Holyrood Park, Edinburgh where the Clan Gathering was held
Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance (DEMA), a publicly funded body set up to attract visitors to Edinburgh, stands to make a £297,000 loss unless it scales back its activities.
It was revealed last week the firm behind the Clan Gathering, a key attraction of the Year of Homecoming campaign, made a £600,00 loss from the event.
The company, run by Tory hereditary peer Lord Sempill, was unable to meet its debts despite receiving about £500,000 of public money.
I thought VisitScotland was the publicly funded agency whose remit was to attract visitors to all over Scotland. Why does Edinburgh need a separate one?
Who appointed Lord Sempill to run the organisation? The former conservative parliamentary candidate has been a director of several dissolved companies, including Scotch Direct Ltd and Malt Masterclass. It was revealed last week that Sempill's firm, the Gathering 2009 Ltd., made out a £38,909 loan to another venture in which he was a director. He confirmed the loan would also have to be written off because the company, Panalba Ltd., was 'not in a position' to pay it back.
Margo MacDonald, Lothians MSP, said: "There's too much money involved here for there not to be an inquiry. There clearly was not enough time devoted to producing a proper business plan for the Clan Gathering or the bailout."
An inquiry must be held and this organisation given top to tail scrutiny. Somehow I think Lord Sempill may just resign if that happens, don't you?
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