Sports centres likely to avoid closure despite cash crisis
Plus: Race to be the next city council boss; Edinburgh Airport sold to US investors; and a shortage of good office buildings threatens future business growth
Edinburgh Leisure “committed to keeping sports centres open”
Sports centres across the Capital are expected to avoid closure despite a funding crisis largely caused by rocketing energy bills.
Edinburgh Leisure, the charitable trust which runs the city’s public sports facilities, has drawn up plans for price rises of between 5% and 8% and to continue - hopefully temporarily - paying some staff less than the Real Living Wage in order to balance the books.
That still leaves a shortfall of around £1.5m which Edinburgh Leisure is in talks with the council about bridging without closing any centres.
Swimming pools and sports centres have been shut or seen their opening hours significantly cut across Scotland as the funding squeeze on local authorities bites.
There appears to be enough cross-party political support in the Capital for finding any extra council funding needed to keep facilities open.
‘Worst case scenario’: In looking at various options to cope with a worst case scenario, Edinburgh Leisure had identified eight venues - including the beautiful Victorian baths at Stockbridge and Portobello, Niddrie’s Jack Kane Sports Centre and the Meggetland and Saughton Sports Complexes - for potential closure. The report however made clear that closures would be an inefficient way of achieving the required savings.
‘Committed to staying open’: Edinburgh Leisure chief executive June Peebles said she remained committed to keeping “all our venues open” despite the challenges. “The information was prepared to emphasise significant venue closures would not address the estimated funding gap,” she added, in reference to the closure list.
Huge energy bills: Edinburgh Leisure is budgeting for an annual energy bill of £2.75m more than pre-Covid including a rise of £750,000 on the current financial year. To help cope with that, it has allowed wages to fall in real terms, but aims to restore the Real Living Wage in future.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
POST OFFICE SCANDAL: The children of former Jock’s Lodge postmistress Fiona McGowan have told how their mother died alone in a homeless hostel after being falsely accused of stealing £30,000 in the Horizon Post Office scandal. Gemma McGowan and William and Daryl Wallace told the Sunday Mail the 47-year-old was convinced she would be jailed. Gemma, 37, who wants her mum’s name to be cleared and criminal charges brought against those responsible for the Horizon scandal, said: “My mum lost everything - her job, her children, her health and eventually her life because of the Post Office.”
£2BN HOUSING SCHEME: Around 7,000 homes would be built over the next ten years under plans to create a sustainable community close to Edinburgh Airport. The 20-minute neighbourhood would be largely car free with residents encouraged to park their vehicles on the edge of the West Town development then walk to their homes. Drum Property Group’s West Town development, between Gogar roundabout and the Ingliston park-and-ride, would include everything from shops and schools to parks and restaurants.
BEAR NECESSITIES: We love a happy ending here at the Inquirer. A bear found abandoned in a Ukrainian zoo has arrived safely at its new home at the Five Sisters Zoo, near West Calder, West Lothian. Yampil, an Asiatic Black Bear, was rescued after soldiers found he was one of the last animals to survive the Russian invasion. Welcome Yampil…
ARTS CASH CRISIS: Scotland’s arts and culture sector is facing “collapse” within months without a further injection of cash from the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland has warned. The national arts agency’s chief executive Iain Munro said the financial pressures on creative organisations were the worst that he had ever known.
CITADEL CENTRE: The Citadel Youth Centre in Leith is warning that it may have to cut jobs and drastically reduce its value to young people in Leith after being told its city council funding will be cut from £175,000 to just £50,000. Long-serving centre manager Willy Barr questioned the transparency of the council’s decision-making process, saying there had been no impact assessment before cutting the grant.
TALKING ITALIAN: A new joint home for the Italian Cultural Institute and the Consulate General of Italy is being created with a £1.9m refit of the Old London House building on East London Street. The new base will provide a much larger consulate than the current premises in Melville Street and “a vibrant hub for cultural expression and community engagement” when the institute moves from Nicolson Street.
PROTEST DRIVER ARRESTED: A 70-year-old woman has been charged with a driving offence after a car collided with a small number of people during a pro-Palestine demonstration at the Mound in Edinburgh at the weekend. Some people suffered minor injuries but no-one required medical attention. A report is being sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
WHO WANTS TO RUN THE CAPITAL?
The city council has begun the hunt for a new boss following the announcement that £180K-year-year chief executive Andrew Kerr is to retire.
As one of Scotland’s most prestigious and highest paid public sector jobs, competition is expected to be fierce and attract high calibre candidates from across the UK. Kerr - a former junior international sprinter - stands down in June after almost nine years in the role, which included overseeing the local authority’s response to the pandemic.
Smart bet: The most hotly tipped internal candidate is Dr Deborah Smart, who returned home to Edinburgh from Dorset in 2022 to take on the role of executive director for corporate services. Hannah Ross, the official credited with rescuing the tram construction project, is also being talked about as an outside bet.
Other runners and riders: Stephen Moir, Dr Smart’s predecessor who now runs Cambridgeshire County Council, and Aberdeenshire Council chief executive Jim Savage are being seen as strong potential candidates. Midlothian Council chief executive Grace Vickers and one of her predecessors Kenneth Lawrie, who is now in charge of Falkirk Council, are also being tipped.
THE BUSINESS
Office shortage sparks growth fears
The impact of the covid pandemic continues to be felt in Edinburgh’s business community. As well as the obvious and significant problems caused to sectors such as hospitality and retail by the lockdown restrictions, long-term changes to the way people work has ongoing ramifications.
International property firm JLL has expressed concern that a critical shortage of the best quality Grade A office space in the city is fast becoming a chronic issue which may hinder future growth.
A total of 168 new deals saw take-up in Edinburgh in 2023 of 661,000 square feet, and this represents an 18% reduction compared to the 10-year average of 806,000 square feet. While this was a slight improvement on 2022’s figure of 151, deal volumes are 16% below the five-year pre-pandemic average, as occupiers continue reviewing options and delaying relocation decisions. Consequently, headline rents in the city centre have grown from £40.00 per square foot at the end of 2022 to £43.00 per square foot to finish the year.
Hannah Done, associate director at JLL in Edinburgh, said: “It’s a hard-hitting fact that there is currently no availability of Grade A office space amongst Edinburgh’s build stock, and we anticipate that this trend will persist into 2024 without more speculative refurbishment from investors.
“Notably, a contributing factor to this has been the continued theme of obsolete office buildings - prime for office redevelopment - being converted for alternative uses like hotels, representing big loss for the city’s professional sector and creating concerns for future prosperity.
“Without a step change in development intentions, this poses the city with a serious lack of space for business or enterprise growth,“ she continued, adding: “We’re likely to see pressure continue to grow on businesses to secure prime space far in advance of when they plan to move to avoid competition.”
PUBS AT RISK: Seven Edinburgh pubs are amongst more than 40 in Scotland that may be at risk of closure, according to trade union GMB. The Slug & Lettuce bars at the Omni and in George Street, Finnegans Wake, The Chanter, Amber Rose, Hanover Tap and The Southsider. The Stonegate-owned venues face an uncertain future as private equity parent TDR Capital is seeking to refinance £2.6 billion of debt, the union says. TDR maintains it is confident the debt will be successfully refinanced this year.
IN THE BALANCE: Eyes will be closely focused on the GDP figures due next month which will show how the UK economy fared in the final quarter of 2023. November figures issued on Friday showed a 0.3% rise, following October’s 0.2% fall. With the previous quarter to the end of September showing a 0.1% fall, any further fall for the month of December would mean the UK had suffered two quarters of decline in a row - putting the country into a technical recession.
AIRPORT SOLD: Edinburgh International Airport has quietly changed ownership, as widely predicted and explained in the Inquirer in early December.
One of the world’s largest investors, US-based BlackRock, has announced a $12.5 billion dollar deal to buy Global Infrastructure Partners, who own both Edinburgh and Gatwick airports in the UK. The deal includes cash and shares in BlackRock.
The deal reflects the post-pandemic soaring demand for logistics infrastructure, as air travel continues its strong recovery. GIP bought Edinburgh Airport from BAA in 2012 for £807 million. The sale comes after customer numbers at Edinburgh rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels in the first half of last year, with 6.6m passengers in the first six months.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
THE SCOTTISH PLAY: Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma take to a stage that looks like a charred battlefield in a modern take on Macbeth at the Royal Highland Centre until 27 January. See it here before it heads to London. The custom-built stage for this warehouse production has the wow factor, although some critics have found the overall production not intense enough for their liking.
WILD ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY: A showcase for some of the greatest images of the beauty and fragility of nature you will see anywhere, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition open at the National Museum of Scotland on Saturday, until May 6. The 100 stunning photos have been selected for the Natural History Museum in London. Adults from £10 for advance, midweek tickets, under-16s free.
PLANT-BASED MUSICAL: Feed me, Seymour! The Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group are presenting Little Shop of Horrors at the Churchill Theatre from Tuesday to Saturday, 23-27 January.
QUICK BITES
CATS AND DOGS: You can only get into Edinburgh’s latest cocktail bar through a bookcase with a keypad code which you are sent when you book a visit to Don Gatto’s. The speakeasy-style bar sits in the basement of the Howlin’ Hound in East London Street and serves tapas alongside champagne and luxury cocktails. Spanish speakers will have spotted that the venue has a dog upstairs and a cat downstairs.
BENGALI BEST: The award-winning British-Bengali restaurant Radhuni in Loanhead has been praised by The Times as not only the best curry house in the UK but also the home of one of the best value lunches. Sister restaurant of the acclaimed Itihaas in Dalkeith, the Radhuni won best curry restaurant and its executive chef Matin Khan was named the UK’s top curry chef at the recent Curry Life awards.