Christmas rink firm is skating on thin ice

Published on Wednesday 18 June 2003 01:00

THE future of Edinburgh’s Winter Wonderland festival is under threat after it emerged the company which runs it has gone bankrupt after sustaining debts from the Cowgate fire.

Plans to stage this year’s flagship event, featuring an open-air ice rink in Princes Street Gardens, have been hit by news that Winter Wonderland Ltd has ceased trading.

Promoter Karen Koren’s firm owes thousands of pounds to the city council, as well as the Inland Revenue and other unknown debtors.

Suppliers and other companies involved in the staging of the event, part of the world-famous Capital Christmas celebrations, are thought to be out of pocket.

Ms Koren, who said the impact of the Cowgate fire was her main reason for closing Winter Wonderland Ltd, insisted she was still planning to run the ice rink this year, but admitted she would have to settle her debts first.

She said: "As far as I am aware, we will be doing the event in the winter. We have had recent meetings with Edinburgh Council and explained that we are seeking to consolidate our business after losses sustained in the wake of the Old Town fire.

"The debts from last year will be paid off to the council over the coming months."

Ms Koren’s listed Gilded Balloon theatre was destroyed in the fire, on 7 December.

Ms Koren was at the centre of controversy less than three years ago after it emerged that she had closed down an Edinburgh Festival Fringe promotional company, leaving debts of around 50,000 behind.

It was revealed that the company had kept trading while insolvent.

Ms Koren has continued to programme events on the Fringe over the last few years, although she was faced with her biggest-ever crisis in the wake of last year’s Old Town fire, which destroyed her offices in the Cowgate.

A spokeswoman for the city council said: "Terms of payment have been agreed over the next six months for outstanding sums owed by the Gilded Balloon to the council and repayments have started to be made."

Councillor Steve Cardownie, the city’s festivals and events spokseman, said: "It may be that we’ll have to bring in another company to run the ice rink although there may have to be extra subsidy for them.

"There may be an issue for the council in giving her the contract again. It’s definitely something we want to keep going as it’s become a main feature of the Christmas celebrations in Edinburgh."