Country shows affected by soaring costs amid cost-of-living crisis

The organisers of the Royal Highland Show have cautioned that the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and resulting price rises will have a “significant impact” on this year’s show.

Members attending the annual Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) meeting in late April heard of the significant rising costs and challenging economic climate, which now affects the society’s day-to-day operations.

Despite an increase in overall income from £8.2m to £11m, the annual deficit grew from £0.8m to £1.2m, which the society says is a result of the higher costs of operating the show.

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RHASS chief executive Alan Laidlaw said: “The return to normal post-Covid has been taxing due to the challenging economic climate, including a significant escalation in costs to deliver the Royal Highland Show.

“While we are confident that the appeal of the show will remain, the impact of reduced household income and the increased cost of doing business remains very real.”

Other shows

But the Royal Highland Show is not the only event navigating the turbulent economic climate.

It comes just months after the announcement that the popular Young People’s Village is to be axed from this year’s Royal Welsh Show, with the former organisers citing rising fuel and infrastructure costs as the main cause.

Richard Williams, chief executive of the Staffordshire County show said that, despite a bumper year for trade stands, he had seen an “obvious” increase in costs. 

He said: “We have seen a major rise in the cost of electricity. It has gone up from 12p per unit to 55p, so it really is a significant increase.”

But despite the challenges, Mr Wiliams is adamant that the show will not be affected.

He said: “This hasn’t prevented us from running the show in the same way that we ran it before the Covid-19 pandemic”.