Roddy Smith

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

A Festival village which turns into student accommodation? Now there’s a thought...

Assembly is one of the biggest venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: William Burdett-Coutts

Edinburgh Festival Fringe to return with second-biggest programme ever

Pedestrianisation of George Street will see almost all motor traffic excluded between 10am and 7pm.

Calls for a 'complete rethink' on George Street taxi ban

A weekend of free film screenings will be staged in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh later this month.

Edinburgh to revive free outdoor cinema screenings ahead

Princes Street in Edinburgh

Time to smarten up Princes Street - Kevin Buckle

The £100 million project involves a 300-bedroom hotel and ground-floor retail space below.

Plans lodged for 300-bedroom hotel in Princes Street

Open-air film screenings in St Andrew Square are one of Essential Edinburgh's initiatives, in partnership with the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Businesses in vote on another five years of improvement initiatives

Find the best set menus, deals and events as Eat Out Edinburgh returns for 2023

Ad Feature Where to find Edinburgh’s special food and drink offers plus events

A tourist tax could help pay to clear away graffiti from Edinburgh's streets

The debate is over. Edinburgh needs a tourist tax – Donald Anderson

Edinburgh has bounced back from the Covid pandemic better than anywhere else in the UK apart from London (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA)

Essential Edinburgh has put new heart into our city centre – Donald Anderson

Kate Russell Bonnie & Wild, St James Quarter, Dominik Kawalec Edinburgh Grand & James Sleigh, Signature Group.
Photo - Chris Watt

Eat Out Edinburgh returns with special deals at dozens of restaurants and bars

Organisers say Edinburgh's revived Christmas festival attracted 2.4 million visitors. Picture: Robin Mair

Edinburgh’s Christmas festival attracts 2.4m visitors after eleventh-hour rescue

Work on a proposed £36 million overhaul of George Street is expected to get underway in 2024.

Edinburgh’s major events set to be ousted from new-look George Street

Roddy Smith is calling for city centre businesses to get more support

It’s very much a mixed shopping bag for retailers - Kevin Buckle

Edinburgh beat 52 other cities to the number one spot. Photo: Vishnu Prasad

Edinburgh voted best city in the world to visit

Edinburgh's new St James Quarter will become the official home of the Fringe this August. Picture: Nick Caville

St James Quarter to become official home of the Fringe for 75th birthday season
Edinburgh’s new St James Quarter development is to become the new official home of the Fringe for its 75th anniversary season.

Shoppers on Edinburgh's Princes Street (Picture: Lesley Martin/AFP via Getty Images)

Princes Street, one of the great European boulevards, must not be left to rot

Essential Edinburgh wants to see fair rents and rates for city-centre businesses

Solution needed for "outdated" business rates in city centre

Market stalls will not bee returning to the High Street

It looks like it’s stall over for the High Street - Kevin Buckle

Edinburgh council elections 2022: Business rates tops concerns at hustings

Business rates top concern at city-centre hustings

A major rethink of Edinburgh city centre has been ordered in the wake of the Covid pandemic and the decline of the rethink centre. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS Group

Edinburgh orders radical rethink for city centre

There were people about in Cockburn Street, but not in the numbers typical before the pandemic

Covid Edinburgh: businesses urge return to city centre two years on from start o...

Essential Edinburgh says promotion of the city centre is vital to bring back visitors. Picture: Esme Allen.

Businesses set out priorities for city centre

Images of Edinburgh's Hogmanay fireworks have been beamed around the world since the first official celebrations in 1993-4. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA

Hogmanay fireworks and street party may be dropped under winter festivals revamp

The Thai Express Kitchen recently opened at the St James Quarter in Edinburgh. Picture: Ian Georgeson Photography

Edinburgh launches new campaign to revive city centre work gatherings

The Grassmarket is one of the most popular areas in Edinburgh city centre for outdoor eating and drinking. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Edinburgh set to take ‘relaxed approach’ to outdoor eating and drink areas

This year's Hogmanay street party could be the last large-scale new year celebration staged in Edinburgh city centre. Picture: Wullie Marr

Business leaders urge Edinburgh to save Hogmanay street party and make winter fe...
Business leaders have warned council chiefs they would be “mad” to drop Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street party and urged the city not to scale back its lucrative winter festivals.

Artist Hannah Ayre has created a new art installation for The Mound for Edinburgh's Christmas festival.

More than 92,000 flock to Edinburgh's Christmas festival

The new attraction is seen as 'a terrific, positive signal that Edinburgh is very much open for business'. Picture: Diageo.

How will Edinburgh's new Johnnie Walker attraction reshape the city's West End?

Bar + Block Steakhouse to open in Princes Street, Edinburgh.

'Overwhelmingly positive' response to new restaurant opening in Princes Street

Princes Street was largely empty at the height of the pandemic Picture: Ian Rutherford

Return to offices 'vital' for city centre recovery

Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Essential Edinburgh, who between them represent the interests of around 1,500 businesses, are delivering a clear message to a major consultation on the future of the winter festivals, asking to make them better – not smaller.

Bodies unite to offer vital support for Edinburgh's winter festivals

Shoppers queued for Primark on Princes Street when it reopened

Roddy Smith: ‘Our city centre has started its recovery, come in and see’

Edinburgh's torism industry has supported around 34,000 jobs in recent years. Picture: Kenny Lam/VisitScotland

Edinburgh tourism chief warns £2bn industry is 'in serious jeopardy'

St James Quarter development. Picture: LISA FERGUSON

‘Adaptive retail’ space innovation business Sook is coming to Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s economy shrunk by 9.1 per cent last year

Do you want the good news or bad on city economy? - Kevin Buckle

Even an unlikely last-minute Christmas rush will not be enough to help some retailers, says Kevin Buckle

Here's how to save shops clinging on for Easter - Kevin Buckle

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit businesses in the city centre hard in the run up to Christmas.

Support city centre shops – and win staycation

Historic features of the B-listed building would be preserved

Plans submitted to redevelop Debenhams store

The rides and market stalls that lit up the city centre last Christmas will be absent this year but businesses still hope to create a festive environment

There are still very good reasons to visit Princes Street - Roddy Smith

Visiting 'real' shops rather than online retailers is a richer experience, says Kevin Buckle

Digital solutions are no solution at all for shops - Kevin Buckle

Edinburgh's Christmas festival is said to have been worth more than £110 million to the city's economy in recent years. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Edinburgh to stage 'digital Christmas market' a year on from Princes Street Gard...

The Piper Bar in Glasgow is among the hundreds of pubs in Glasgow which have been forced to close during the ongoing coronavirus restrictions. Picture: John Devlin

Scottish hospitality businesses and workers to mount 'save our jobs' campaign

The #ForeverEdinburgh website is not promoting retail propely, says Kevin Buckle

Backtracking’s the name of the #ForeverEdinburgh game - Kevin Buckle

The traditional markets along Princes Street Gardens. Picture: Ian Georgeson

New lights for Edinburgh to 'save Christmas' after festival cancellation

The Royal Mile has been eerily quiet over the last few weeks. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Festival-free Edinburgh city centre sees two million slump in visitors in August

The High Street, which is normally thronged with visitors at this time of year, was virtually deserted on Friday lunchtime. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Insight: Is Edinburgh going to miss its festivals?

The Princes Street Debenhams is set to be redeveloped into a hotel by the building's owners.

£50m hotel plans a 'real confidence boost'

Restaurants and bars are waiting to hear when they can reopen

Edinburgh business leader says he hopes for return to normality 'by next Easter'

Eating out will be one of the ways Edinburgh residents can help kick start the Capital's economic recovery

Edinburgh residents hold key to Capital's economic recovery from coronavirus

Tourism and business leaders believe cultural events could still help Edinburgh's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic this summer. Picture: David Monteith-Hodge

Tourism leaders want Edinburgh festivals reboot if lockdown is lifted

Reinstatement work in Charlotte Square Garden is said to have been 'impossible' since October.

Edinburgh book festival admits 'negative' environmental impact on historic garde...