Recruitment Consultant Warns Jersey Over 'Appalling External PR'

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

26 July 2002

Speaking to the Jersey Evening Post's 'Finance in Jersey' supplement recently, one of the Island's leading recruitment consultants warned that a major obstacle to recruiting 'high-fliers' to Jersey is the depiction of the Channel Island jurisdiction in the UK and international press.

Warning that until Jersey addresses its 'appalling external publuic relations', the finance sector will remain under serious threat, Ian Thomas of Thomas & Dessain told the newspaper that:

'Jersey is a nice place to live, and the work is interesting. The problem is when you see an article in the Financial Times with a lovely picture of Gorey Castle, with the boats bobbing on the water, and a headline about sleaze.'

Stressing the changes enacted by the States authorities in relation to raising regulatory standards, Mr Thomas told the JEP that the depiction of the Island in the UK press represents 'the final hurdle' in attracting ambitious movers and shakers to Jersey.

However, he admitted to the local newspaper that he is mystified as to why Guernsey and the Isle of Man have not also received such treatment:

'Either someone has got it in for us, or someone disaffected with the government is feeding information. But it is something that needs to be handled properly, beforehand, rather than damage limitation afterwards.'

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