William Burdett-Coutts OBE is the founder and director of theatre and comedy promotion company Assembly, one of the major venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival.
[1] He was the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the Riverside Studios in London.
[4] Burdett-Coutts came to operate the venue after he was too late to find anywhere else to stage the play he intended to bring to the Fringe, The Madman and the Nun.
The Assembly Rooms on George Street had previously been home to the Festival Club, but they had vacated the building after finding it unprofitable to operate.
[5] Burdett-Coutts fought for the Assembly Rooms to remain a venue only building, against Edinburgh Council's plan to turn the ground floor space into shops and a restaurant.