First woman president of Chamber of Commerce

The partner at law firm Carey Olsen, who is head of its Guernsey dispute resolution and litigation team, has served as vice-president of the business group for the past year.

She was elected as president at the business group’s annual meeting, replacing Barrie Baxter who had held the position since 2018.

‘It is a huge honour to become the first female president of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce, and I would like to thank Barrie for his excellent work and commitment over the past two years,’ said the new president.

‘As an organisation, Chamber continues to play an incredibly important role in Guernsey’s business community, representing businesses across all industries and sectors in relation to the latest issues and opportunities affecting them.

‘No challenge is more pressing than Guernsey’s ongoing response and recovery to the global coronavirus pandemic so we look forward particularly to representing members in our work with government on Guernsey’s Revive and Thrive strategy.’

With almost 700 members employing around 18,000 staff, Chamber is the island’s largest business network, supporting local business from sole traders to international corporations.

Kay Leslie, the Chamber executive director, said she was ‘absolutely delighted’ to be part of the team under the leadership of its new president.

‘The reshaped executive contains a wealth of diverse ability and talent at board level and will ensure that our ever-growing business organisation engages strongly with all sectors,’ added the Chamber executive director.

She also welcomed Jane St Pier and Clare Carre to the executive, bringing their experience and insight in finance and third sector to the table, plus broad involvement in the community as a whole, together with Diane de Garis who has been assisting actively for two years.

‘With major challenges facing all businesses now and the potential around Revive and Thrive for our future, it is a fantastic positive to be working for such a talented board.’

. The full Chamber executive is: president Elaine Gray, past president Barrie Baxter, treasurer Graham Rabey, members Claire Carre, Jane St Pier and Diane de Garis and industry heads representative Rupert Dorey.