Early indications from a survey by Grant Thornton Channel Islands, analysing the impact of COVID-19 on Guernsey’s business community, has revealed that many companies are confident they can survive and will emerge stronger.
The COVID-19 survey, which has been sent to 1,500 businesses and individuals in the island, is the first of a series of surveys Grant Thornton is running to understand the business challenges which the pandemic has introduced in Guernsey. Headline findings are as follows:
- 95% of respondents say their businesses are resilient
- The majority of firms are not planning redundancies, citing how recruitment is difficult in Guernsey and they do not want to lose staff
- A minority of companies have furloughed staff
- Most companies said they had seen a reduction in turnover, a slight fall in profits, with a marginal increase in debt
- 85% of firms have introduced a freeze on recruitment
- 65% of respondents say their business model will change
- 41% believe it will take six months to recover
Grant Thornton’s Director of Human Capital, Susie Crowder said: “COVID-19 is a human tragedy first and foremost. The economic impact is now being felt with some industry sectors already suffering. However, early indications from our survey data reflect an encouraging level of resilience from the financial services sector, whilst other sectors appear to have been impacted more severely, particularly construction, tourism and leisure. We would encourage every business to complete the survey as soon as possible so that they, their sector and the wider community can benefit from the data as part of their recovery planning.”
The survey remains open and can be completed here: https://conta.cc/2yplWPR. A full report will be published during May 2020 and presented to industry bodies and to the States of Guernsey to help economic planning. A Grant Thornton webinar will also be held in May 2020 to discuss the findings in greater detail.
