He's now delivered a new challenge to the more experienced runner this year with ‘Trail Monkey’, a series of 5km and 10km races along the island’s cliff paths, which is already proving popular. Paul told Express what else he would like to speed up in the island...

1. Time for an airline refresh

Flybe or 'Flymaybe'... as we all used to gleefully call them with a knowing look, until the delays and cancellations we have all encountered have gotten beyond a joke and have affected everyone I know at least once!

Pictured: Paul would like to see some new airlines on the island.

If I had a pound for every Facebook status I see of friends 'thanking' the airline for either leaving them stranded in some godforsaken regional UK airport for 15 hours or not even making it off Jersey due to the flight crew having been out partying the night before and all of them calling in sick, or the all-encompassing 'technical reasons', I would be a rich man indeed! Flybe, move over and make way for an airline that at least gives the impression their heart is in it! Dare I say it (and I know Hyacinth Bucket would turn in her grave)... Easyjet? There, I've said it... I will leave the enormity of those words there to hang in the air.  

2. Inconsiderate Roadworks   

Again, I don't think I am alone in this little bugbear. Roadwork planners always seem to base the roadwork timings on the maximum amount of inconvenience they can cause users of the road. Summer time? Let’s close the avenue at 8:00 until 10:00, and then 16:00 to 18:00 so we can dig up some holes, put a sign up saying how long it will take and then run over that date by a month. I know work needs to be done on the roads, but I just think the works need to be planned better.

Pictured: Paul suggests better planning from officers behind the island's roadworks so traffic isn't as disrupted. 

It seems that perpetually there are works going on the roads around St. Helier and I just wish that during rush hours a little common sense was applied so that traffic can still flow.

3. Hitch a lift to reduce traffic  

So the stats say that there are approximately 125,000 cars in Jersey. I would imagine on a Monday morning rush hour a good 90,000 are on the road! At least it feels that way to me when I am crawling into work along the avenue and then trying to find a space to park in.

Pictured: Would car sharing help road congestion during the rush hours? 

The amount of people who drive in alone (I am included in this...) is significant. I think the States should encourage car pooling to reduce congestion by perhaps incentivising it, much like the way they incentivise eco-friendly cars. It is a common sense approach to a problem that is only getting bigger. More people are buying more cars - if there were incentives for people to share cars, such as cheaper parking or carpool lanes with scanners to ensure compliance, it would reduce the amount of cars on the road during peak times and enable people to get to work quicker. 

I think it is fair enough to say that Amazon is king, particularly in Jersey. Getting our VAT taken off final retail price on items from Amazon that are already probably cheaper than the majority of goods in shops in town mean that more and more of us are ordering online and the local shops can’t compete with these prices. I know that as a retailer this is understandably hard, particularly with the price of rent in St. Helier town centre. However, there is one way the local retailer can really capitalise in my opinion: customer service. 

Pictured: Paul believes the retail sector would benefit with better customer service in local shops.

I have gone into shops in town looking to buy things and have been met with frosty demeanours, apathetic shop assistants carrying on the conversation with their co-workers whilst serving you and just a basic lack of engagement from some people working in the shops.

IfI was running a shop here, I would be looking to build relationships with customers and create brand loyalty so that people will go back to the local shops rather than saving a few quid online. There are a few examples of shops that have accepted the fact that online sales occur and have tried to work with this - where someone buys a bike online and it arrives in a box of bits, I know of a local bike shop that will assemble it for you, and get you set up right, which is essential for a good bike fit (and for one's sanity!). I think the more shop workers there are who scowl or don’t engage, the more likely people are going to vote with their feet and either go to the places that are welcoming and provide a great service or go online.  

I am so guilty of this, and it's such a sign that one is used to living in Jersey. When the idea of a journey from one side of the island to the other, which takes 30 minutes on a good day, seems like the biggest hassle in the world.

Pictured: Jersey is only nine miles by five miles, lest we forget...

I come from the UK originally and would commute on the M6 for a couple of years. Travel times would often take between one to two hours, so now I am here you would think I would love the reduced travel times, the fact that you can finish work and be on a beach in under 45 mins, right? Wrong!  I’m not alone in this however, I remember shortly after setting up parkrun getting an enquiry from someone about when we would be setting up a parkrun on the east side of the island as it was too far to go the four or five miles to Les Quennevais from Gorey on a Saturday morning. At this point I was living out east myself so didn’t have too much sympathy with this query! 

The views expressed in the piece are those of the author and not those of the Bailiwick Express.