LABELLED a tax exile by the UK press following his move to Guernsey last year, British financier Guy Hands made his first public appearance in the island last night.

The boss of private equity giant Terra Firma has barely been out of the news since his decision to move to the island in April of last year.

The media interest was because of what the broadsheets described as a protest against the introduction of the new 50% UK tax rate for high earners.

Since then Mr Hands (pictured) has not returned to Britain once and according to recent court filings in the US, where he is seeking to prevent a court fight with Citigroup over Terra Firma’s purchase of music label EMI taking place in the UK, the move has been a ‘burdensome option’ for him and his family, with his wife and children remaining in the UK.

In last night’s speech at the Institute of Directors annual dinner, sponsored by Collas Day, Mr Hands made no reference to the court case, but did elaborate on how he had come to live locally without mention of any special tax reasons.

He said he first came to the island in 1991 with wife Julia on their seventh wedding anniversary and then in 2002 decided to set up the Terra Firma business from Guernsey.

‘Since then I have been a frequent visitor and just over a year ago relocated to Guernsey permanently. I now live at the far end of the big road in one of the upper parishes overlooking the Cup and Saucer.’

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