This Is Guernsey

By Joel de Woolfson

The department has published a guide aimed at attracting wealth creators to the island. (0569521)

ENTREPRENEURS who could start up businesses in Guernsey are being targeted by Commerce and Employment.

The department has launched a campaign to attract wealth creators to the island and has published a 36-page guide entitled Guernsey – A Better Way of Life. About 50 open market houses worth more than £2m. each are sold in the island every year and the department said the object of its campaign was to try to ensure that a few of those buyers might be the people who could start the next Healthspan or Specsavers.

Chris Elliott, director of marketing and tourism, said only 25 of those properties were bought by people from outside the island.

‘Unlike other jurisdictions such as Jersey or the Isle of Man, which are potential destinations for people relocating, we can’t just write new housing licences at will,’ he said.

‘So the art here is to try to present Guernsey as a very attractive place to relocate to and potentially to set up a business.’

Mr Elliott said the publication, which will be distributed to companies that provide services to wealthy individuals, tells people why Guernsey is a wonderful place to live and to establish a new business.

‘This is because among the number of people who are looking to establish residence outside the UK each year, there are some who want to retire and live off their accumulated wealth and there are a few very entrepreneurial types who may retire here and then want to establish new businesses, which will bring income into the island,’ he said.

‘The key to marketing to this sector is not so much trying to identify the people themselves, but to market to the organisations who deal with them, such as advocates, tax advisers, fiduciary companies, estate agents and so on.’

He said the department would supply these sorts of company with copies of the guide so that they could pass it on to clients who fit the bill.

‘Other parts of the campaign include liaising with journalists in the UK to provide feature articles in appropriate publications about relocating to open market properties in Guernsey and attendance at selected UK and European conferences for bankers, property professionals and lawyers etc.’ Mr Elliott said.

‘Other potential locations like Jersey, Isle of Man and Cayman are competing heavily for these people and, although our housing laws very strictly limit the number of people who can come and live here, Guernsey now has a high-quality presence in the market.’

Matthew Henry, managing director of Swoffers Estate Agents and a member of the Marketing Guernsey Group, backed the guide.

‘Up until now it has been left to private companies in the finance sector or estate agents and advocates to market the attractions of Guernsey to this sector of society,’ he said.

‘It is good to see Commerce and Employment acknowledging the role that the States has to play in attracting people who can potentially contribute to the financial well-being of the island.’