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| Red and green make brown
| STEVE FALLA
Managing director, Orchard PR |
THE prospect or even possibility of co-operation between Jersey and Guernsey is headline-making stuff at present – all part of the The Big Debate preoccupying Jersey’s media, business community, taxpayers and, hopefully, politicians.
But, pinch me now please. Am I dreaming? Is this really Jersey saying it could work together with Guernsey in certain areas – and vice versa? The Crapauds working with the Donkeys, a heady mix of red and green, putting all the differences aside that characterise what we are – except perhaps for a football match on one special day in May?
Blair/Bush-like coalition power talks have been taking place between the main players in the two islands, Guernsey still heady with its new, improved ministerial system and Jersey with its sense of superiority. Even a federation is in view. But a joint Financial Services Commission, a common utilities regulator, joint transport board and a shared police force and health service? Potentially such critical mass could save costs, improve efficiency and provide both islands with better services. But, could it really work?
From a marketing point of view, perhaps Guernsey and Jersey have never had it so good, but consequently they may have also reached the end of their individual product lifecycles. Where is there left for them to go it alone in a high cost-base environment? And is this idea of co-operation the solution?
This is a supplement all about the finance industry, so how about Jersey Finance and the Guernsey Promotional Agency joining forces? Already we have seen major financial institutions who set up independent bases in each island 20 or 30 years ago, when there was everything to play for and very few onerous rules to get in the way, now rationalising their operations. The reasons for this are well-documented – globalisation, a dearth of well-qualified staff, the cost of regulation and, dare I say it, very little that can be offered through a presence in both Channel Islands that one of the islands on its own cannot deliver.
So, potentially, Jersey and Guernsey could club together against the rest of the offshore world. After all, we’re both in the premier division of finance centres and most of the competition is way behind.
I spend a great deal of my working life talking to journalists writing for the international financial press. Here’s what some of them have to say on the subject . . .
‘To avoid waste, there would have to be agreed division of expertise between the two jurisdictions and this would not be a bloodless process but in the end "Channel Islands Inc" could prove to be a more powerful force in the world than a couple of isolated islands floating in the English Channel.’ – Dylan Emery, editor, International Investment.
‘As the distinction between onshore and offshore becomes more blurred, the competition facing the Channel Islands is increasing, including from such places as New Zealand and Singapore. Channel Islands Plc may give both islands a better chance to beat off this competition than Jersey and Guernsey alone.’ – Simon Hildrey, freelance financial journalist.
‘Certainly, with promotional work, presenting a united front might be a smart response to a changing offshore world in that the islands can tell a stronger story together. Frankly, an offshore investor isn’t going to care very much about where Jersey and Guernsey disagree. They just want to know that they’re going to put their money in a competent, well-run place.’ – James Featherstone, editor, Investment International.
‘Jersey is an offshore tax haven, from the FT’s point of view, most of the time. To rebrand would be an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start again, in terms of its public image. Once Channel Islands plc was up and running, younger journalists would see it from scratch and others would be forced to re-evaluate it. It may never happen from a legal point of view, but from a marketing point of view, there’s no reason why Jersey Finance and the Guernsey Promotional Agency should not work together. They are too similar to be competing.’ – Bob Campion, acting editor, Portfolio International.
Telling comments perhaps, given that we spend so much of our individual efforts trying to influence these very people . . .
It could be said that tourism led the way. There were talks, joint initiatives and experiments to see if the two islands could be marketed together – but, sadly, the idea was greater than the reality.
The truth, in my view, is that Guernsey has more to lose than Jersey. How many Guernsey business people have made superficial contact with potential counterparts in the UK, be it in tourism, finance or elsewhere, to find that in early discussions the prospect accidentally refers to the island as Jersey? I doubt that the reverse happens nearly as much.
Bergerac is partly to blame. But so is Guernsey’s self-effacing and sometimes Donkey-like stubborn approach.
It is a fact that Jersey has the higher brand awareness. This is partly because Jersey is larger, also because it has been able to, and elected to, throw more money at promoting itself and partly because it wears its heart on its sleeve. Donkeys might call it brash.
But imagine Guernsey and Jersey working together to promote their finance industries. All the energy spent competing with each other, and there’s some, devoted, like a superpower, to a joint aim. Even the Isle of Man would be a minute speck in the distance. The two islands may not always like each other – like any pair of twin brothers competing for attention – but let’s face it we’ve much bigger and uglier adversaries.
Market the two finance centres together perhaps – but somehow split the profits, or the results, if possible, to an agreed ratio that recognises the input of the individual parties. And this will need an enlightened and unencumbered approach.
At the time of writing early talks between the islands have been predicated upon the understanding that it is important to preserve, promote and develop each island’s individual characteristics. While I’m a Guernseyman, born and bred, albeit with a Channel Island business, that conditional approach might well be a stumbling block to progress.
And at the end of the day red and green makes brown – arguably one of the most unattractive colours in the painter’s palette.
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