Q&A: Chamber of reflections... Business leaders look back (Part 2)

Thursday 25 February 2021

Making Statistics Jersey fully independent from Government and finally having an “open and honest” debate about controlling Jersey’s bulging population are the two things these former business lobby leaders would do if they had a magic policy wand.

100 editions (and nearly 10 years) have now passed since Bailiwick Publishing launched Connect magazine in April 2011 - always independently owned and edited, it was originally (and is again now) endorsed by the Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

To celebrate this milestone edition, we asked the Chamber Presidents covering the lifetime of the magazine so far, to give us their take on the last decade, which has seen the way we do business change so much.

Pictured: Express is asking former Chamber presidents to give their insights into the evolution of island business.

We'll be sharing their answers across this week. Yesterday, we started with Ray Shead and Cooper and Co's David Warr, who responded to the following questions:

1. We’re presuming your predecessor in the role didn’t leave a note in your desk drawer with a message on it (maybe they did?)... But if they had done that, what would it have said?
2. Going into the role, you must have had a shortlist of ‘must-tackle’, ‘mission-critical’ issues... What was it?
3. All senior public roles have their highs/lows, triumphs/frustrations... If you had to pick a defining image from yours, what was it?
4. Looking in from the outside, what do you think the public would be most surprised about, if they knew it?
5. You have two gifts to award: a gag and a loud-hailer... During your term of office, who would you give each to, and why?
6. Imagine you have a free rein to produce and implement just one policy decision... What is it, and what will it achieve?

Here's what they had to say...

James Filleul – Chamber President, 2013 to 2015

Pictured: Express editor and former Chamber president, James Filleul, spoke about his efforts reshape Chamber's interactions with the wider community.

1. “And another thing…” (See below, in answer to 5.) 

2. 

• Chamber had gone through some necessarily ‘spiky’ times with the government when I took over, so first on the list was to reset the way we engaged, to make sure it remained productive for members.

• Next, we lobbied hard to help get the qualifying period for unfair dismissal extended from a short six-month period, to a more reasonable 12 months – it was a concrete example to members of an important practical change which Chamber could help achieve. 

• We took a look at Chamber’s income to see how that could be improved, not least through our expanding events program. 

• My background and skillset lay in communication, so we reshaped the way Chamber interacted with its members and the wider business community.

• We had some internal restructuring to do, including settling in the new position of Chief Executive (a role which continues to this day) and reorganising the committee structure, to help make sure Chamber was properly set up for the future. Business has changed significantly in the last decade, and my Presidency was part of that transition period, to make sure Chamber continued to be relevant.  

3. I listened to so many business owners who simply couldn’t appoint the staff they wanted to make the most of the economic recovery.  

They were not restricted by ability, funding, attitude, market size or a lack of good ideas – they felt the barrier to their economic success was an employment policy based on the view that finance = high value and everything else = low value.

It seemed to me that policy had a myopic logical base. 

4. It’s ok to disagree. One of the issues I think this island has is that ‘rocking the boat’ is not seen as ‘the done thing’.

It is possible - in fact, it’s empowering - to disagree in a productive way, and is actually the sign of a healthy community, which nurtures a variety of perspectives. Too often here, if you express disagreement you are ‘othered’ and branded an ‘anti’, someone who isn’t ‘on side’ or a member of ‘the awkward squad’. I think that’s a sign of weakness.

It’s stronger to accept the validity of alternatives. 

5. I would have to give my gag to my predecessor, David Warr. Not because I don’t have a huge amount of respect for his continuing achievements, or his points of view, but because it took him a couple of months, and a quiet word, to move over and let the new guy have a go!

My loud-hailer would go to those who have a valuable contribution, but who feel too intimidated to express it (see above) for fear of perceived repercussions for their businesses.

Sometimes, it is the role of Chamber to pick up that loud-hailer on their behalf, which is the key reason why Chamber must protect its independence from government. 

6. The policy that the government continues to have problems with, is one defining how Jersey plans to manage the size of its population.

The current government has pushed it away again, arguing we need to get the right tools in place first, in order to be able to properly regulate who can live here. Well, we’ve been repeatedly told the island already had those tools, which clearly wasn’t true.

The island needs an open and honest debate about what it wants in this policy area, and the sooner the better.  

Kristina Le Feuvre – Chamber President, 2015 to 2017

Pictured: Former Chamber president Kristina Le Feuvre discussed her efforts to engage a younger membership base in Chamber.

1. “I told you a massive fib - it’s not a couple of hours a week!”

2.

• Engaging a younger membership base and making Chamber more relevant to their needs.

• Growing the membership base, which had become stagnant over the last few years.

• As a non-profit, it was important that Chamber didn’t continue to lose money each year. I wanted to reverse this, and was pleased to be able to do so within my term.

• Ensuring Chamber was more inclusive, and current. For an influential organisation, it had a stuffy, older and staid image. Being the first female president in 250 years had an immediate impact, and I do see a very different Chamber today than six years ago.

• Giving small business a voice, and ensuring Chamber was reflective of all size businesses and all industries.

3. Not sure if it would be classed as ‘defining’, but it would be my first speech as President. I was sitting next to Alan Maclean and he informed me that I’d ended up making him nervous too! I’d done little public speaking since Eisteddfod days, so the role was definitely as much about personal growth as the growth of the organisation.

4. There are often firm reasons behind government decisions, they’re just not conveyed well.

I often felt sympathy/empathy for the politicians I dealt with, they mostly had the future of the island front and foremost. 

5. I’m noisy enough not to need a loud hailer and a gag would be counter-productive to any discussion. 

I really loved listening to opposite opinions and I often shifted my own position based on information provided. It’s a real pity if you are in a position to influence, but use that position to dictate.

6. Very topical: set up the Statistics Unit as an 'Arms Length Organisation’.

I called Chief Statistician Duncan Gibaut weekly for various statistics, which in some case supported Chamber’s stance, but in other cases changed the direction. 

Facts are always important when dealing with policy and procedures and, if they are indisputable, facts form a baseline for any policy.

Follow Express tomorrow for reflections from Eliot Lincoln (2017-2019) and Jennifer Carnegie (2019 to 2021)...