Condor has 'no real back-up' for Liberation
HAVING sent in a few letters to your paper since the ill-thought-out purchase of the Liberation, which together with other readers' letters seem to have had zero effect on Condor, I had more or less decided to 'hang up my pen' but Deputy Jennifer Merrett's excellent statement in a Guernsey Press article on 12 May prompts me to write in support of her ambition to get Condor Ferries to obtain a new UK ferry. Deputy Merrett correctly says Condor has no real back-up if the Liberation doesn't sail. Her proposal to re-introduce a third UK ferry is an eminently sensible business proposition and if Guernsey is to grow the sea visitor tourism sector back to the 2014/2015 levels, it needs more scheduled sailings and more back-up. The years 2014/2015 are the last period when we had three UK ferries (instead of just two as now) and many more scheduled sailings to/from Guernsey... as such these are the years Condor has to compare present figures against.
I was intrigued to see CEO Paul Luxon said in the same article that Condor is in regular discussion with Economic Development in Guernsey and '...this may include investigating the suitability of alternative vessels and services'. Yet, in an interview in the Guernsey Press on 24 April he said Condor had no plan to expand the size of its present fleet. Which statement is correct?
Mr Luxon went on to say an additional ferry would be a significant investment but it wouldn't generate any additional passengers (how does he know this?) and the fuel and crew costs would increase.
This begs the question to Mr Luxon – how was it that Condor could run two fast ferries and one conventional ferry to the UK back in 2014/2015 and still make profits in the millions?
Talking of profits... I believe that Condor Ferries has always made annual profits in the millions and therefore, with proper business planning, they should have the funds to invest in new ferries and update its ageing fleet.
It is known that the owners of Condor Ferries are the Macquarie Group (an Australian financial group) and one can't help but wonder if in fact the profits have been sucked out of Condor by this group, leaving Condor without sufficient funds to re-invest in the strategic Channel Islands service.
Perhaps Mr Luxon can confirm what Condor's profits actually are and what has happened to them?
Of course, we were all expecting, with the appointment of a Channel Islander as CEO of Condor Ferries, we would at last get a service that is in favour of the Channel Islands instead of the Australian owner.
Instead, we get more of the same statements from Condor with no fresh strategic change.
If we cannot get this – perhaps the time is here for a new ferry service, jointly owned by Guernsey and Jersey, which will ensure all profits are re-invested in the Channel Islands, improving the service for islanders and visitors.
C. RYAN,
Les Traudes, St Martin's.
Editor's footnote: Helen Day, corporate communications manager of Condor Ferries, responds: Your reader shares his/her views, which we respect, however, these points have been made previously and responded to by Condor, so we don't feel we would add anything by responding to your correspondent's letter on this occasion.
