Anger as Gathering chief revives website as a tourism venture

Published on Monday 21 June 2010 21:32

THE figurehead of the controversial clan gathering that left the taxpayer with a £300,000 bill has unveiled a new tourism business on a website he set up with the help of public money.

• Lord Sempill: 'Website a lasting legacy of the Gathering'. Picture: Dan Phillips

The online magazine and shop Panalba, created by Tory peer Jamie Sempill, is billed as an ancestral tourism guide as well as "a community for anyone who has a love for Scotland".

The website, originally launched last year as a social networking tool for people attending the Gathering, will feature recommendations for travel and accommodation across Scotland, as well as highlight major events such as festivals, clan gatherings and highland games.

But Lord Sempill has also announced plans to sell books, prints, DVDs and products "not readily found on other 'Scottish' sites" through Panalba.

Creditors left out of pocket in the wake of the Gathering branded Lord Sempill "immoral" for unveiling the new venture just months after his company behind the clan gathering folded when city council officials pulled the plug on a rescue package.

Among the items on sale yesterday were genealogy research packs costing up to 450, tartan bags for 27, and prints of a painting of the Gathering parade along the Royal Mile, which were priced at 35.

Despite being hailed as a huge success at the time by the Scottish Government and VisitScotland, the Gathering, which attracted more than 47,000 people to Edinburgh's Holyrood Park over two days last July, struggled to attract expected numbers of overseas visitors.

Lord Sempill told The Scotsman he hoped Panalba would carry on "the legacy" of the Gathering, despite the event making a loss of about 700,000 – of which about 300,000 was public money that had to be written off.

It has also emerged that a 32,000 loan was provided by the company Lord Sempill set up to run the Gathering to get Panalba off the ground.

Lord Sempill said: "The idea was always that Panalba would carry forward the legacy of the Gathering and I still hope that is what it will do.

"I have been keen to reactivate the site and re-engage with people who signed up for it in the past, but that has unfortunately taken a bit longer than expected, due to the post-event issues with the Gathering."

However Martin Hunt, whose PR firm is one of the many creditors of the Gathering, said: "I was apoplectic when I heard about Panalba being up and running again. It's difficult to believe, especially when public money would appear to have been used to set it up.

"It just shows absolutely no respect to all the companies who worked on the Gathering and are still waiting to be paid. We are also still waiting for an apology from Jamie Sempill."

The Panalba website was relaunched last month and earlier this week clan members who signed up to it last year were alerted to the new venture.

Lord Sempill told them: "It has been a while since you received a newsletter from Panalba and we hope that this will prompt you to revisit the site."

His blog on the website states: "The long-term survival of Panalba will be very dependent on your support and the income that will be generated through advertising and on-line sales."