Edinburgh Festival Fringe: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited has no person with significant control recorded on the Companies House register. In the year to November 2025 it reported turnover of £13m.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe's pre-tax profit in these accounts is well out of line with the year before. That usually points to a one-off, such as a gain or dividend from inside the group or an acquisition, rather than trading. The figures are shown as filed; the full accounts at Companies House explain what is behind them.
- Registered name
- EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE SOCIETY LIMITED
- Company number
- SC046605
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 22 May 1969
- Registered office area
- Edinburgh
- Industry code on the register
- 90020: Creative, arts and entertainment activities
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full group accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to November 2025, filed 1 September 2026
What does Edinburgh Festival Fringe do?
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the charity that supports the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the open-access arts festival held in the city each August. It does not choose or programme shows; instead it registers participants, publishes the programme, runs a central box office and offers advice to artists and audiences. Its income comes from participant registration fees, ticketing fees, sponsorship, grants and donations. The Fringe itself began in 1947.
In brief: arts festival charity · open-access festival · central box office · Edinburgh
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: edfringe.com.
Who owns Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited, company number SC046605, has no person with significant control recorded on the register. The full record is linked below.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
The Companies House register lists 18 current officers for Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited.
All 18 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Gillian Anne Harkness-Mckinlay | 20 November 2018 |
| Tibetari Lang | 20 November 2018 |
| John Colin Adams | 20 November 2018 |
| Tara Lianne Marie Stapleton | 21 August 2019 |
| Bernard Franklin Higgins | 1 April 2021 |
| Mx Pax Alex Lowey | 25 August 2022 |
| Sarah Louise Young | 25 August 2022 |
| Suzanna Lynsey Rosenthal | 22 August 2023 |
| Anthony Angus Alderson | 22 August 2023 |
| Harun Musho'D | 22 August 2023 |
| Julianne Mary Reddin | 22 August 2023 |
| Valerie Urquhart | 8 January 2024 |
| Lisa Michelle Vernon | 20 August 2024 |
| Charles Christopher Dundas | 20 August 2024 |
| Richard James Williamson | 20 August 2024 |
| Anthony John Lankester | 7 April 2025 |
| Apphia Celest Campbell-Baga | 19 August 2025 |
| Elise Victoria Harris | 19 August 2025 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Edinburgh Festival Fringe file?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited reported turnover of £13m in the year to November 2025. That was up 54.7% on £8m the year before.
It reported 56 employees. The year before it reported 51.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £5m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £0.8m the year before.
Staff costs came to £3m. That is an average of £45,000 a head. It ended the year with £3m at the bank and net assets of £7m.
| Measure | Nov 2025 | Nov 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £13m | £8m |
| Pre-tax profit | £5m (filed) | £0.8m (filed) |
| Employees | 56 | 51 |
| Staff costs | £3m | £2m |
| Average staff cost per head | £45,000 | £45,000 |
| Bank and cash | £3m | £2m |
| Net assets | £7m | £1.4m |
| Directors' pay | £9k |
Read the accounts to November 2025 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited has registered 3 charges at Companies House, of which 1 is still outstanding. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
The outstanding charge
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC | 3 November 1992 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe files as Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited, with turnover of £13m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Edinburgh Festival Fringe
What does Edinburgh Festival Fringe do?
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society is the charity that supports the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the open-access arts festival held in the city each August. It does not choose or programme shows; instead it registers participants, publishes the programme, runs a central box office and offers advice to artists and audiences. Its income comes from participant registration fees, ticketing fees, sponsorship, grants and donations. The Fringe itself began in 1947.
Who owns Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited has no person with significant control recorded at Companies House.
How much does Edinburgh Festival Fringe make?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited reported turnover of £13m in the year to November 2025. It filed a pre-tax profit of £5m.
How many people work at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited reported 56 employees in the year to November 2025.
Who runs Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
The Companies House register lists 18 current officers for Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Limited's filings at Companies House, company number SC046605, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Edinburgh Festival Fringe: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/edinburgh-festival-fringe/. Figures from Companies House filings for EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE SOCIETY LIMITED (SC046605).
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