'Safe environment Guernsey's greatest asset, not tax rate' - Guy Hands
Financier Guy Hands has said that he is proud to call Guernsey his home, despite comments in a Daily Telegraph article in which he wrote that moving to the island some 14 years ago was ‘a disaster’.
In his piece, Mr Hands – one of the island’s richest residents – said that he deeply regretted leaving the UK and urged anyone thinking of doing the same to think again.
He explained that he took the decision because of the uncertainty around future tax changes in his industry at that time.
‘Uncertainty is one of the most unattractive things that a government can offer businesses, which is exactly the pattern that any prospective UK government needs to avoid,’ he wrote.
It was the impact that moving to Guernsey had on his business relationships that was the major issue, he said.
‘I lost the flow of the market and ultimately I was never able to raise a blind fund again. Deal-making and fundraising is best done face to face and that was certainly the case even in those pre-Zoom days.’
But yesterday he told the Guernsey Press that while he regretted losing connection with his business when he moved here, ‘I equally regret having not moved here earlier'.
‘If I had I would have done my business differently and had the wonderful experience of bringing children up in a caring and safe environment, which I believe is the greatest thing Guernsey offers – not its tax rate.’
He lives in the island because he loves it, he said, and planned to stay for the rest of his life.
‘Guernsey was a wonderful and welcoming place to live right from the beginning and I was made to feel very welcome.
‘The people, the community spirit, the beautiful landscape, the history and its sense of peace all contribute to a place I’m proud to call my home.’
Locate Guernsey director Jo Stoddart said the island had an excellent reputation among high net worth individuals who would qualify to live in open market properties.
‘This is supported by the year-on-year increase we have been seeing in approaches,’ she said.
‘In 2022 we saw 46 HNW relocations which included 13 businesses and their owners as well as 33 individuals.
'Results so far for 2023 show that numbers will be similar.’
Locate Guernsey marketed in London last month with a successful event on the theme of Relocate to Guernsey that saw professionals who had moved to the island sharing their positive experiences of the process and of island life.
