New jobs expected after second cannabis firm is licensed

Thursday 23 February 2023

A cannabis firm intends to create 16 new jobs in Guernsey after becoming the second company to be licenced in the island.

Master Plant Holdings said the licence for research, development and manufacturing represented a major milestone for the company and the industry.

It plans to have the capacity to cultivate 5.75 tonnes annually, retrofitting a 60,000 sqft greenhouse to “build a world class cultivation and manufacturing facility with the intent of serving the legal cannabis market”.

This should begin in the second quarter of this year with a targeted completion date of early 2024.

“This is a meaningful step for Master Plant and its investors,” said CTO Phil Petelski, who has licenced and built eleven cannabis facilities in North America.

“We would like to thank the Bailiwick of Guernsey Cannabis Agency and all parties that have supported us thus far. The European cannabis industry is full of promise and with our team’s extensive knowledge and experience from the North American markets, we have a great opportunity to create a major European entity with solid fundamentals.”

The legal cannabis market in Europe is estimated by Market Data Forecasts to be valued at $13.4bn by 2027.

Master Plant Chairman Len Werden said:  “Our legacy strains, with years of innovation and market penetration on the clock, give a substantial platform for launching premium products and developing further strains. It's really encouraging to see investors focusing on genetics and quality these days. This is what the industry has traditionally taken pride in, rather than the huge projects that have frequently failed in recent years.” 

Pictured: Businesses concerned with the cultivation of cannabis are taxed at 20% locally.

Development in Guernsey’s cannabis got off to a slow start when only one of seven initial licence applications was accepted in November 2021.

A group of growers also said that they were left half-a-million pounds out of pocket when a company they were expecting to buy their produce failed to do so after not being licenced.

In August, Guernsey-based 4C Labs was granted an import and distribution licences by the UK Medicines and HealthCare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA).

That meant it was able to import cannabis-based medicines into the UK from its production facility in Guernsey as well as from a global network of suppliers. The licences also enable 4C LABS UK to distribute cannabis-based medicines to registered UK & Channel Island pharmacies