New IoD chairman wants to build on island’s social capital

Glen Tonks has taken over the role from Wendy Dorey after her two-year term ended.

He said that one of his things his predecessor had done that he wanted to build upon was diversifying the membership base. He cited the IoD’s Student Advisory Council and the Next Gen Forum platform as examples of this.

‘We had a forum last night actually and it was really good. There were 70 aspiring directors there.’

Growing the membership was something he was keen to do, but this was not just growth for the sake of it.

‘I see the Next Gen that Wendy and the team have created as a real growth driver going forward in terms of diversifying the membership base.’

Mr Tonks, country CEO at Credit Suisse in the island, and his family moved to the island some two-and-a-half years ago and he said the one thing that he had found special was the network of relationships and connections.

Where these existed in the community and in business as well, this was social capital.

‘If you add successfully economic capital and social capital together you have businesses that grow and you have economies that grow and you have communities and businesses that operate more efficiently.

‘Simplistically, that’s how I look at it, and I think that a real competitive advantage of Guernsey is the social capital.’

He said he was keen to understand more about the local membership. ‘What’s keeping them awake at night? What are they passionate about? What is concerning them?’

And he wanted to give members a chance to have a say on the IoD’s focus.

‘There’s big challenges, but equally, there’s big opportunities. This is the time for smart minds, decisiveness and collaboration. Collaboration particularly between public and private.

‘I see a key role for the IoD is really strengthening that social capital that will help us gather smart minds and be more decisive to solve problems and capture opportunities.’