Virgin balances Fringe's books

Virgin Money, the Edinburgh-based bank and financial services company that grew out of Sir Richard Branson's business empire, has announced a three-year agreement with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.

The "Fringe on the High Street" sponsorship will back the daily outdoor performances on the Royal Mile and the Mound precinct that have become a staple of Edinburgh's August festival scene, as well as a key forum for performers to persuade people to come to their shows.

The deal includes backing for the Half Price Hut for cheap ticket deals.

The Royal Bank of Scotland announced last August that its sponsorship for the Royal Mile space, estimated at about 100,000 a year, paying for performance stages, poster towers and waste bins, was ending.

The new deal is said to be worth more than half a million pounds over three years, and will be a huge boost for the event.

"Virgin Money has a growing presence in Edinburgh and it is fantastic that they have chosen to sponsor the 'Fringe on the High Street'," said the Fringe chief executive, Kath Maitland.

"One of the core responsibilities of the Fringe Society is to support those who participate in the Fringe and the opportunities offered by the event on the High Street and the Mound, that we manage each year, is a key part of that support."

Virgin Money's chief executive, Jayne-Anne Gadhia, a former RBS employee and Edinburgh resident for a decade, said she was delighted by the deal, which underlined the firm's plans "to grow significantly in the city".

"This sponsorship demonstrates our commitment to the city of Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole," she said, pledging to "paint the town red", the colour of the Virgin brand, in August.

• How sponsorship has played a starring role in performing arts

The Fringe, as an open and accessible festival with an event offering hundreds of thousands of visitors free street theatre and extracts from hundreds of shows, made it the "perfect partner", she said.

It is thought that Virgin Money may announce a sponsorship deal with another key date in the festival scene, the annual Fireworks Concert which marks the closure of the Edinburgh International Festival. It was formerly sponsored by the Bank of Scotland. The company said only that it had been in talks over the event.

The annual turnover of the Fringe office is 1.75 million, but a large share of that comes from ticket sale proceeds that go back to festival venues. The new deal represents a significant share of its working budget.

The veteran Fringe venue boss, Karen Koren, of the Gilded Balloon, welcomed the news."It's 100 per cent important for all performers to go out around the Royal Mile and drum up audiences," she said. "It really works, going out - flyering and talking and showing what they can do and having a space to do it on is fantastic."

Virgin Money, majority owned by Sir Richard's Virgin Group, has about three million customers in the UK, with more than two million using the Virgin credit card. It has a small head office with 60 staff in Edinburgh, but last year pledged to create 200 new jobs in an Edinburgh-based operations centre.