The Confederation of Guernsey Industry (CGi) has started the search for a new chairperson to lead the local industry body.
Clive McMinn, who has run the organisation for the past three and a half years, is stepping aside from his role and would like nominations from across the business community, notably from those with experience of running small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Since its formation in 1995, the CGi has provided a unique voice for the grass roots of local industry – typically outside of the finance and hospitality sectors – and its membership evolves to reflect the changes in the structure of the economy.
Mr McMinn said the CGi established a valuable conduit between small businesses and the States in the early days of the pandemic and supported members on other issues so the new chairperson would need to draw on their experience and contacts in order to continue to assist local industry.
“We were particularly effective in providing politicians and civil servants with practical feedback from our membership which helped resolve many of the issues that arose during Covid. We have also lobbied hard to mitigate the negative impacts of the Population Management Law and supported members with the practical aspects of data protection and the forthcoming anti-discrimination law.
“The ideal candidate would be someone with first-hand experience in managing SMEs, who understands the challenges presented by the continuously evolving economic environment that we operate in, the impact of changes in Government policy and legislation and how this affects the many thousands of small businesses on the Island.”
The CGi believes that the importance of SMEs and non-finance businesses on the Island should not be underestimated. The States itself identified that there were around 2,500 in the Covid grant process and the events of the past 12 months have shown how important it is for everyone to pull together and back the ’Revive and Thrive’ strategy.
The election of the new chairman and committee members takes place at the CGI’s Annual General Meeting on 24th February and nominations prior to this can be made to Mr McMinn at [email protected] or by calling 07781 145 862.
