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By GEORGE MAIRTHE UK’S ONLY giant pandas are now in
training for the long journey from their
home at Edinburgh back to China.
Fans of Yang Guang and Tian Tian - also
known as Sunshine and Sweetie - have
run out of time to say goodbye to the star
attractions at Edinburgh Zoo who are no
longer on show to the public.
The Royal Zoological Society of
Scotland (RZSS), the charity which
operates the zoo, restricted access to the
pandas’ enclosure as the pair prepare to
return to China.
The wildlife conservation charity’s
keepers are to “ready the bears for the
journey home” in early December. This
includes crate training to help transport
the animals away from the zoo and
on their charter flight as comfortably
as possible.
The animals, which will be
accompanied back to China by the Zoo’s
panda team leader Alison Maclean,
arrived in the Scottish capital in 2011 as
part of an initial ten-year arrangement
with the China Wildlife Conservation
Association. The RZSS later negotiated
a two year extension to the end of
this year.
David Field, RZSS Chief Executive,
hailed the animals’ “incredible impact”
during their 12 year stay in Scotland.
He said: “With more than a million
species at risk of extinction and our
natural world in crisis, Yang Guang and
Tian Tian have had an incredible impact
by inspiring millions of people to care
about nature.
“That added interest in the pandas’
departure this year has allowed us to
connect many more people with the
conservation causes that RZSS is
actively involved with, and with nature
more generally.”
Yang Guang and Tian Tian became the
first giant pandas in the UK for 17 years
when their special Panda Express cargo
plane touched down in Edinburgh in
December 2011. The original loan
agreement provided that RZSS paid the
Chinese an annual “donation” of one
million dollars - around £750,000 - amid
hopes that the animals would provide an
historic cub in Scotland.
Edinburgh’s star attractions will return
to China without having any offspring,
however, despite attempts at natural
breeding and artificial insemination
since 2013.The long journey
home for Pandas
No guarantee that Larah Bross will
repay investors despite assurances
Bagel boss
promises
branded
‘nonsense’
By STEPHEN RAFFERTY
PLEDGES BY FORMER Bross Bagels boss
Larah Bross to reimburse crowdfunders who
invested up to £1,000 each in her failed business
have been branded as worthless.
More than £166,000 was raised by Bross
Bagels in two rounds of crowdfunding but the
so-called “Shareholers” who stumped up their
hard-earned cash are unlikely to receive a penny
after the business crashed with debts of more
than £1 million.
In an apparent damage limitation exercise,
Larah Bross wrote to Shareholers offering them a
“free gift” of half-price bagels and said that
honouring her commitment to crowdfunders
was her priority.
But there are doubts over the legal status of
the repayment offer as the debt remains with
Bross Bagels Ltd - which is being investigated by
the court appointed liquidators Interpath Ltd -
and Ms Bross’s new business Hot Mama Bagels
Ltd will not be obliged to repay crowdfunders or
a long list of creditors.
One Shareholer, who asked not to be
named, said: “I don't think reassurance
from the bold Mama counts for much anyway
and it is all too little, too late. She should just
stop this disingenuous, patronising nonsense
and do the decent thing - pay the crowdfunders,
the suppliers and the small businesses which
have been scammed.”
The woman told The Edinburgh Reporter that
her family invested £1,000 in the first round of
investment in November 2021 because they
lived close to Portobello and wanted to support a
local business.
She added: “At the time, the bagels were good
and my kids were teenagers at the time and
loved them and bought into the whole Bross
Bagels social media thing. We felt we were
supporting a local business to grow and thrive
and it sounded like a fun investment, and of
course you got your money back after four years.
“It turned out to be a big mistake and the old
adage ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is’ springs to mind. It is a shoddy state
of affairs, the poor suppliers were taken for a
ride and the fact Bross Bagels did not pay
student loan obligations is really scummy.”
Shortly after opening the new business Hot
Mama Bagels messaged all crowdfunders stating:
“Honouring the investment of our 148
Shareholers remains a priority. You will have
now been offered a free bagel club membership
to Hot Mama Bagels Ltd and a commitment that
your investment will be returned. The priority
and focus now is to grow Hot Mama Bagels into
a thriving business and to meet these and all
other responsibilities.
However, in a follow up email, Larah Bross
had to clarify the offer, saying: “I'm very sorryfor any confusion, when I referred to the ‘free
membership with HMB’ I was talking about
your initial bagel club investment with Bross
Bagels Ltd which is now being honoured by
HMB free of charge. And which we intend to
payback when the 4 yrs of your membership
comes to the end of its term”.
Another crowdfunder was a teenager who
used money gifted to her on her 18th birthday to
invest £1,000 and seriously doubts the
repayment offer will be made good.
Now working in Australia, she said: “I had just
turned 18, I didn’t know enough about shares to
invest money in something which could increase
or lose value but I had been a customer for a
while and I wanted to support a local business
which had managed to survive Covid.
“It is a lot of money to an 18-year-old and I
thought it was a pretty safe bet and that I would
get my money back in four years, but I am not
holding my breath. It is very stressful dealing
with something like this when you are at the
other side of the world and the money I had
invested could have paid for my fare home or as
a back-up in an emergency.
“There are no guarantees she will repay our
investments and I find it very difficult and
frustrating that when you look on Bross’s social
media it’s as if nothing has happened and for
those that don’t know better it looks like
everything is running as normal.”
Bross Bagels Ltd went into liquidation on 3
August with debts of £1.27 million, including
£626,000 due to HM Inland Revenue. The
Edinburgh Reporter revealed that just weeks
before the business folded, Larah Bross sold the
assets of the company for £18,000 to her newly
formed business Hot Mama Bagels Ltd.
The new entity was forced to close its
landmark unit at St James Quarter but it
continues to trade in three Bross Bagels sites
in Portobello, Stockbridge and Bruntsfield
using the same marketing, social media and
branding assets.
The Edinburgh Reporter asked Larah Bross of
Hot Mama Bagels Limited for comment but she
declined the opportunity.The unit at St James
Quarter is now closed