St Margaret's left 'hoping for a hero' as £2.5m rescue plan hits buffers

Published on Friday 18 June 2010 22:56

A CAMPAIGN to prevent a leading private school from closing faces defeat unless "white knight" saviours pledge more than £2.5 million within the next few days.

A rescue bid for St Margaret's, in the Newington area of Edinburgh, appeared to be floundering yesterday after the sudden shelving of a shareholder scheme that would have given parents control of the school.

Lawyers have warned a consortium of ten families they do not have enough time to set up a scheme offering parents a stake in the school in return for reduced fees.

The parents' group said it had mounted a last-ditch appeal to find "hero" figures prepared to pay off the school's huge debts.

The shareholder scheme had been seen as the most viable option for bailing out St Margaret's, which was placed into voluntary liquidation by its board of governors on 10 June after making an annual loss of 250,000 for the past five years.

Legal experts have warned parents fighting to save the school that it would take six weeks to set up a shareholder scheme.

Sources say the venture received a "cool reception" from parents during a crunch meeting to outline the plans. It has also taken longer than expected to set up a bank account for donations.

An insider said: "Unfortunately it has proved much more difficult to put together a financial package than it seemed earlier in the week.

"It's not looking good at the moment."

A decision on whether to wind up the campaign or not is expected by Tuesday, depending on the response over the weekend, including whether to attempt to keep the school nursery running.

A message issued to parents said: "Following a lengthy meeting last night with our legal experts, we have been advised to withdraw the offer of an equity stake in the school.

"While everyone agrees this is a fantastic idea, the time constraints placed on us do not allow this to be a viable solution. As a result of this we need to attract as many donations as possible within the next 48 hours."

A spokeswoman for the consortium told The Scotsman: "Following the devastating news that the equity share option is no longer viable due to time constraints, we are now left hoping for a hero.

"We had been given two weeks to raise what is a significant amount of money to preserve a priceless piece of Edinburgh tradition. Should we raise a significant sum by early next week, this may still be possible.

"At this point, if we have not received a firm offer or if we are not in serious discussions, we will know we did all we could in the unrealistic time frame we were given."

The school had 397 pupils and 140 staff, including 87 full-time teachers, when it went into liquidation last week.

Liquidators KPMG said the governors had been "left with no alternative" due to dwindling rolls and the economic downturn affecting the value of the school's estate.