Job offers flood in for Intersurgical staff

Wednesday 05 October 2022

Numerous businesses across the Channel Islands have made approaches to those left out of work by the sudden closure of Intersurgical.

The Channel Islands Co-op, Aurigny, and Labour Force are among the firms actively recruiting now.

They, and others, have encouraged the 90+ staff left out of work by Intersurgical's decision to shut its Guernsey operation with immediate effect.

Terrible for those employees affected, @CI_Coop team have reached out today but if you do know anyone impacted, feel free to put them in touch with me directly or make contact with one of our team in Guernsey. Would like to help if we can. https://t.co/lV0ILETJmu

— Mark Cox (@MarkCoxJsy) October 4, 2022

Staff were told of the decision at 09:00 yesterday, having been called to a meeting the previous afternoon. 

No one employed locally is believed to have known about the decision before it was announced, with recent recruitment campaigns to employ additional staff at Intersurgical.

Group Managing Director Charles Bellm said the decision was forced by outside factors: "It is with sadness and regret that we have decided to close our Guernsey site. We have done all we can to try and turn the loss making site around, but we simply cannot continue to sustain the current financial losses brought on by a number of factors outside of our control."

He had said the decision to close the Guernsey factory was made because "unfortunately this site has become uncompetitive in the global economic environment and has suffered continued financial losses, which Intersurgical is no longer able to subsidise."

The total workforce number has not been formally confirmed but it's thought to be 90. Some of the staff have been with the company since soon after it opened in Guernsey in 1983. 

Mr Bellm said he deeply regrets the situation those loyal employees are now in.

"We recognise that this will come as a heavy blow to our Guernsey workforce, some of whom have been with us for many years. 

"We would like to thank them for the contribution they have made to the business over the years."

 Pictured: Labour Force is advertising vacancies on social media currently.

Advice and support was offered by Social Security, who said that "many employers in the island, across a wide range of sectors are recruiting and desperately in need of new, hard-working recruits to help them continue to grow, and we hope that will be of some reassurance to those affected by Intersurgical’s decision."

Among the first to offer the opportunity of new employment was Ross Le Brun who runs Labour Force, a company providing temporary workers in the construction industry, and similar roles.

Commenting on the Express story on Facebook he said: "That will be devastating! I've been in that position myself. The only good thing is there are lots of jobs out there."

Aurigny shared a message with its social media followers expressing the staffs' sympathy with those who had lost their jobs at Intersurgical, describing it as a "long established business that has contributed to our economy and provided employment to hard working individuals".

The airline said that "all Intersurgical employees are encouraged to apply directly by email" for current vacancies, by putting Intersurgical in the heading of their application email.

Guernsey's unemployment rate is currently low, with many industries citing staff shortages for a reduction in opening hours or services.

Advertised job vacancies are shared weekly by Express in the Recruitment email which is shared with our database of readers at 15:00 each Wednesday.