Covid leads to growth at Digital Greenhouse
THE repercussions of the Covid pandemic have led to a boom in entrepreneurial activity in Guernsey.
The Digital Greenhouse has hosted 150 new businesses over the last two years, including ventures started up by local residents and newcomers.
Programme and engagement manager Ben Wratten said changes in islanders’ circumstances had prompted many to reassess their possibilities.
‘With the redundancies that resulted from the first lockdown, and with quite a few expat islanders looking to return, we saw a huge number of people taking the leap and deciding to develop their passion projects,’ he said.
‘We’ve also had massive interest from digital nomads, who are able to operate their businesses online and don’t need to be tied to a location.’
One couple from England had recently moved to Guernsey after returning from south-east Asia, he said, because they were made aware of Guernsey’s relatively Covid-free environment and had the prospect of using the digital hub to operate their business.
The influx of new start-ups has not been exclusively from digital companies but also from other, low-footprint businesses.
‘We’ve had some people who’ve started out as a hedge veg operation and they’ve been able to use our facilities to expand and market their business,’ Mr Wratten said.
The Digital Greenhouse was set up in 2015 by the then Commerce and Employment Department, under the leadership of former deputy Kevin Stewart, and was opened the following year.
Mr Wratten said it had been a new concept for Guernsey and that the chosen location in Market Street was perfect, being a Town hub.
There are allocated desks and hot desks on the upper floor and dozens of the companies that have used the allocated spaces have eventually moved on into their own premises.
Staff numbers have recently risen from 3.5 full-time equivalent roles to 5.5 and, in terms of service users, the facility has been at about 80% of capacity during the last year, albeit with peaks and troughs.
The St Peter Port facility operates under the auspices of Economic Development and is seen as playing a key role in pushing forward the States’ attempts to drive digital skills and innovation, which, along with improving digital infrastructure, has been identified as a top-10 priority for this four-year term.
