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When she's not injecting flavour into St Helier with street food vans, the Town Centre Manager, Daphne East, is dreaming up another way to add a pinch of colour to the island's capital.
But she wasn't always a high street champion. After years working in hospitality as a chef, Daphne East went on to work on product development while teaching cookery at Highlands. It wasn't until 2014 that she took on her current role, in which she has been instrumental in the formation of the Jersey Retail Association and delivering town centre events.
Amid a week full of Christmas decorations and lights, Daphne took the time to write down five things she would change about the island...
It’s difficult to put on spontaneous events in Jersey as regulations don’t allow for a quick turnaround. Also, there are too many agencies involved in overseeing events which further delays the process. I would like to see one body responsible for a timely turnaround for events.
Pictured: Daphne says there could be more events in town if red tape is removed.
Red tape is also involved with pop up shops, which St Helier has championed over the past few years, however landlords are reluctant to allow short lets to entrepreneurs and would rather see an empty shop remain empty. Jersey would benefit from supporting these entrepreneurs to test their business model prior to taking on a lengthy lease.
St Helier is a vibrant buzzy town centre that bucks the UK trend for empty shops. The vacancy rates in St Helier are 1.5% compared to 12.2% in the UK.
Pictured: Daphne East introduced food trucks in St Helier streets to fight the idea the town centre is dying.
The BHS site in St Helier was one of the first to be sold and reopened which highlights the buoyant market place we live in. Footfall in St Helier is also stable and predictable which reinforces the strength of our town centre.
Doing more for the young people in our society, good mental health and resilience should be a focus in schools and in the home.
Pictured: Good mental health and resilience should be a focus in schools says Ms East.
With so many factors involved in growing up in today’s society, are we really preparing the young to be resilient?
It’s very difficult to cycle as a family through St Helier.
Pictured: The coast is a great place to cycle, but it's not to safe to reach when you have to cross town.
I would like to be able to safely get through town to the coast with my young family so we can enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
The retail and hospitality industries in Jersey struggle with employing local talent as these career paths are not seen as an option in Jersey. In both of these careers you can train on the job, study and climb the career ladder easily, travel the world and have fun along the way. Also all the skills are transferable into other industries.
Pictured: Retail and hospitality are "satisfying and creative career path."
Customer focus, stamina, accountancy, flexibility, marketing, product development. The list of available opportunities in retail and hospitality is endless. I would like to see more career teachers encouraging the youth into a satisfying and creative career path.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and not those of Bailiwick Express.
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