Guernsey Press

Chamber: ‘We are all in this together’

GUERNSEY needs to come together and end the ‘blame culture’ to ensure the island thrives.

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Chamber of Commerce president Barrie Baxter. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 22039134)

In a rallying cry for positive action, new Chamber of Commerce president Barrie Baxter also said Guernsey needed to ask itself how open it really was for business.

‘There is a lot of talking that goes on and there is a lot of discontent, and I’d really like to be an agent to change some of the adversarial nature of that,’ said Mr Baxter, when he addressed the Chamber’s monthly lunch at the Old Government House Hotel.

‘I hate with a passion blame culture – the finger pointing, the adversarial positioning. It’s fine to have a different view, but we have to find mechanisms to be able to work together to collaborate – and to be able to realise that we are in this together in improving things.’

Mr Baxter, who has enjoyed a successful business career, said that he had taken on the Chamber role because he loved Guernsey and wanted to give back into society. Drawing from his experience with international businesses, he also warned against the risk of ‘denial’ of issues facing organisations.

‘I think that actually things aren’t as healthy on the island as we would wish them to be – and I think there is a degree of denial. I think we need to look at ourselves, and I am a great believer in introspection, asking yourself the questions, challenging yourself.’

Areas where the island needed to do ‘better’ included visitor numbers, businesses start-ups, the health of some parts of the economy and the dependency on some sectors. Transport was the most important issue to fix, according to Mr Baxter – with the audience largely agreeing when he asked them.

‘I can’t think of a better place than the Chamber of Commerce to help to do that,’ added the president.

‘I don’t want us to be a talking shop for particular issues. I want us to be a consensual driver on particular issues.’

He pledged that the Chamber would be a ‘mechanism for businesses to make representations to get things done by government’, adding: ‘We need to be clear and direct about what we want.’

During questions with the audience, former Economic Development vice-president Deputy Jan Kuttelwascher also raised the issue of transport.

‘I would say the majority of my colleagues in the Assembly are in complete denial on this issue – and that’s the problem. They don’t believe there’s a problem,’ he said.