'Island has to change' warns brasserie boss

THE boss of troubled brasserie Isabel's, which closed at the weekend amid mounting debts, is blaming a lack of tourists and poor support for Town centre traders. The Pollet-based bar and restaurant, which employs 23 staff, shut its doors on Friday morning after a Royal Court order was made to reclaim £22,000 from the business. A building firm lodged a further action for a reported - but disputed - £130,000.

Speaking to the Guernsey Press yesterday Glen Pontin, who runs the establishment with his wife, Suzanne, said: 'We have been paying back as much and as many people as we can. Our staff have been very supportive over the last three days and we both feel so very sorry for them.'

He put the business's problems down to two main things - a lack of younger visitors to the island and a failed planning bid to site his bar at the front of the premises to draw passing custom inside.

'Not getting permission to have the bar on the Pollet side must have lost us about £5,000 a week in the summer. But it is more than that.

'Guernsey has to change, tourists are nowhere and it's been harder than we thought. One of the reasons we grabbed the building was the proposal to pedestrianise the North Plantation into a plaza.

'The plans were brilliant and I just wish the States would help the Town Centre Partnership to get that going.'

The couple say when they took on the building two-and-a-half years ago, it was just a shell and has taken £800,000 to transform into the contemporary venue it is today.

'We just feel we were perhaps a bit too far ahead for Guernsey. In two or three years' time more places will be like Isabel's.

'Guernsey has to move with the times. It has to attract the younger generation of tourists, as well as the older ones. You've got to go for younger people who have money and want to get away for the weekend.'

He admitted he was unsure what the future held. 'We are just disappointed that our venture has not worked. Over the 30 months we have been trading, we have employed 100 people and used local suppliers whenever possible.

'But we would like, through the Guernsey Press, to say thank you to all our staff and our customers. If we can do anything, we will. If we can't, we will look for something else. We have a young family and we will have to move on.'