Book festival suffered 'significant financial blow' following loss of Baillie Gifford sponsorship

Borders Book Festival suffered a “significant financial blow” following the loss of sponsor Baillie Gifford with sponsorship income almost halved after it was forced to end its partnership with the fund manager amid climate change protests.

Paula Ogilvie, the festival’s new director who took over after the departure of founder Alastair Moffat, said she was “particularly encouraged” by the strength of this year’s festival, when ticket sales were up 8.1 per cent on 2025, adding that it had been an “exceptionally strong year”.

But according to accounts filed with Companies House, sponsorship funds for 2025 ran at just £68,000 - down from £111,000 the previous year when Baillie Gifford was involved.

The book festival managed to run with a surplus after dipping into income provided by benefactors, including a new grant of £51,776 from Borders literary charity the Hawthornden Foundation, which was specifically targeted at book festivals hit by the loss of support from the financial company.

In 2024, Borders Book Festival, along with the Edinburgh International Book Festival and Hay Festival in Wales, ended their sponsorship with Edinburgh-based fund manager Baillie Gifford following protests from Fossil Free Books, warning that they could not safely hold events amid the protests.

Borders Book Festival. | Lloyd Smith

Mr Moffat, who founded the festival 22 years ago and stepped down after this year's event in June to hand over to long-term director Ms Ogilvie, previously branded protest group Fossil Free Books "brain free books", saying the campaign was "stupid and ill-thought through”.

Ms Ogilvie said: “The funding landscape for arts and cultural organisations continues to be challenging, and the loss of Baillie Gifford as a sponsor was a significant financial blow, both to Borders Book Festival and to the wider book festival sector.

“Like many festivals, a substantial proportion of our funding has to be secured afresh each year and continuity of support can never be taken for granted. We have therefore worked hard to broaden our sources of income and have been extremely fortunate to receive strong support from benefactors, trusts, public sector partners, Friends of the Festival and our wider community.

“We are enormously grateful to all the organisations and individuals who have supported Borders Book Festival throughout its two decades, and particularly over the last two years. Their backing, together with the continued support of our audiences, gives us real confidence for the future.”

A report from the trustees filed with the accounts said: “Sponsorship income has continued to play a vital role in keeping the festival on a sound financial footing. However, following the ending of the Baillie Gifford sponsorship in 2024 and other, wider issues affecting fundraising efforts, it has again proved difficult to maintain sponsorship levels comparable to previous years, resulting in 2025 support being £68,894 compared to £111,300 in 2024.”

It said contributions from the public sector, which increased to £108,500 from £93,000 in 2024, was “critical to our ability to put on the event”.

The report said: “We remain very appreciative of this key source of funding. This, along with the increased support from Festival Friends' subscriptions and donations, and a separate stream of funding for strategic initiatives, and from benefactors meant that the festival's total revenue increased from £499,387 in 2024 to £628,349 in 2025.”

It added that income had exceeded expenses by just over £4,000 last year, compared to 2024, when expenses exceeded income by £23,000.

It said: “The festival keeps costs under constant review to ensure they are kept in line with forecast income. Prudent budgeting has previously ensured that the festival at least breaks even despite event and running costs becoming much higher.”