Friday September 26th 2025
Live Borders CEO Catrina McAllister
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
As D-Day approaches for the Borders cultural and leisure services provider its new CEO is accentuating the positives.
Tough and painful decisions lie ahead for the charitable trust Live Borders with £2m in savings needed.
A public consultation over the future of several facilities came to a close at the end of August with a document from consultants Integratis recommending a raft of closures to plug the funding gap.
Threatened venues include Peebles Drill Hall, Innerleithen Memorial Hall, Sir Walter Scott’s Courtroom in Selkirk, Eyemouth Community Centre, the Focus Centre in Galashiels and Langlee Community Centre.
It’s a worrying time for service users and Live Borders staff facing an uncertain future.
With Scottish Borders Council expected to make recommendations next month, individual facilities have sought to justify why they should be ‘spared the axe’, with footfall at many venues having increased in recent weeks.
Just two months ago, Catriona McAllister took up the position as Live Borders new chief executive officer after eight years in Jersey, where she worked as head of regulatory improvement for the government.
She was fully aware of the daunting challenges ahead when taking up the role, but has a positive vision for the organisation’s long-term future.
As new CEO her aim is not to wield an axe to services but to “maintain as many” as possible.
She said: “My first priority as an incoming CEO was to understand the operation, understand where the business is and I did quite a bit of work even before taking up the role and have improved that knowledge in the last two months.
“Second to that is understanding the condition and standards of the facilities, both in terms of the building fabric but also in terms of the customer standards we are providing in those buildings and identifying and pursuing improvements.
“We are looking to invest in the team through training and development and working with the team at a difficult time for them, as it has been for communities when you see a report like that.
“The opportunity here is to deliver higher quality services, generate more income and do our part to making sure fewer facilities as possible need to be considered for closure.
“Then we need to look at growth to generate higher levels of income and opportunities through that and to make sure we are delivering what residents of the Borders want.”
The registered charity Live Borders was created in 2016, taking over the cultural and community services previously provided by SBC.
Although the organisation generates income from fees and charges it relies heavily on a management fee from the local authority.
But due to council cost-cutting measures in recent years, the council has gradually reduced that management fee and Live Borders subsequently failed to make necessary savings under its previous management board.
That has resulted in a series of financial bail-outs from SBC to Live Borders, leading to the need now for £2m in cost savings.
Catriona said the challenges faced by Live Borders are reflected nationwide at leisure and cultural facilities due to issues such as visitor patterns established post-Covid and massive increases in utility costs.
She said: “When you work in the profession the type of difficulties the Borders are facing is being faced by every leisure trust, so there were certainly no surprises.
“Integratis were asked to give an independent review and it was very much there to stimulate conversation about what the potential options are.
“It was made very clear by the council and Live Borders that this was a conversation that needed to be had, no decisions have been made and we’ve now undertaken since I came in a very extensive consultation exercise, I believe one of the biggest SBC has ever done.
“So whilst it was difficult for communities to read that in the cold light of day with the publication of the report, without much prior awareness, there is a level of detail now gone into with those communities to understand not just the pounds and pence aspects of those facilities but also the social impact on the communities and the value of those communities. That has come out through that extensive process.”
Catriona accepts that retaining the status quo is not an option.
She said: “There is no target in mind in terms of closures. What there is is a detailed public consultation process and there will be further discussions with the council in meetings coming up to look at the various ways in which that gap can be bridged.”
Live Borders employs about 230 contracted staff but also use casual employees, including students in the summer, and can have more than a 400 head-count at that period of the year.
“I can’t say what the impact this will have on staffing levels, we are not at that level of detail. The decisions on which buildings will continue will come after the period of consultation, which has just closed, and those decisions lie broadly with elected members. My job is to ensure that elected members have enough detailed information that is balanced.
“What we are trying to do is preserve services if we can. We are currently carrying a reasonably high level of vacancies to ensure that if there does have to be any changes to staffing we are able to move people around and secure them in positions.”
Catriona, who has moved to Kelso with her partner and three teenage children, added: “The staff at Live Borders are absolutely dedicated to the work they do. They work in the professions they do because of the impact it has on communities and as a staff group they believe in their facilities and they want to see these things continue. So it’s natural that morale has taken a bit of a hit when something they believe in is being proposed for closure.
“It’s not just been the Integratis report, it has been difficult in terms of interim leadership. It has not been a settled organisation for some time.
“However, what I would say is that since there has been a permanent appointment of a CEO, a new board has come in and SBC is working really closely with ourselves and it really does feel that SBC and Live Borders are now pulling together in the same direction and putting the voice of the community at the heart of what we’re trying to do, together with the voice of the staff.
“It has to be about geographical balance, making sure there is a balance of service across the whole of the Borders and that people have the opportunity to live culturally rich and active lifestyles.
“I got into this job because I fundamentally believe in the value of community, the impact that sport, physical activity, culture, arts, archives, museums, all of that good stuff, has on communities.
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