CARIBBEAN-BASED companies are using Guernsey to escape the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan. About 30 people, some with their families, will fly in today as part of their companies’ business continuity plan.

Itex business continuity manager Chris Oliver said that over the past 48 hours clients operating in the Caribbean had given notice of invocation as a result of the track the Hurricane was predicted to take.

‘While it’s very difficult to predict the path of a hurricane, some weather experts in the Caribbean are predicting wind speeds of between 180 and 210mph,’ he said.

Dubbed ‘Ivan the Terrible’, the Hurricane has already caused more than 20 deaths in the south-east Caribbean as winds gusting to 145mph battered the region.

Half-a-million Jamaicans have been told to evacuate coastal areas as Ivan heads towards their island. Hospitals have been put on full alert and all schools, shops and airports have been closed.

Mr Oliver could not reveal which part of the Caribbean the workers were coming from, or the companies they represent, due to confidentiality agreements.

It was not in a company’s interest to divulge its business continuity arrangements if there was any perceived threat from outside, he said.

It was too early to say how long these companies would be trading from Guernsey.

‘That decision will not be taken until Hurricane Ivan has bypassed the Caribbean and a proper assessment and loss adjustment has been carried out.’

Experts in Grenada, through which the hurricane has already passed, have predicted some businesses will be set back 30 years as a result of the damage it caused.

Mr Oliver is also secretary to the Business Continuity Institute, a global group, which he said involved leading practitioners in the industry.

The group had already identified Guernsey and Jersey as soft targets for any hostile groups.

The switch to Guernsey would enable the companies to carry on their business in a seamless manner and customers may be unaware that the businesses were working, temporarily, from outside the Caribbean.

‘It’s a fact that 93% of companies that are unable to trade for 48 hours go bust,’ said Mr Oliver.

There had been eight invocations of business continuity plans in Guernsey alone during the past 12 years, he said.

The story demonstrated that the practice of business continuity through planning, training, testing, and facilities management, is an industry in its own right and it spoke volumes of the pool of resources available in Guernsey.

One company gave notice of its invocation at 3am yesterday when a member of Itex – a Guiton Group company that employs about 50 locally – was available to provide help by telephone.