Business leaders indicate housing issues remain “key social risk”

Wednesday 15 March 2023

A survey undertaken by Guernsey Finance has revealed business leaders in the island are confident about the future of Guernsey’s finance sector, while maintaining concerns about how housing impacts the island.

Guernsey Finance sent a survey out to various local professionals, including CEOs, MDs, law firms and fund specialists.

Among the results the survey revealed that 93% of respondents relayed healthy business development and 83% confirmed healthy profitability. Meanwhile, 83% of those who responded said housing remains a key social risk to the island. 79% also said that retention of staff was a major concern.

“I am pleased that the results of this survey are largely positive,” said Guernsey Finance Chief Executive, Rupert Pleasant.

“Two thirds of respondents expressed confidence in the future of Guernsey’s Financial Services sector, which is fantastic to hear. Confidence in the expertise and capacity to handle sustainability enquiries was also reported to be high – evidence of Guernsey’s enviable knowledge base in sustainable finance – with more than 90% of respondents now reporting that they receive enquiries in this field.

“Conversely, the survey highlighted that many firms feel expertise could be improved for virtual assets and blockchain enquiries in order to take enquiries forward.”

Despite remaining positive, Mr Pleasant did say that urgent action must be taken to address the concerns about housing and retention highlighted in the survey.