Latest news with #TheFringe
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh shopkeepers left dreading busy times of year as shoplifting on the rise
Edinburgh city centre shopkeepers have been reacting to news that reported shoplifting incidents have more than doubled in the past two years. Sign up to the daily Crime UK newsletter. All the latest crime news and trials from across the UK. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The latest data from Police Scotland shows that theft by shoplifting grew in Edinburgh from 3,461 incidents in 2022 to 7,592 incidents in 2024, a rise of 119 per cent. The most affected area is the city centre, which saw 2,199 shoplifting crimes in 2024. Majid Mohamed, who has groups of shoplifters visiting his mobile phone accessories and repair shop on Princes Street, said the problem gets particularly bad during busy tourist seasons. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He said: 'It depends on the time of year really how bad shoplifting is, it's particularly bad at Christmas and New Year and of course The Fringe, the busy times for the city. 'They come in to the shop in groups of two or three, sometimes with masks. They mostly go for earbuds and small items, which don't cost too much, but it all adds up. 'We have CCTV but when they are in groups they provide cover for each other. Sometimes items are stolen without us even noticing until too late. And even though we have the cameras the thieves don't seem to care, it's a 'what are you going to do' kind of attitude, pretty intimidating.' The store manager at cosmetics shop Kiko Milano on Princes Street praised her staff for knowing what to look out for regarding shoplifters. | National World Dawn Alexander, store manager at cosmetics shop Kiko Milano on Princes Street, said shoplifting has been a problem in recent years but praised her staff for knowing how to deal with it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said: 'It was bad when I started here two years ago, but the team I have here now know what to look out for. It's not as bad as what it was, but I put that down to my staff having good knowledge of regular shoplifters and the signs to look out for. 'There are organised gangs of shoplifters really. You can see them coming together in the morning, meeting outside Waverley Market. They are quite brazen, you need to be very strict with them. Our staff know most of their faces now so can watch out for them. They are normally carrying big bags, so are not that hard to spot. I have seen them running past after stealing large amounts from JD Sports. 'When you are phoning the police to report the incidents you are basically wasting your time, as we don't have cameras to record the thefts. We think we're going to get cameras though, to help stop this problem. The community officer is lovely and very helpful though.' She added: 'The whole thing is a bit scary though but I guess it's just another part of the job now, keeping an eye out for shoplifters.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Police Scotland figures show that Leith Walk was the next most affected Edinburgh area for shoplifting last year with 794 incidents, while Portobello and Craigmillar had 626 incidents last year. Another Princes Street shopkeeper, who did not want to be named, said: 'We've noticed a rise in shoplifting incidents, but not huge, in fact all in all it's probably about the same, I just think more people are reporting these crimes now. 'There are a lot of young people kicking about causing a nuisance, but a lot more is being done now to tackle the issue, with the Business Improvement District (BID) people helping retailers here with security.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A Princes Street shop assistant said: 'Shoplifting is quite prevalent, it's almost daily now. And there's lots you don't even notice at the time. It's bad for business. It's actually surprising to me who is doing the shoplifting, it's all sorts. A lot of people we've caught shoplifting you would never have guessed. 'We had a woman in a wheelchair who stole lots of items, we've had parents with kids in buggies, who steal items and hide them in the buggy. And also just groups of teenagers. 'We feel now like we have to really keep an eye on everyone who comes in here, just in case, be extra vigilant.' Another shopkeeper at a Princes Street unit added: 'We have definitely noticed a surge in shoplifting in recent years. I have worked here for a year and a half and I noticed a big difference until recently. It was getting silly how many incidents there was. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'However, recently it appears to be quietening down in general. Although, there are still groups going round with large bags stealing items. We have even had parents with push chairs stealing items.' Police Scotland have been approached for comment.
The Herald Scotland
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
'Do we want Edinburgh as a Harry Potter theme park?'
Regularly ranking among the world's best cities, boasting postcard-worthy views around virtually every corner, and hosting the globe's largest performing arts festival, The Fringe - alongside increasingly bustling Christmas markets - the city has become a year-round tourist destination for culture vultures, influencers, history buffs, and Harry Potter fans alike. This supports tens of thousands of jobs, stimulates significant investment in business and keeps Edinburgh squarely on the global map. But for the local population, especially in the city centre where the majority of visitors congregate, it often means overcrowded streets, an escalating cost of living and strained infrastructure. Balancing the mass tourism driving what some call Edinburgh's 'Disneyfication' - or perhaps more accurately, its Potterfication - with the needs of residents remains a key challenge for the city. The introduction of the UK's first Transient Visitor Levy (TVL), or 'tourist tax', comes as a direct response to these pressures. However, it is unlikely to be a silver bullet. In the second of an exclusive two-part interview for The Herald's series looking at the Future of Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Council's leader Jane Meagher and chief executive Paul Lawrence reflected on the impact of tourism and opportunities of the forthcoming visitor levy. Councillor Meagher acknowledged there are a 'whole lot of issues relating to the city centre' as a result of Edinburgh's strong visitor economy. 'One concern is about managing what kind of city centre we want this to be,' she said, adding: 'Do we want it to be a Harry Potter theme park or do we want it to be a living city centre where people live and work? Read more from our Future of Edinburgh series: 'That's where things like the visitor levy come in. Clearly, one of the aims of the visitor levy is to make the visitor experience more sustainable. 'What that means is providing visitors with a reason to move outwith the city centre and go and visit Lauriston Castle, Craigmillar Castle, go and visit the other World Heritage Site out at Queensferry and take advantage of the shorefront that people can enjoy. 'What tends to happen is some people congregate around the Royal Mile to the exclusion of even places like the Botanical Gardens, so part of the visitor levy is going to be to make what we're packaging as sustainable. 'In other words, not concentrating on the middle of the city. 'As well as thinking about the city centre we need to bear in mind there are areas outwith the city centre that will become in their own right visitor venues. The Granton Gasholder is a recent excellent example of that park and its attractions.' The proliferation of city centre gift shops, sometimes dubbed 'tartan tat' retailers, is a hot button issue for locals in Edinburgh who complain about a lack of essential amenities like grocery stores in the centre of town. On this point, Meagher said: 'I think there's an overprovision of certain types of shop. I have friends, some of whom live at the foot of the Royal Mile, and it is quite difficult to find corner shops. I think we need a better mix.' Mr Lawrence agreed there are 'too many of a certain kind of retail offer in certain places' and said it was 'clear to see' this needed rebalancing. However, the council's chief officer contended Edinburgh has 'the best blend of restaurants, pubs and shops in the UK by a mile'. He said: 'A lot of places suffer from only having chain pubs, restaurants and so on. We have a thriving independent sector, which through the visitor levy we also want to support. So if you look at the diversity as a whole, walk from here to Leith, and in Leith Walk we have one of the most exciting streets in the UK. I think the mix compared to others is spectacular. 'If you're on the Royal Mile you can be at a Lidl on Nicolson Street in five minutes, that's not the case in most places. 'But are there pockets where there are over concentrations of a certain kind of provision? Of course there are.' This issue was debated in the City Chambers last year after a councillor said the number of gift shops on the Royal Mile in council-owned commercial units had become "embarrassing,' and complained the capital's 'window on the world has a See You Jimmy Hat in it'. Lawrence said: 'If we own something then we can decide who to lease it to. So, for example, if we want to ensure that some of our properties are used for charitable or social purposes we can, but the council has a policy of no concessionary lets on our property estate because our property estate cross-subsidies some of the council's core services, so there is a consequence. 'Both as a property owner, as a licensing authority and a planning authority we have a lot of policies that dig into these issues, and like most things there's always a balance involved in all of this.' Another ongoing challenge for the authority is reducing traffic levels while increasing pedestrian space to handle heavy footfall. Questions persist over how the council plans to meet its target to cut car kilometres driven in the city by 30% by 2030, especially after the Scottish Government recently ditched its less ambitious target of 20%. Meanwhile, plans to remove through traffic from key city centre roads including the North and South Bridges and The Mound were delayed last year due to a lack of funding from the Scottish Government. The Royal Mile (Image: Colin Mearns) At the time, former transport convener Scott Arthur said it was 'not just as simple as putting planters in,' while senior officer Gareth Barwell added it was 'very hard to go cheap and nasty' in a World Heritage Site'. However, the slow progress to make the centre of Edinburgh more pedestrian friendly and less congested has made some question how committed the council is to implementing changes. Lawrence highlighted the closures of the Old Town's Cockburn Street and Victoria Street to through traffic 'at little or no cost because we have not done large scale new street designs'. He said: 'We've simply said you can't drive your car down there anymore and some people have agreed with that and some people have disagreed with that. 'There's somewhere like George Street, potentially the finest street in Edinburgh, one of the finest streets in the UK, where I don't think that approach would be right. 'We have a scheme from Meadows to George Street which would improve the public realm significantly. We're under a lot of pressure, and understandably so, from organisations like Living Streets to improve the pavement experience both in the city centre and elsewhere. 'In a World Heritage centre, that has to be done right. And that's not cheap. 'There are some times when we can take a relatively low intervention approach, if I can call it that. There are others where we need substantive street redesign from building line to building line. We have to do that respectfully to the heritage of the city. We've inherited some of the most spectacular street designs in Europe and we can't ignore that.' Read more: Meagher added: 'Edinburgh is one of the easiest places to walk around as opposed to any other ways of getting around the city, but there's no doubt - I mean look at Princes Street, the pavements on Princes Street are in a shocking state.' The council chiefs said a potential £50m a year generated by the visitor levy - a 5% charge on overnight stays capped at five nights from July 2026 - will fund essential improvements to pedestrian spaces including the neglected Princes Street. 'We now have the opportunity with the visitor levy before us,' Lawrence said, 'we are working to bring forward proposals via the new Visitor Levy Forum to elected members later in the year on the first tranche of visitor levy investment. 'Those issues of the quality of the public realm in the city centre, whether it's from a day to day point of view - so graffiti removal and so on - or more substantive works like the quality of Princes Street, we are working hard on those to bring them to members later in the year to be considered, only considered because there's a lot of claims on that money, to be considered as first priority.' Meagher said: 'That £50m anticipated from the visitor levy has been spent many, many times over in people's imaginations. But I think it would be hard not to justify something to be done on Princes Street on things like improved lighting. 'We need to think long-term and have some sort of staged, strategic approach to the use of the visitor levy, rather than a whole random collection of one-off pieces of investment. We also need to see that over the years it's going to be spent in a strategic way.' Read more on the Future of Edinburgh: Lawrence stressed his team of officers 'will be looking for a balance between the city centre and other parts of the city in the visitor levy proposals'. He said: 'If we say it should all be spent on one square mile we know what the political reaction would be. What we are working on is basically everything we have heard from communities and elected members and others over the years to go 'what does a balanced package of investment look like so we can hopefully get political support for that later in the year?'. Public toilets are a good example.' Addressing the soaring cost of performing at Edinburgh's world-famous festivals could also be aided by TVL money, he added. 'If you talk to folk in the festival communities, they do talk about affordability both for audiences and performers as a challenge. So we need to work with them to go 'what interventions can help with that affordability challenge'. 'People have said for 40 years it's incredibly expensive to put on a show in Edinburgh and all the rest of it. People still come, but there's lots of other cities catching up with us and we need to stay ahead of the pack. If affordability is a challenge to people coming here, then what interventions might address that in the right way? 'The conversation we want to have with the festival community, in particular, is not just whether it's expensive, but how that relates to the programmes they want to put on. Jane Meagher has been City of Edinburgh Council's leader since December 2024 (Image: Gordon Terris) 'If you want more international performers to come for the Fringe or the International Festival then how do we create packages? So it's based on their development ambitions and their programme ideas, not just a kind of blanket approach. 'Affordability is clearly a challenge, but what are our shared ambitions and therefore what is the right intervention to make? 'That's why we're having those conversations which is why it's going to take time to bring forward proposals. 'Whether members want to spend the money on paving Princes Street or somewhere else, we will put forward a menu of choices later in the year.'
Edinburgh Live
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Heartbreaking reason The Chase star 'finds it tough' on Edinburgh stages
The Chase star Paul Sinha has been performing at a stand-up comic for decades, though admits he now 'finds it tough' at the Edinburgh Fringe. The 55-year-old was once a a festival diehard, adding that he excelled in the 'exercise of masochism' of tiny, packed clubs. His 2006 solo show at The Fringe, 'Saint or Sinha?' won several awards - and he's taken to the stage in the capital almost every year since. However, since his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2019, Sinha admits finding it increasingly difficult, reports Liverpool Echo. "I now find with my health not being what it was, and my general energy levels, I find it a lot harder – not least the heat," he admitted on Tim Lihoreau's Guess Who's coming To Dinner podcast. "The rooms at the Edinburgh Festival are really hot, the performing rooms, and I find it hard." After addressing his discomfort, Paul, who celebrated his 55th birthday this week, explained: "I don't think I could ever go to Edinburgh and leave early, because I just wouldn't feel like I was part of the gang. "You've got to be genuinely suffering to a degree to feel that you're part of the gang." Paul received his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2019, after "worrying about why a right-sided limp was now getting worse." Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder which causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged. It's marked by tremors, and problems with balance, as well as sleep abnormalities, psychosis, and mood swings. As of yet, there is no known cure. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox Paul, nicknamed by The Chase fans as The Sinnerman, said that many of his friends, who were still working in medicine, had spotted the early symptoms, but it wasn't until he saw his consultant for a second time that his symptoms were identified. "I went to see him and he said, 'I've just been watching you on Taskmaster, I wish I'd known. I would have diagnosed you far quicker'," he told The Sun, adding: "there were telltale signs in the way I adjust and move that he said were diagnostic." Paul said most people are familiar with the tremors that Parkinson's causes, but aren't aware that the disease has other, less common effects on the body. One of the earliest warning signs of Parkinson's is a loss of sense of smell, which can strike several years before other symptoms develop. Nerve pain, problems with peeing, and memory problems can also be a cause of concern. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Paul recalled on Loose Women how a seemingly innocuous ache was an early warning sign: "I presented one morning with a stiff, painful right shoulder. I never had a stiff joint before," he said. "I didn't think anything of it, I thought, 'this is just going to go away,' and then it just never went away." Paul works hard to manage his symptoms. Concerned about cognitive decline, he plays an online speed quiz every day at 6pm called Tea Time Trivia to keep his brain sharp: "It's something that's always on your mind because my brain is my tool," he said. "If I become more physically disabled, I'll still be able to do The Chase and I'll still be able to do stand-up comedy."
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meet the Possilpark man behind the Glesga Da podcast
'I'M just a guy that canny say no,' Raymond Mearns says ahead of his seven shows at this year's Glasgow International Comedy Festival. The comedian is returning to the festival with his solo show Looking For A Great Audience on Sunday, March 30. It will take place at the Stand Comedy Club after being shortlisted for the Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award in 2024. Raymond says it was 'amazing' to be shortlisted for the award. He added he's lucky to be in comedy despite never setting out to become a comedian but says it was a 'very happy and joyous accident' that he did. READ NEXT: (Image: Glasgow International Comedy Festival) 'It's already a joy and a gift, it's amazing to be paid for something you love,' he said. 'It must be one of the best things in the world.' Raymond says Looking For A Great Audience is 'just me doing my thing'. He explained: 'I always do a solo show. I take elements of that and I take it to The Fringe. 'I'm fortunate I sell it out every year. 'That's just me doing my thing, all my madness and mental ideas and maybe roasting some of the audience in the front and that sort of thing and that's great.' (Image: Supplied) A show Raymond feels particularly passionate about at this year's festival is Raymond Mearns Fool on Comedy Crew which will take place at The Flying Duck on Saturday, March 29. Fool On is a Lanarkshire-based charity which seeks to improve mental health and emotional well-being through artistic engagement. Raymond, from Possilpark, runs a Comedy Club workshop with the charity. He explained: 'It's brilliant. 'There are people with disabilities and people who can't work for various reasons, people who've got mental health problems. 'What I try and do is point them towards telling a good story, a few jokes, maybe understand a wee bit more about how they could take some of the negative aspects in their life in a situation and turn that into positive and optimize it into passages of great beauty. 'People take themselves really seriously and comedy lets you laugh at yourself, and I think that makes the world a better place.' The group previously did a show in Hamilton which he says got a 'phenomenal' response so they decided to bring it to the comedy festival. The show is described as a 'brilliant hour of original stand-up and sketches'. 'Its going to be an amazing thing, it's the product of all the hard work of the people in the class,' he added. READ NEXT: (Image: Supplied) Speaking of why he works with the charity Raymond continued: 'I think your mission in life is to find out what you're good at and then once you've done that you've got to give it away, you've got to share it. 'With every word, thought and action you just try to make the world a better place.' On March 26, Raymond will then be starring in Celtic Da's: A New Play By Phil Differ alongside Bruce Morton at the Oran Mor. 'As well as being stand up for the last three decades, I have done a bit of theatre and made a few films and TV shows,' he says. 'I'm not a brilliant actor but I think I've got some chops as an actor and I'm always keen to do something that's interesting and challenging.' 'It's about these two fellas and in the play, they're discussing things in their life. 'It's about friendship, football, Celtic, their place in the world and they're questioning that and the challenges you face when you're getting older. 'I think a lot of people will like it. You're always hoping you strike a chord with a lot of people.' Raymond will also be doing three Laughter Fest shows at Cathcart Bowling Club which he describes as a 'pick of comedians' from the festival. There will be three shows which will take place on March 14, 21 and 28. 'We're looking to get acts over to Cathcart and give them a wee bit of extra money through their act and it entertains the good people of Cathcart and the surrounding areas who might not be able to get into the city.' Podcast Glesga Da, which Raymond does alongside Stuart Mitchell, will have a live show on March 13 at BAad. Glasgow International Comedy Festival 2025 will take place from March 12 until March 30. You can find out more at
