Deal close to pay off debt-ridden Gathering's £300,000 bill in rights sale

Published on Saturday 23 January 2010 19:45

GOVERNMENT and council officials are this week planning to announce a deal to save The Gathering that formed the centrepiece of last year's Homecoming celebrations and repay hundreds of thousands of pounds to creditors.

Insiders close to the deal last night said the intention was to take over the brand rights to the event and allow the private firm which organised it to pay off 300,000 in debts.

Senior officials from the government and Edinburgh City Council were this weekend still trying to find a way to overcome considerable bureaucratic, financial and legal obstacles to a settlement.

But the creditors of The Gathering 2009 have already been told to expect an announcement on Tuesday.

The first mass clan gathering for centuries was declared a success by ministers after attracting around 47,000 tourists and Scots to Holyrood Park for a weekend of traditional events. But despite its popularity, the event was found to have made a loss of 600,000.

With event organiser Jamie Sempill claiming he was unable to pay off the debts, the government and the city council have been trying to reach a deal to rescue The Gathering's reputation.

Edinburgh Council has commissioned independent consultants to value the intellectual property rights of The Gathering, which can then be purchased and used to pay off the debts.

Scotland on Sunday understands that the parties involved need the value of the brand to equal the debts of The Gathering firm to stage a rescue.

A senior source at City of Edinburgh Council yesterday said: "We expect to be in a position to make an announcement on Tuesday or Wednesday. Negotiations with the Scottish Government are still under way."

Some 50 businesses, including several sole traders and numerous small firms, have now waited more than six months to be paid for work that they carried out for The Gathering 2009 Ltd.

Half of the debts were incurred by public sector organisations such as the emergency services, but that has been written off by the government.

In October, Edinburgh Council issued a press release announcing that its arms-length marketing company, Dema, would bail out the Gathering and its creditors. But that pledge was almost immediately withdrawn as it emerged Dema couldn't afford the bailout.

The Gathering was the brainchild of Tory peer and businessman Sempill, but was quickly seized upon by ministers.

Sempill, who has stood for the Scottish Parliament as a Conservative, owns The Gathering 2009 with business partner Jenny Gilmour. They are still running the firm as a going concern. The pair, however, are understood to have lost their entire investment in the enterprise and are said to be "desperate" for a rescue deal to pay off their creditors.

Sempill yesterday admitted that he had got 2009 event "commercially wrong".

Scotland on Sunday understands he and Gilmour would not profit from any bailout.

One creditor yesterday said: "The government can't expect small businesses to pay what amounts to their tourism initiatives."