Opportunity still in the open market
THE facts make for spectacular reading. 500 jobs, 4,000 hospitality bed nights booked in the island every year, and nearly 20 years of community engagement through the Specsavers Youth Games and the Liberation Hangar Balls and Tea Dances, delighting hundreds of islanders.
As it marks 40 years in business, and founder Dame Mary Perkins’ 80th birthday, Specsavers serves as a reminder to us about Guernsey’s potential as a good place to do business, and the strengths of local ownership.
Speak to any management figure at Specsavers and they’ll tell you about ‘green blood’. It’s a key difference between a business which will up sticks at no notice, against one which remains committed to do the best for itself, and for Guernsey.
It’s also a reminder about the power of the open market and the opportunities that it can offer. Under scrutiny it seems a strange concept for the island to have adopted all those years ago – to set aside a portion of housing for anyone to buy, or move into, as long as they are prepared to pay a premium for the privilege. Simple, but for a long time, effective at introducing wealth, philanthropy and business acumen into the island.
Bringing the open market up to date and improving that opportunity is bound to be controversial. But it is certainly worth assessing if it can drive economic and social benefit.