This Is Guernsey

By Tom Edwards

INVESTMENT in staff has been key to the success of Jyra Ltd’s small business award nomination, according to owner Michelle Champion. She left her well paid job as an IT consultant in the finance sector to go it alone and pursue her dream of running her own cafes and shops.

‘My staff have been amazing. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their loyalty and dedication,’ she said.

‘When I bought the business I had no prior experience whatsoever, but they stood by me and I am eternally grateful for their support.

‘My success is a direct result of their hard work and in return I try to treat them as best I can.

‘Everyone is paid at least the minimum wage, plus what I can afford on top.

‘As I employ mostly non-native workers, I also help them out with all the confusing red tape issues.’

Mrs Champion’s first business was Pelicans Cafe in Le Pollet, which opened three-and-a-half years ago and was the first Fairtrade-registered cafe in Guernsey.

She then opened Jyra Fairtrade in Mill Street in April 2006, which sells interior designer goods, gifts and jewellery.

That was swiftly followed two doors away by Jyra Kidz, which specialises in wooden toys and children’s furnishings produced in developing countries.

Not content with that, Mrs Champion also runs Cafe Victoria in Candie Gardens and is in the process of buying Fillers sandwich bar at the top of Mill Street.

Plans are afoot for a Christian book store and setting up an internet site for Jyra Ltd.

‘I guess I thrive on running several companies simultaneously and I have a passion for selling Fairtrade goods,’ she said.

‘Before I had the cafe and shops, I supported Fairtrade and I thought that it would be a good business idea as Guernsey didn’t have anything like it. We’re not perfect, but we do our best to promote that ideology through the products we sell.’

Partly as a result of her efforts, local demand for Fairtrade products has increased.

When Guernsey gained Fairtrade status, Jyra Ltd was already leading the way and the resulting publicity attracted much extra business.

The company has continued to grew at a phenomenal rate. Pelicans has doubled its turnover in the last three years.

Mrs Champion is the heart of Jyra Ltd and in three-and-a half years she has gone from a job in IT to the true embodiment of entrepreneurialism.

Does she regret anything? The answer, unsurprisingly, is a resounding ‘no’.

‘It wasn’t that I was unhappy in my job, it’s just that I had a burning desire to combine my passion for Fairtrade with my own business,’ she said.

‘But it wasn’t easy. I spent the first 15 months carrying on with my previous job.

‘I would open up Pelicans in the morning, go to the office all day and then come back to close the cafe in the evening.

‘I always wanted my own business and it had to be something involving places where a range of people actually wanted to be.

‘It felt really strange on my first day, I was ridiculously confident. I hadn’t thought through the logistics, but ironically that was probably a good thing.’