The new additions in the terminal – extending the existing cafe and the introduction of duty-free – also extend to the car check-in lanes, which now have an outside seating area, toilet facilities, a water station for thirsty dogs, and ‘a carbon-copy’ cafe and a duty-free shop.
The project has been about eight months in the making and hopes to generate additional revenue for Guernsey Ports, without having to impose more fees and charges on passengers.
‘We’re doing a lot around the harbour because passenger numbers are going to vastly increase over the next year with the new Brittany Ferries sailing times, Manche-Iles and Islands Unlimited,’ said David Buddery, project manager for Guernsey Ports who initiated the build.
‘We are trying to utilise our space better, it really needed some care and attention.
'It’s been super-busy since we opened – the products have been flying off the shelves.’
15% of the duty-free stock is local, and harbour staff are also working with local groups to inject some more culture around the terminal. The windows are decorated with poems from the Literary Festival and Mr Buddery said to ‘watch this space’ as he had ‘some funky ideas’ being worked up with Guernsey Arts.
Brittany Ferries won a competitive tender to operate the duty-free concessions and to take over the food and beverage offerings. The ferry company, which operates similar facilities in Roscoff in France, took on the refurbishment of the facilities.
‘We wanted to make sure we let customers discover Guernsey and entice them to come back,’ added Joelle Croc, director of customer experience and on-board sales at Brittany Ferries.
‘We partnered with Visit Guernsey who have supplied a beautiful image of one of the island’s beaches. That’s something we will try to continue to develop. The brand identity and the colour scheme has been inspired by the colours of Guernsey's coastline, and I hope it will please customers going through the harbour.’
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.