IT MIGHT not seem like there has been much of a summer – and certainly in the UK they have become accustomed to grey skies overhead in the past couple of months – but at GuernseyFinance we have had blue ones. No, we have not decamped to some far-flung corner of the globe in search of some sorely missed sunshine.

Let me assure you we are still very much sharing with you the meteorological conditions that the island is experiencing.

What we have been doing is hosting a series of sessions with each of the different sectors of the finance community to inform them about our activities, gain feedback on how they feel we have performed and discuss how we might best fulfil our mandate to promote the industry internationally, importantly thinking outside the box or what perhaps might at the moment be more appropriately termed blue sky thinking.

These sessions are important because they provide a forum for face-to-face, two-way communication.

Now, that last word – communication – is as vital for us at GuernseyFinance as it is in life generally. We communicate with the industry frequently, after all that is whom we exist to serve.

However, crucially this is not just one-way, we are not just informing but are actually engaged in a two-way process that also involves listening.

The benefits of such effective communication are such that progress is more strident where it exists, whether between parents and children, governments and the electorate, or companies and their customers and shareholders.

GuernseyFinance has a two-way dialogue with what is a dynamic and fast-moving industry – and let me say that we welcome input at any time, not just on set-piece occasions – but it is also good to stop, stand back and reassess the situation in a more formalised manner.

Hence, the ‘blue sky’ sessions, which also provide opportunities to forge closer links with the industry.

Through these sessions we were able to bring together in one room a cross section of practitioners from each sector, ranging from those in independent boutique operations to those in major international organisations, and whom we were able to engage in a continuous dialogue, which included informing, listening and bouncing a range of different ideas off each other.

The notes from these sessions have now been circulated back to the attenders for review.

A list of action points will then be drawn up, with some able to be implemented immediately and others forming part of the operational plan for 2008, which will form the cornerstone of an industry update event that we will host later in the year.

Overall, the industry response was that GuernseyFinance is on the right track, although the mandate is far from complete.

We are aware that while much has been achieved, there is still much to do and we will continue working in overdrive to deliver what is required.

It is very much a case of blue skies for GuernseyFinance.