covid restrictions.

​"​W​e had eight people due to be in a five bedroom house with one bathroom and one kitchen. Now you can't ask them to share bedrooms or have that many people in one house. So letting agreements have to be fair. Accommodation costs are 30​-​40 per cent of the total cost of bringing a show to ​Edinburgh, ​that's ​a huge consideration​."

When a sense of normality eventually returns and the Fringe can once again go ahead in its more traditional form, Lambert hopes that safeguards can be introduced to help protect Fringe companies.

​"I won't get my money back but I would hate for anyone else to go through this," he says. "I'd like to see the following changes made to the agreements for Fringe accommodation; 1: ​Landlord deposits payable in July when there is a guarantee that the​ ​Fringe will go ahead​.​2​:​ Landlord deposits ​to be ​held by a ​thir​d party and released upon participants gaining the keys to the property as described​.​3​:​ Booking agents ​and landlords ​to offer a refund ​​if the show cannot come to Edinburgh due to the Festival not going ahead, or other government guidelines or restrictions that make it undeliverable​.”

​He continues, “The relationship between agency and landlord also needs to be addressed. Agencies operate like a match​-​making introduction ​service​, they put the properties on their website, you fill in a form telling them what you want and they try and match you together​. However,​ once they have matched you​,​ they have no binding contract with the landlord to ensure ​​they supply what they say they will. I'd like the agency to have a contract with the landlord that has terms and conditions about how they will behave.​"​

​Realistically, ​Lambert ​accepts ​it ​is looking unlikely ​he will be able to use his credit note this year, but reveals he does have a back-up plan to get his shows on in August regardless, by ​relocating ​his Edinburgh Fringe​ season ​to London's open-air Garden Theatre at The Eagle​, one of the few venues to reopen and stage work between the various lockdowns of 2020​.

​"Normally we'd come back to London ​after the Fringe ​and do an Edinburgh Encore ​s​eason at ​T​he Garden Theatre. ​If the Fringe doesn't happen again this year, and depending on government regulations at the time, I'll present my Edinburgh season there instead." ​

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription