‘Jersey had us jumping through hoops’, says new ferry operator
New inter-island ferry operator Islands Unlimited has said it is disappointed not to have secured funding support from the Government of Jersey, and even more so that it had claimed it had not been approached for support.
The Guernsey-based operation said that there had been ongoing engagement between the two parties since last May, including online and face-to-face meetings, after the island’s States said last week that it had not been asked about funding.
‘We are disappointed to see that the States of Jersey have released this misinformation,’ said managing director Chad Murray.
‘We have met with Deputy Morel and his officers on a number of occasions since May last year to request support.’
Engagement with Jersey States commenced on 2 May, when the company first requested a meeting with Sustainable Economic Development minister Kirsten Morel.
A virtual meeting was held with Deputy Morel and Jersey officers on 31 May. Islands Unlimited presented its proposed service and a request for financial support.
Mr Murray said that there was support and positivity from the States of Jersey and the proposed service aligned with Deputy Morel’s visitor economy strategy.
A first in-person meeting took place in Jersey on 5 July.
At that time Islands Unlimited provided its full business plan detailing the support requested from both Guernsey’s and Jersey’s governments, and this was discussed during the meeting, he said.
He added that Deputy Morel had advised that if any support was to be made available, Islands Unlimited was to engage with Manche-Iles Express to see how the services could work together.
Islands Unlimited met with Manche-Iles Express in Jersey on 2 August where joint-working was discussed.
‘The meeting was positive and both parties went away agreeing to look at developing a memorandum of understanding to ensure, where possible, direct competition was avoided,’ said Mr Murray.
‘We knew that Manche-Iles Express couldn’t provide a regular, daily inter-island service due to their commitment on their routes from France to the islands.
‘This is where we wanted to fill the gap, but also deliver regularity to the schedule.
‘We also proposed joint marketing options, contingency support in the event of technical issues and cross-selling of services, all with a view of forming an alliance for foot passenger services in the region.’
Feedback on the Manche-Iles meeting was reported back to Deputy Morel on 6 August and a further request was made to progress negotiations on funding support from Jersey, which was acknowledged by officers on 12 August.
Mr Murray said that he sent a follow-up email to Deputy Morel and officers on 2 September seeking to progress discussions.
The response indicated that resources were then focused on the ferry tender process but Deputy Morel was keen to strengthen inter-island connectivity.
A further update was requested of Islands Unlimited, so that officers could consider resourcing implications, which was provided, he said.
But on 13 September, Islands Unlimited was rocked to learn that Manche-Iles did not want to consider working together.
‘We were quite taken back with the response, given how positive the meeting went on 2 August, but we respected their decisions and continued with our planning,’ said Mr Murray.
A further meeting was arranged between senior officers from the States of Jersey and Islands Unlimited on 3 October.
Mr Murray said that Jersey then made further requests of Islands Unlimited to carry out more work and had expressed its disappointment that the company was not successful over working with Manche-Iles Express.
‘At this point, it was becoming clear to us that Jersey did not wish to support us, and were essentially deflecting us with further hoops to jump through,’ said Mr Murray.
An update was then sent to Deputy Morel on 14 December outlining the latest situation and again requesting support from the States of Jersey.
‘Neither Deputy Morel, nor any of his team have, to date, made an effort to even acknowledge our latest communication,’ said Mr Murray.
‘At all times, we have kept Deputy Morel and his team updated on our progress and efforts to appease their demands.
‘There came a point where we decided to pause our requests of support from the States of Jersey, given no progress had been made.
‘We have a service to deliver, and this is now where our primary focus is, but we felt compelled to provide the facts.’
We never received a formal request for funding, says Jersey
THE States of Jersey has reiterated that it never received a formal request for funding from Islands Unlimited.
The Guernsey Press asked the States of Jersey whether there had been a request for support for the ferry service, which was denied.
Jersey did not clarify whether any meetings had taken place, saying it had not been asked to do so.
A spokesman said that in his email of 14 December, Islands Unlimited director Chad Murray said ‘[we are] working on an updated business plan, outlining the additional support we require'.
‘We will provide a similar update to the States of Guernsey and we hope both islands can get behind our proposal so that there can be some certainty for 2025. This will enable us to mobilise the ship, establish the operation locally and train crews.’
The spokesman added: ‘We are still waiting for the updated business plan, which we would expect to include a precise request for funding, details of secured private backing (absent from any previous submissions), and updated economic modelling which was earlier evaluated by government as overly-optimistic and under-evidenced.’
