Herm ‘has been running at a loss since Covid’
Herm Island has been running at a loss since Covid and has been described by the island’s leaseholder as currently commercially ‘nonsensical’.
John Singer is chairman of the Starboard Settlement Charitable Trust, through which the company Herm Island Ltd has run the island for the last 16 years, and, following a lease extension in 2017, is set to remain in control until 2069.
Since Mr Singer and the trust took over the business and the island in 2008 he said it had only ‘washed its face’ in a couple of those years.
‘I find it very difficult to justify commercially what I do here,’ he said.
‘I would not be doing it if I didn’t love it, but running Herm does need a certain amount of finance. I never expected to make a fortune, but I hoped it would break even.’
Low occupancy rates post-Covid have greatly affected turnover.
‘It’s not like we need 1% more income,' he said.
‘It’s like we need 20% more income just to meet our expenditure, not to make a profit.
‘We need far more visitor numbers than we have got, and I think that is true throughout Guernsey’s hospitality industry. We’re not perfect, and we’re always trying to improve, but I think our service standards are probably as high as they’ve ever been.’
He added that the island had been hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis.
‘The basic problem is people haven’t got any money in their pockets to spend nowadays. The number of people coming in September was 50% less than in September 2023. That’s a huge drop.’
The month also saw below-average sunshine and above-average rain, but Mr Singer said this did not account for such a fall.
‘I don’t have a silver bullet, but it is going to require detailed action to make Herm viable,’ he said.
‘It’s for the good of all Guernsey to see the island continue.’
Mr Singer made his fortune in property and still runs that business, with interests stretching from Australia to Scotland.
‘I spent 20 years running my business from a boat and I’m just one of those people who likes to travel everywhere by sea, which makes living on Herm ideal. It’s our home and we are thrilled that we live here.’
The terms of the lease does mean the trust has the option to sell the lease.
‘But I want the island to be sustainable before I consider that, so it is a viable proposition,’ he said.
‘At the moment it is a huge burden.
‘It does make me worry for the future of Herm. I’m 80 years old, and as Peter Ferbrache, when he was chief minister, reminded me, I won’t live forever. I don’t think I can argue with him.’
