It has about 40 vacancies, four times more than usual.

The company employs about 350 people across multiple brands. Pre-Brexit and pre-pandemic, the company usually advertised about 10 vacancies at a time.

‘If the trajectory continues, we could end up with short-term closures of a day here or there throughout the week,’ said retail managing director Mike Rutter.

‘At the moment, we are managing the staffing issues with reduced opening hours. We appreciate that’s not the best thing for the customers, but it’s the best way forward for now.’

Sandpiper's human resources issue extends past Guernsey's border. Mr Rutter said Jersey was in a very similar situation with vacancies exceeding the number of individuals in the job pool.

‘There is no one to recruit. The labour pool is empty,’ he said.

Sandpiper CI handles a number of franchise brands, including Morrisons, Costa, Matalan, Iceland and Crew Clothing in Guernsey.

The issues contributing the staffing crisis are complex and nuanced, Mr Rutter said. The pandemic has contributed to the problem, and Brexit is another aspect.

In Guernsey, the high costs of housing have added yet another layer of complexity.

He said workers from other countries have always comprised a large part of the Channel Islands work force. For all the reasons he mentioned, Mr Rutter said guest workers have faced more hurdles to securing residency and work permits, and many have returned home during the pandemic.

Taken all together, he said the core of the issue was an ever-shrinking labour pool with multiple sectors competing for an individual’s labour.

‘I think the States has a part to play. They create the rule set around work permits that can increase the labour pool. However, the rest is down to us, the employer, to make the roles we offer attractive to potential employees,’ said Mr Rutter.

Although historically Guernsey and Jersey have had similar job markets, Mr Rutter said Guernsey’s had always been tighter.

As a result, he thinks that Jersey has felt the labour squeeze more acutely than Guernsey, but it has ultimately been a difficult time for recruitment on both islands.

As a result of the pandemic, Sandpiper CI-managed businesses Pasty Presto and Moss Bros closed their doors permanently. Mr Rutter said Sandpiper reviewed its brand portfolio regularly to make sure it was cost-effective.

‘There are different reasons that some places come and go,’ he said.

‘We are always looking to expand into new areas, and there are a number of brands we are interested in opening in Guernsey.

'But it’s a a struggle to find labour resources for the businesses we currently operate, so it’s a matter of balancing our interests and making sure we have the resources available to open new locations.’

Mr Rutter said Sandpiper CI did not currently have any new locations or projects in the pipeline.

COSTA Coffee in the Arcade is closed permanently, said Mike Rutter, retail managing director of Sandpiper CI.

The lease for the building had ended, and Mr Rutter said the decision was made to close the location instead of renewing the lease.

‘The Costa Coffee brand is a strong one, and eventually we would be interested in opening a new branch somewhere else in Guernsey,’ he said.

There are currently two other Costa Coffee locations in Guernsey. One is on the Bridge, and the other is in the Pollet.