This Is Guernsey

TYCOON Tom Scott believes Guernsey and Jersey should be more like a family when conducting business.

The former CI Traders boss, pictured, who retains interests in both islands, said if the Channel Islands were a business, they would have been merged a long time ago.

‘I’m not saying we should merge the two islands, but having two completely different systems in regards to things like tax and population makes life extremely difficult,’ he said.

‘We should be turning round to each other and acting more like a family. Like every family, we might fall out once in a while, but when someone attacks us, we stick together.

‘We could make all our lives much easier if we just sat down and thought about things together more.’

The tax system in Jersey has treated him much more kindly, said Mr Scott, and he had followed the advice of a local tax adviser when choosing to live there rather than here.

‘I love Guernsey and if I didn’t think there was a future here, I wouldn’t be investing here.

‘But last year at the Institute of Directors debate I asked [deputy chief minister] Stuart Falla if he thought Guernsey was open for new business and the answer was, sadly, no.

‘How can you sustain an economy with an ageing population without new growth? Jersey is going for growth.

‘I know that we have a limited landmass, but we still have to go for growth. If the existing businesses here cannot get the new employees they need, then they will leave.’

Mr Scott, the owner of Jacksons motor group, said that it was impossible to get a housing licence for non-finance sector businesses and consequently Guernsey’s service industry was being overlooked.

‘Porsche is the perfect example. Their vehicles can only be serviced in Jersey now because of staff issues.

‘The difference between the two islands is demonstrated by the fact that we will sell 2,000 cars in Jersey this year, while in Guernsey we struggle to do a third of that.’