“I take full responsibility” – Ozouf on £400k loan to disappearing company

Wednesday 15 June 2016

Senator Philip Ozouf has accepted “full responsibility” for the £400,000 States Innovation Fund loan given to a company that appears to have left the Island – but says that the reality is that some businesses backed will succeed, and some will fail.

In a statement to the House yesterday on the story about the fund, Senator Ozouf refused to answer specific questions about Logfiller, but did say that ministers expected up to 50% of the companies backed by the fund to fail, and for the money to be written off.

It appears that the people behind the company have moved to the US – it has been reported that Logfiller is no longer a member of Digital Jersey, and that a routine check from the Innovation Fund revealed that they were no longer based here.

The story is reminiscent of the controversial £200,000 loan given to Canbedone Films in 2011.

“Let me be absolutely clear, the minister and that is delegated to me, takes full responsibility and accountability for the decisions taken,” said the Senator.

“The board on this occasion, in my view, acted properly and discharged their obligations properly. I would have made the same decision, but some businesses will fail and others won’t - that is the nature of the deal.

“No-one has evidence for the future and a 50% provision for this was made at the time. The loans were not secured but I can’t stress enough of the diligence the board displayed in assessing businesses.”

The States’ spending watchdog has announced that it will be looking into the Logfiller case.

Reports from the Jersey Innovation Fund show that a loan was given to “Logfiller Limited” 18 months ago to support the development of “a sophisticated computer software solution that measures user experience of application and system use”. They said that if successful, the product would create “a significant number of full time jobs in the Island”.

Documents filed show that “Logfiller Limited” was founded on 26 June 2014, and its registered office was at Rue du Hocq in St Clement.

Press releases name Michael Colopy as co-founder and Jeremy Barker as CTO, but the company’s website redirects to a firm called Octoinsight, based in Virginia in the US, which names the same two people in the same roles.

Bailiwick Express contacted the US company last week, but has not yet received a response.

In a subsequent statement to the States Chamber, Senator Ozouf said that seven loans had been advanced to six companies over the last two years, and that if the existing applications were approved, the fund would be “fully subscribed”.

He said: “I am able to report to Members today, following a meeting with the Innovation Fund Board last week, that taking the loans already advanced in 2014 and 2015 plus new loan applications received, the Fund would, if those applications are all successful, be fully subscribed.

“The original objective of the Fund was clearly stated: ‘to deliver growth, improve competitiveness, diversify the local economy and create employment’. And that has not changed.

“The decisions made by the Board have fulfilled the purpose and approved objectives of the Fund and have supported a broad range of potentially highly innovative businesses.

“When the idea of an Innovation Fund was conceived in 2010, it was in the eye of a worldwide financial storm, the tail end of which we are still seeing today. In 2012, when the proposal was brought, there was real concern that good businesses were finding it difficult to start up or expand.”