19 jobs to go as bank winds down operations
Tuesday 15th January 2013, 12:00PM GMT.
CLYDESDALE Bank International’s is pulling out of the island at a cost of 19 local jobs.
The move reflects an unwelcome trend in the industry, the Chamber of Commerce said yesterday.
Julian Winser, pictured, chairman of its Finance, Employment, Legal & Tax sub-group and CEO of Schroders, said the deposit-taker’s decision to close to new customers was sad, but not unexpected.
The bank announced yesterday that employees had begun running down the existing business – a process not expected to be complete before 2014.
Mr Winser said many small building societies were reviewing what to do with their offshore business. ‘Originally, the rationale for being offshore was because you got a bigger margin for your capital because of better interest rates offshore. As a result, UK clients put money in banks like Clydesdale International to pick up the extra percentage.
Thursday 23 May
- Gang rape trio challenge guilty verdicts
- Peter Roffey on population
- Business Extra
- Skatepark walk-around
- Tennis - Heather prepares for French Open
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Useful Links
Not the first and wont be the last bank to jump ship
Give the island back to the locals, lets have more affordable housing for the youth of today
BRING BACK THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Report abuse
Nice Idea but,sorry PB. If you don’t possess a Time Machine,It won’t happen! We are, where we are. We can only change the future ,and that,with the best will in the world, is nigh on impossible.
Report abuse
Better get your mortgage paid off as soon as you can then, because when the banks go the average salary will drop by 50% (if you can get a job at all).
Report abuse
Can’t afford one so not a problem….
Report abuse
And it got in the Press !
Not like a lot of the other wind downs and head shedding.
The Golden Goose is about to lift off.
Report abuse
I hope you’re wrong for all our sakes
Report abuse
I agree. My employer made staff sign confidentiality agreements so that when they got rid of staff, it wouldnt get splashed across the Press
Report abuse
There is some rubbish being spouted here.
A contraction of the finance industry in the region of 10% to 15% in the next 3 years or so is realistically possible. Anything more than that is extremely unlikely.
Report abuse
Try 40-50% by the end of the decade.
Report abuse
The writing on the wall for pure offshore banking has been on the cards for 2 or 3 years. When interest rates are so low at around 1%, the tax advantage of banking offshore is negligible.
The service-driven sub-sectors of the finance industry, being fiduciary, fund administration, captive insurance and wealth management are all pretty robust, although having to adapt to find new markets. They are starting to do that quite well. These are all areas where jobs are carried out by people with knowledge and experience, adding value, rather than by computers crediting interest.
I don’t believe that anyone should view the loss of a small deposit-taking bank as a particularly worrying loss.
Report abuse
I hope you’re wrong too for all our sakes
Report abuse
Yet another bank folds it’s tents and heads off into the sunset – doesn’t seem all that long ago that Clydesdale were making a big show of their presence in the island. We now have just over 30 left that would be able to support a post funded “depositor compensation scheme” Assuming that none of those that remain would make tracks at the first sniff of trouble. Retail depositors in Guernsey should be alarmed as past events have demonstrated that the States are unlikely to come to the rescue in the event of another failed bank.
Why are depositors in Guernsey not able to put their savings into UK or EU supported banks or building societies (compensation government guaranteed at 85,000 not “maybe 50,000″. Why should we be so disadvantaged, why can we not avail ourselves of the protection offered everywhere else in Europe
Report abuse
Guernsey has a long and successful history of reinventing itself in response to economic and social changes. in the past hundred and fifty years its main in dustries have moved through fishing ( we used to export to Canada), granite quarrying ( Guernsey granite can be found in numerouse parts of London), horticulture, tourism and since the Second World War the finance industry. it is now time for Guernsey to reinvent itseld again. we need to looktoward high cash yielding industries that are likely to be in high demand for the foreseeable future. We need industries that are not going to take up land space we do not have and that will be not incur heavy transportation/ freight costs. Perhaps I could suggest Biomedical Engineering.
Employment of biomedical engineers is projected to grow by 62 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations. This is a conservative estimate.
The aging baby-boom generation is expected to increase demand for biomedical devices and procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, because this generation seeks to maintain its healthy and active lifestyle. Additionally, as the public has become aware of medical advances, increasing numbers of people are seeking biomedical advances for themselves from their physicians.
Biomedical engineers will likely experience more demand for their services because of the breadth of activities they engage in, made possible by the diverse nature of their training.
Biomedical engineers work with medical scientists, other medical researchers, and manufacturers to address a wide range of injuries and physical disabilities. Their ability to work in different activities with other professionals is enlarging the range of applications for biomedical engineering products and services, particularly in healthcare. This is an enormous growth area.
Guernsey will survive, it always has. The folly has been that, not unlike other parts of the world, we have tended to place all our eggs in one basket. We should have diversified ten to fifteen years ago in preparation for what was inevitable. We are now being forced into diversifying.
What we need is the political and entrepreneurial leadership to take us forward. With a bit of foresight this could be an opportunity for Guernsey.
Report abuse
A very sensible, thoughtful post, CAS.
Two things though. Firstly, just because Guernsey has always survived doesn’t mean it will this time (economically I mean). But most people making the decisions have already ‘made it’ in life from the island’s prosperity over the last few decades, and will not be that concerned about a possible exodus of itinerant workers and young non-professional locals. Secondly, they are not yet being forced to diversify, and regrettably they will not do so until they *are* forced into it by circumstances, by which time it is likely to be way too late.
The water is just starting to get choppy and the global financial crisis has not even reached the end of the beginning yet.
Report abuse
Really interesting idea!
Report abuse
tick tick tick, whatever can that be? It’s the sound of the ticking time bomb lit under the finance industry. All the while our politicians can be observed with their collective heads in the sand like intellectually challenged ostriches. LVCR was the sacrificial lamb offered up and surrendered without any real fight to placate those in the UK government so as not to rattle their cage in the hope that they would turn a blind eye to our Worldwide reputation or should I say notoriety as a Tax Haven. Wake up deputies and do your job and start looking at other ways to finance this island without the slavish dependence on the finance industry.
Report abuse
I agree that we do need to diversify as soon as possible.Our politicians need to stop pandering to finance and start looking at alternatives. Tidal energy being one industry that may provide big returns in future. All the finance workers who keep saying that their industry is here to stay. I hope you have other talents, you might need them sooner than you think.
Report abuse
Aah – so the people are beginning to wake up.
A 10% – 15% (plucked from thin air ?) decrease in head count within the finance sector equals around a further 500 – 750 unemployed. Will free up a number of houses and flats.
Soup kitchens on the way ?
Will Admiral Park go ahead ?
Will St Gavin and Alistair The Complacent come out of denial?
At least Dep. Kev is doing his best.
It’s going to be a rough but interesting ride.
Report abuse
That’s a lot of lost tax and social insurance – 750 people earning an average of £30k per year.
Report abuse
Medical Engineering is a small field in Guernsey. Do i know you?
Report abuse
Tourist industry
Jersey did invest on building new hotels, and upgrade many others.
Guernsey the then IDC gave change of use to the Royal and Savoy sites and others important hotels into flats.
We will paid for having all the eggs in one basket!!!!!
Report abuse