'Exploitative' job ads placed ahead of Edinburgh Fringe

Interns offered £200 'token payment' for working the month

- EMMA GUINNESS

Job adverts offering young creatives the chance to work during the entire Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the equivalent of £1.25 an hour have been branded "exploitative".

An investigation by The Independent has found job adverts from an entertainment website and a PR firm attempting to hire reviewers and interns for as much as 10-hour days, seven days a week, for as little as £200 for the month.

One of the ads, which is offered by the London-based company Impressive PR, offers a “token payment” of between £200 and £250 in exchange for PR interns working “long hours including evenings and weekends” – and expects the successful candidates to provide their own accommodation and laptop.

While Impressive PR does pay for the interns’ phone bills and travel expenses within Edinburgh, they stress that successful candidates must be “exceptional” and willing to complete a range of duties including “general admin and anything else that’s required” for their top “award-winning” talent.

Another advert, which is from a “confidential” employer, seeks a “brilliant” writer with a range of interests for “the whole run” who is also prepared to provide their own accommodation and work a “10-hour shift” “seven days a week at the Fringe”.

As reported by the Fringe Festival, anyone looking to spend the month in the city can expect to pay £2,000 to £3,000 on accommodation alone. In the case of the intern reviewers, they are expected to have 24/7 availability for 10-hour shifts offered by the website Entertainment Now.