Food retailers and Guernsey Electricity defend their prices
Wednesday 14th September 2011, 2:29PM BST.
GUERNSEY Electricity and food retailers have defended their prices after an investigation showed for the first time just how much more expensive Guernsey was than the UK.
Loughborough University’s study into the island’s minimum income standards revealed the price of everyday commodities such as food and fuel meant that, in general, families needed 20% to 30% more money than UK counterparts.
But, speaking in reaction to claims electricity cost 20% more in Guernsey, Guernsey Electricity managing director Alan Bates (pictured) said it was impossible to fairly compare prices with the UK.
‘Economies of scale affect all businesses in Guernsey, including utilities such as electricity, oil and gas,’ he said.
Channel Islands Co-operative chief commercial officer Jim Plumley defended the supermarket chain after the investigation showed, when comparing prices to Tesco, islanders were 36% worse off.
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Well they are not exactly going to turn around and hold their hands up and admit it are they!
At least Dick Turpin wore a mask when he robbed people!
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Well said Really.
It will happen that only the rich will be able to live in Guernsey and run cars. If it’s not petrol it electric or gas that goes up. Food to buy is crazy money it does not just go up a few pence at a time is 50p upwards…..
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For years public sector workers have been telling the states how much more expensive it is to live in the island than the mainland, a point they have always denied. For the record other studies have been done relating to the cost of living in the Bailiwick and the results have always been ignored.
The states have to now recognise this and businesses who want to trade in the island have to remember not every person in the bailiwick works in the finance industry and can afford such exuberant prices.
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Why why why is Guernsey Electricity 25% more expensive than Jersey then?!
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So much for VAT free shopping
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This comes as no surprise to those of us who live on Guernsey and enjoy regular visits to UK, and shouldn’t, to those of us who don’t do this, for one reason or another.
I can’t remember the last time I did a full on ‘domestic’ shop on the Island, ie, household essentials,electrical, white goods, long life products, etc, etc. Even with the cost of the ferry, we are many quids in.
We use the internet for all our other requirements – no VAT, no postal charges, no return charges via the local post offices, in fact on most goods there is a free courier pick up service, if necessary, at a collection time agreeable to us.
It would probably be a good idea, for those who fully support our retail infrastructure to get together.
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And dont believe them when they say shipping costs are a factor , not when they are getting sub £30 per pallet
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Electric price increases shock the system ~~~ but remember in previous years proposed increases were refused or reduced by OUR
Inflated food prices are mostly affected by forward buying (those involved mainly there making money regardless of commodity)
Remember the wheat crisis, last year or was it 2009?
The cost of food shot up through the roof, bread, meat and milk etc.
So a tiny bit of sympathy there, but not much.
As wheat prices fell, appears they were not passed on to the consumer!
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Guernsey has VAT free shopping which is why I have never understood why electrical goods in particular are cheaper on the UK mainland.
As for food…yes I understand that there are freight charges etc and how islanders can be 36% worse off than Tesco prices on the UK mainland. However that does not explain the following:
beer £6 a pint [West Coast on Liberation Day] = 300% increase on UK mainland [Manchester] prices of £2
soup and roll £6 [St Peter Port] = 323% increase on £1.75 on UK mainland [Main Street, Haworth, home of the Brontes]
strawberry cream tarts with custard base = £3 each [West Coast and The Pollet] = 600% increase on two for £1 [Ashton in Greater Manchester]
someone somewhere must be making the hell of a profit!
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36% understates the amount we are ripped off on groceries. I’ll bet the survey was comparing only the usual price of items found in BOTH shops. In Tesco you can buy economy and family sized packs of everything whereas we get conned into buying silly little packets that are usually only sold in expensive corner shops in the UK. Goods such as washing powder are much cheaper when bought in big sizes. So the real comparison should be TWO 12 packs in Guernsey versus ONE 24 pack in the UK. The second scam is that most people buy a lot of their stuff when it is on offer in the UK, offers we don’t always get here – especially at the Co-Op. Our weekly shop would be half the price in the UK if we could use shops like Lidl and take advantage of many good offers. People in the UK think we must be millionaires when I tell them we buy most of our shopping in Waitrose!
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The thing that I want to know is who gets to keep the VAT that is charged on nearly everything we buy here? Having just returned from England even the wine is cheaper, how can that be, someone is making a good profit out of us? Buying on line one mostly gets the VAT off and quite often free postage but some people are not able to do this, so what is the answer? I would love to start a lobby……Susie
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Guernsey retailers often ignore manufacturers recommended prices and just dream up their own ‘CI prices’ as they see fit. Coupled with the fact that there is often only one distributor for each specific product on Guernsey, we pay however much that retailer wants. Not much room to negotite when just one shop sells the item you need. If you actually compare what we pay with the UK ex-VAT, you will see they usually grab the 20% VAT as extra profit.
On some items though, they go even further. Look at something like plumbing/electrical supplies where retailers here operate a ‘trade discount’ – often somewhere around 30%. This is basically an invitation for builders, plumbers, electricians etc. to rip off their clients by taking that 30% as profit when they charge ‘CI list price’ for parts. Sometimes we pay more than double the UK cost. If you need an item which requires installing or servicing here in Guernsey the first thing the Ripoff Guernsey retailer will tell you is that you will be blackballed if you buy the item off-island. Its like dealing with the mafia. Guernsey consumers should have been properly protected years ago. Why is nothing ever done, have our thieving retailers got ‘mates in the States’?
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Perhaps Mr Bates can explain the real meaning of his phrase,
“Economies of scale affect all businesses in Guernsey, including utilities such as electricity, oil and gas,”.
What are “economies of scale”? Is this a Yuppy way of saying “our excessive pricing”?
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peeps of guernsey having another moan
Whatever next
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Of course, if we’re not happy, there is a boat leaving tomorrow. Shame it costs so much we can’t afford to use it. Another Guernsey shambles!
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