DYNAMIC BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Dynamic Business Environment

My roles with various industry bodies have been especially fascinating and led me to work closely with both the Guernsey Revenue Service and the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. This has provided me with a real insight into how our government departments operate and interact, and shown me that our Civil Service bodies are outmoded and need modernising to become more efficient, as they are currently structured in such a way that means we are sometimes slower to react to opportunities in the international marketplace than our competitors.

If Guernsey is to remain competitive it is imperative that we look at ways to remove obstacles to growth in the financial services sector which are often driven by the fear of falling foul of intergovernmental bodies. The island needs to take a less risk-averse approach to regulation in order to demonstrate to companies looking to operate here that Guernsey has a dynamic approach to business. As shown in the island’s glowing Moneyval evaluation, we are getting the important calls right and can build on this by updating the governmental services that support our industries.

At the same time, we need to encourage a diversification of the island’s industry base. The finance industry has served us well, but we are at risk of having all of our eggs in that particular basket, and past experience with the growing industry tells us that sometimes an industry can fail due to circumstances outside of our control. While we may not have the space for large factories, we need to create an environment that ensures that local entrepreneurs are given every possible assistance to make a success of their projects. I’m sure there were those at the time who never thought the finance industry would do so well!

Guernsey is struggling with a high cost-of-living and inflation, and hampered in its ability to complete vital large capital projects due to financial pressures. To grow our way out of this situation we must optimise provision of support to business to do all within our power to attract -and retain- employers who will help us achieve the economic stability we so badly need.

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