The government agency charged with promoting Guernsey as a place to live and work last year helped nine ‘high net worth individuals’ and 15 businesses move to the Bailiwick, creating 53 jobs in the process.
New figures show Locate Guernsey assisted with 24 relocations across the year adding £667,000 to the States exchequer through income tax and document duty receipts.
Locate Guernsey is part of the Committee for Economic Development, whose President, Deputy Charles Parkinson, said” “For the Open Market and indeed for the Island economy, bringing wealthy individual and corporate newcomers into Guernsey is vital. The Open Market has seen lower activity levels than it would like for many years, but in late 2017 and early 2018 we have seen some encouraging signs. Locate Guernsey has an important role to play in keeping that going, as it does with the move to Guernsey of businesses, primarily export-facing, that will create new job opportunities for islanders.”
So far, including figures for 2016, £1,692,000 has been received by the States through income tax and document duty – a sum which is greater than the agency’s three year budget of £1.2million.
Andrew Carey, the Head of Locate Guernsey, said: “Obviously it’s really pleasing that the financial return to the States has been so positive, but the impact on the wider island economy is also very important. There are many parts of the Guernsey business community which are also beneficiaries of increased economic activity. These include professional services firms such as accountancy practices, wealth managers, tax advisors, estate agencies and law firms. But the benefit is wider still, with the hospitality and construction sectors for example also seeing spend from newcomer families and businesses.”
In addition to its promotional work, Locate Guernsey also provides a single point of contact within government for enquirers considering the island and those actually making the move.
