Sparks PR War On Facebook Between Organizers And Local Officials
The Scottish International Airshow has been cancelled for 2020 amidst a disagreement between the event's organizers and local officials.
In a notice posted on Facebook, the South Ayrshire Council said that the airshow organizers have breached their funding agreement with the council, leaving the body with no choice to withdraw funding from the event.
"We made an advanced payment of £80,000 in error to the organisers, and on 2 December 2019, and again on 9 December 2019, we asked the organisers how this money had been spent," the council said in a release posted on Facebook.
"The organizers did not provide us with this information.
"We then asked the organizers to repay the £80,000 and they did not repay this.
"The organizers agreed that they would have reserve funds to support the 2020 event to be able to pay their contractors, but they repeatedly told us that they did not have these funds.
"When the organizers did provide us with their financial information, on 5 February 2020, it was clear that the £80,000 was being used to pay off debts from the 2018 event.
"These are all breaches of the funding agreement.
"The organizers were unable to confirm to us that they could run the 2020 event in line with the agreement, and we are shocked that they still have outstanding payments due to creditors for the 2018 event. We have agreed that if the organisers don’t pay their outstanding bills for the 2018 event, or refund their creditors, we will request repayment of the £80,000.
"We have a duty to make sure that public money is used only for agreed purposes, and in line with the correct processes . With the combination of the organisers failing to respond to our requests for information, and their breaches of the agreement, we were left with no choice but to terminate the contract, and withdraw public funding from the event."
On its Facebook page, the organizers of the Scottish International Airshow refuted the Council point by point in announcing that they had no choice but to cancel the event. "We now have no choice but to cancel all the aircraft and displays booked for the 2020 Airshow. We have to cancel hundreds of hotel rooms and dozens of sub contractors who would have brought significant economic and tourism benefits to Ayrshire once again," the airshow organizers said. "We will be contacting everyone who has bought pitches or tickets and arranging refunds.
"The Scottish International Airshow could only work as a partnership between some hard working and visionary people in South Ayrshire Council and the small Airshow team and wonderful volunteers, who together have built an amazing event from nothing to a European class Airshow in less than five years.
"Since 2013 we have worked with a series of people in South Ayrshire Council. In total we had multiple detailed planning and operational meetings with eight key people - seven of them are no longer in post. The Council Leader and deputy Leader have also changed and have limited understanding of how the Airshow has been built and run as a partnership between Airshow Scotland Ltd and South Ayrshire Council. All of our 2020 Airshow company’s core team have been working together since 2014 and have in depth knowledge of how the event was set up and the practical steps and agreements that have successfully delivered five massive Airshows in Ayr."
The airshow organization contends that there has been no breach of the agreement between it and the Council. Doug Maclean, the Air Boss for the event told The Daily Record newspaper that he had personally poured some $90,000 of his own money into preserving the show after it suffered losses for several years. He said other directors for the event also put their own money into the show to keep it going.
The notice of cancellation appeared on the Scottish International Airshow website. "We are very sad that TSIA 2020 will not be held in Ayr and do not see the need for acrimonious press statements. It is very regrettable that this dispute has been played out in public on social media, damaging the reputation of the event, the organizers and the Council," the statement says.
"Can we say thank you to the hundreds of thousands of you who have supported the event over the years, whether by attending, paying for car parking, buying a programme, being part of the enthusiasts and photographers packages or just sharing your wonderful photos and experiences with us. We hope that we’ve inspired a next generation of pilots, engineers and aviation enthusiasts and given you all great family memories.
"We are proud of the achievements of our marvellous small team and volunteers and to put our names to this statement. We hope to see you somewhere in the future."
(Source: Facebook and TSIA webpage. Image from Facebook posted by TSIA)
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