Additional panellists announced for sell-out IOD debate

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Entrepreneur Zef Eisenberg and business developer and innovator Simon Milsted have been added to the panel for the annual Institute of Directors’ debate which takes place on Thursday 9 October at Beau Sejour.

Mr Eisenberg sold his business, Maximuscle in 2011 for £162m. He is now a Guernsey resident and CEO of Maxicorp, which focuses on exclusive residential development and holdings within prime London and the Channel Islands.

Former corporate recovery specialist Simon Milsted founded his own business advisory practice in the UK and moved into the business travel sector, increasing 30-fold growth for his business before selling it. Now a Guernsey resident, he holds non-executive roles for organisations that are facing material change driven by either internal or environmental factors.

The panellists, who also include Chief Minister Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Graham Harrison, co-founder of Asset Risk Consultants, trainer and coach Kathy Tracey of The Learning Company and Edinburgh University politics student George Melhuish, have begun preparations for what promises to be a thought-provoking event.
Tickets for the 500-capacity event sold out within nine minutes.

In a briefing with moderator Guernsey-born broadcaster Sarah Montague, they began to explore the core theme – Guernsey: Proactive innovator or reactive survivor?
Also making a presentation at the debate will be IOD Chief Economist and Director of Policy James Sproule who was previously for seven years a visiting fellow in the department of management economics at the London School of Economics.

Ms Montague said: “Having now met some of the panellists I’m certain that we’re in for some fun, feisty discussions on the night. They may not agree on every point but what they do have in common is a passion for Guernsey.”

Chairman of the IOD’s Guernsey branch Mark Palfrey said: “I’m very pleased to announce the addition of a couple of local business “dragons” to the panel.
“We’d love it if members of the audience started to think about this topic before turning up on the night – is innovation good for Guernsey’s future? If so, how good are we at it and what do we need to do to encourage it? It’s going to be a great discussion and we need maximum participation on the night as well as beforehand on Twitter @IODGsy and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=8164018&trk=anet_ug_hm.”

The evening will include audience text voting, sponsored by JT.

The main sponsor of the IOD debate is Carey Olsen. Other sponsors are: Long Port, Credit Suisse, the Ana Leaf Foundation, TPA and Sueco.