where luxury breaks rather than more traditional holidays allow visitors to experience all that Jersey has to offer. Agriculture is at the centre of island life and truly gives Jersey its heart. The scope for development here is patently limited – by geography if nothing else – but farming heritage will be neglected at our peril and specialised operators have helped keep the island’s position as a supplier of high end produce.
Diversifying the commercial base presents more opportunities for the island’s youth and provides an incentive for locally educated talent to remain. There has historically been a view in some quarters that the only opportunities lie in finance, so those with ambitions elsewhere have either had to leave or be forced into a career for which they feel no passion. As a father myself, developing additional avenues of employment within the island is something I see great value in supporting.
All of this requires an education system capable of producing the skills demanded by employers. Exposure to progressive teaching methods supported by leading technology is a great start and Jersey must embrace the brave new world. The recent addition of degree level qualifications
from the Jersey International Business School allows students without the means or desire to travel further afield to progress educationally. I sincerely hope this trend continues in other subject areas too – potentially supported by technological innovations.
We at Affinity can be part of the island’s economic development by helping budding entrepreneurs understand what it takes to build a business – through school educational programmes, mentoring and similar activities. We certainly benefitted from the help and goodwill of many and our collective desire to give something back is strong. Ultimately, we want to share in the success stories as these people will need their finances structuring and managing, for themselves and for generations to come.
Looking forward a few years to 2020 and beyond, the future looks bright for Jersey if we can adopt the correct incentives, support and talent. In my view, the aim should be to create an economy that is more connected but less dependent, more specialised but less concentrated. The island is indeed changing but, coming back to Commager’s quote, this should not be feared because positive progress is being made too.
20/20 Finance & Investment
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