AN OPEN market entrepreneur who built a flourishing business in the island over more than 25 years says he is disappointed about pressure to take more tax from the sector. Rodney Clough ran two businesses from Surrey – family firm Clough (Croydon) and import-export company Interseals – before moving the latter to the island in 1975.

He built a successful company and a living for himself and his family, but maintained that Guernsey also benefited from his enterprise.

‘This whole thing is quite frustrating,’ he said of news that the open market sector could be targeted to make a greater contribution to the economy.

‘After all the effort you’ve put in trying to promote the island, as I have done, it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth.

‘There certainly must be an element of people who do nothing here or purely use Guernsey for tax and they are the ones who should be targeted.

‘And I do wonder if it’s the right way to bring in extra cash to help fill the black hole.’

Interseals manufactured and sold oil seals and gaskets to industry. Mr Clough thought that the islands could be a good base to service the oil rig industry.

‘I originally looked at Jersey. They didn’t want us, so we looked at Guernsey. They were very helpful,’ he said.

‘There was no financial advice and I don’t subscribe to subsidies, but the authorities were all very helpful.

‘I knew nothing about Guernsey, nor about the tax structure, but from my point of view I had a young son and daughter and I didn’t like the way the UK was going, politically or with education.

‘We just jumped up and made the move over here. It was a bit of a gamble.’

Mr Clough established the company in the island, but could not take on the 15 staff which would have immediately earned him a local licence. Instead he spent £35,000 – ‘we really couldn’t afford it’ – on an open market house near Delancey Park and worked near 12-hour days to get his company off the ground.

Gradually he started to employ and eventually built a mainly loyal staff of about a dozen before he retired in 2002 and then sold the business last year.

He tried to secure local market status, but was turned down.

‘I think we did more than our bit. We tried a couple of times to become local, but were flatly refused. They said it would create a precedent,’ he said.

‘It’s just the principle. It would be nice to think you’d be recognised for the effort you put into the island.

‘I still love and promote Guernsey and I’d like to think I could be a local.’