the atlas guernsey blog

Guernsey Timelapse 2012 - High And Low Tides

2012-03-09T11:08:00.001Z

We really like this amazing three minute video of Guernsey. If you want to see what Guernsey looks like, this is a really good introduction: website.

Population Consultation

2012-01-14T17:36:00.001Z

The States of Guernsey Population Policy Group have published their proposals for a new population management regime. This follows on from the extensive consultation exercise that was undertaken in 2011. If the proposals are approved new legislation will be drafted which will replace the existing Housing Control and Right to Work laws. A system of employment permits will be introduced to replace existing housing licences. A helpful summary of the proposals is available on the AO Hall Website.

The full proposals can be viewed here.

End of internal email ?

2011-12-12T10:34:00.002Z

Atos, a leading international IT services company is planning to ban internal email. Having conducted detailed research amongst their 80,000 international employees, they found that on average they were each receiving an average of 100+ emails per day.

Of these 15% were useful, but the other 85% were read anyway because people were afraid they would miss something! People are spending an average of 15-20 hours a week checking and answering internal emails, which represents a huge loss of potential productive time.

In place of internal email Atos are using new tools such as the cloud computing environment, social networks, instant messaging, micro blogging, document sharing, and knowledge communities. Atos intend to have completely eliminated internal email by 2014. For more on this story please see BBC website.

Pensions Survey commissioned by States of Guernsey Policy Council

2011-11-30T10:45:00.001Z

The Policy Council have appointed research firm Island Analysis to conduct a survey about pension provision in the private sector. Our experience is that nearly all our clients have stopped offering defined benefit pension schemes to new members of staff, and many organisations have replaced their defined benefit schemes with lower cost "money purchase" schemes. It will be interesting to see what the survey finds, and hopefully it will help focus attention on this increasingly important issue.

For more information see website.

Employment Law changes in the UK

2011-11-23T10:32:00.001Z

The qualifying limit for unfair dismissal claims in Guernsey is 12 months, so will be interesting to see if Guernsey follows UK lead on this.

For more information on changes to the UK legislation follow this link.

Atlas Recruitment supports Hope for Guernsey Swimmer

2011-11-09T11:19:00.001Z

We were pleased to be able to support Guernsey swimmer Roger Allsopp on his World Record Channel Swim. All money raised goes to Hope for Guernsey. See a video about the swim at website.

Guernsey Investment Funds Conference - Invitation

2011-10-19T22:50:00.001+01:00

"Ogier has joined forces with Offshore Professional Conferences again to stage the 5th Investment Funds Update Conference in Guernsey." For programme details and registration form see website.

Employment Compromise Agreements

2011-09-21T11:54:00.001+01:00

Collas Crill held a seminar yesterday on "Compromise Agreements". These are written agreements to terminate employment in a way that should provide certainty and clarity for both employer and employee. Useful and topical information on other employment issues can be found in the Collas Crill September Employment Newsletter.

Filling the Pensions Black Hole

2011-09-19T11:59:00.001+01:00

AO Hall held a seminar last week about the highly topical issue of pension deficits. Paul Buckle, Group Partner, spoke about the debate over, on the one hand, "the desirability for private pension arrangements" and on the other the importance of having arrangements for "giving an employer the financial flexibility to adapt or exit the arrangement it has established".

In the seminar he outlined some ideas and possible strategies for dealing with pension deficits. There was some open discussion on current pension issues, which David Thompson contributed to from a recruitment consultancy perspective.

For more information see the AO Hall website at website.

Channel Island Stock Exchange Championship

2011-07-22T20:23:00.001+01:00

A record number of teams and players will compete in next weekend’s CISX Channel Islands’ Championship. The two-day tournament, which is now in its fourth year, will see teams from Guernsey, Jersey, England, Scotland and Wales take part. More than 150 players will play over the weekend including around 60 from off-island. For more information please see the Isle News website.

New Trustees for Lloyds TSB Foundation

2011-07-21T20:33:00.000+01:00

Three new trustees have been appointed for the Lloyds TSB Foundation for the Channel Islands. Guernsey-based Jurat Dr John Ferguson, Sarah Bamford and Simon Howitt will join current trustees to consider requests from charities to take advantage of up to £1m. of giving made each year from the Foundation. For more information please see the Isle news website.

Kleinwort Benson purchase of Close Offshore Group as been completed.

2011-06-06T11:43:00.000+01:00

The acquisition, which was announced in March, is for a cash consideration of £26.4 million, subject to post closing adjustments, and comprises Close Offshore Group’s private banking, fund administration, fund management, trust and asset management businesses across Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

For more information please see the Isle news website .

CIMA merge with American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

2011-05-25T11:02:00.001+01:00

The governing bodies of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, headquartered in London, today agreed on creation of a new professional designation, the Chartered Global Management Accountant, that will be a worldwide standard of professional excellence in management accounting.

For more information see website.

Collas Crill Merger

2011-04-04T10:07:00.002+01:00

Today sees the official launch of Channel Islands firm Collas Crill, formed through the merger of Collas Day and Crill Canavan. Atlas Recruitment would like to wish them every success for the future.

For more information see the new Collas Crill website .

Fund Administration Course

2011-03-16T11:06:00.001Z

BPP are running a part time course in Fund Administration starting on 13th April until mid July 2011. Successful completion of the exam will give you the Certificate in Fund Administration, which is a widely recognised qualification for those working in the Fund Sector.

For more information see the BPP website.

The Lawyer's "Offshore Monthly" report

2011-03-07T10:05:00.001Z

Leading local law firms feature prominently in the latest issue of The Lawyer's "Offshore Monthly" report. All the major firms are mentioned, particularly in connection with their work on various corporate deals. This is all very encouraging and indicative of the continued healthy state of the Channel Islands legal market.

You can view the fill report via The Lawyer's website.

Managing Guernsey's Population (2)

2011-02-10T10:52:00.005Z

The Guernsey Chamber of Commerce held a a Breakfast Seminar today at which the key proposals impacting on business were explained by the Director of Population Policy, States of Guernsey.

The Seminar was very well received, and copies of the handouts available from the Chamber website. Also available from the website are links to the Consultation Document itself and a Chamber Response Form, which has kindly been produced by the event sponsors, AO Hall.

You can access the the various handouts via the Chamber website.

Managing Guernsey's Population

2011-01-20T15:35:00.000Z

The long awaited Consultation document was released today - all 188 pages of it! You can view it online at http://www.gov.gg/ Copies are available from Frossard House, the library and Douzaine offices. A leaflet about it will also be delivered to every household in Guernsey.

This is a vitally important Consultation, and we would encourage everyone to respond to it.

New Year, New Opportunities

2011-01-14T09:36:00.002Z

We have an advert in today's Guernsey Press with a selection of new opportunities. You can view the advert here.

Fund Accounting Update

2011-01-11T15:36:00.001Z

The GSCCA held a joint seminar with GIFA yesterday to provide an update on Fund Accounting issues. The presentations are available from the “Downloads” section of the GSCCA website at http://www.gscca.gg/

Put your glasses on for interview success...

2011-01-05T12:00:00.001Z

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, people are more likely to get a job if they wear glasses to their interview ! The report states that a third of British adults think glasses make someone look more professional and 43 per cent think glasses make people look more intelligent. Follow this link to the article http://tinyurl.com/wear-glasses.

Office open again…

2011-01-04T11:00:00.000Z

Hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. We are now back in the office and open for business as usual.

Merry Christmas !

2010-12-21T12:02:00.000Z

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The office will be closed over the holiday period, but we will be picking up emails and our telephone answering service will be in operation.

A chance to confess your Income Tax sins….

2010-12-15T10:37:00.001Z

The Guernsey Tax Office have announced an Income Tax Irregularities Scheme (“ITIS”) to encourage “non-compliant” taxpayers to declare any omissions/irregularities in their tax affairs, Those doing so will not face the usual penalties, and in addition any declarations made under the Scheme will not be referred to the authorities for possible prosecution. Full details of the Scheme are available from the Guernsey Income Tax website: http://tinyurl.com/Guernsey-ITIS

UK Finance Bill 2011: consultation on draft legislation

2010-12-09T15:31:00.000Z

The consultation published today outlines proposals for legislation on "Disguised Remuneration"which could have a significant impact on Channel Islands fiduciary businesses providing services in relation to employee benefit trusts. At present UK directors and employees can make arrangements involving offshore trusts which enable the avoidance, reduction or deferral of income tax / NIC liabilities. In future it looks as this if is going to be a lot harder to achieve. The UK Treasury estimates that the changes could increase tax receipts by up to £500mn p.a., which gives an indication of the scale of this business.

For more information follow this link to the consultation: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/finance_bill_2011.htm

UK financial services companies over-regulated and over-taxed ?

2010-12-06T09:41:00.000Z

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, a quarter of UK financial services companies have considered leaving the UK because they consider they are over-regulated and over-taxed.

The good news is that the top alternative destinations are Switzerland, Jersey and Guernsey !

New UK Equality law will enable employers to favour females

2010-12-04T10:42:00.000Z

A new equality law in the UK will in future enable companies to be allowed to “positively discriminate” in favour of female applicants without facing legal action. See full story on the Telegraph website.

This news is quite timely as in Guernsey there is presently a consultation taking place on a review of employment law and protections. See Guernsey consultation for more details.

Are you too good-looking for that new job ?

2010-12-03T10:19:00.003Z

A recent study in Israel has found that good-looking women were twice as likely to be refused an interview as unattractive candidates. For men it seems the reverse is true, with good-looking male applicants having a 50% higher chance of being called for interview.

Full details on this story at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8177885/Youre-too-pretty-to-work-here.html

First annual report from Guernsey Fiscal Policy Panel published

2010-12-02T17:39:00.000Z

The States of Guernsey set up the Panel earlier this year to ".. act as an independent arbiter on the conduct of States’ fiscal policy and provide an annual public judgement as to whether or not the States is conducting its fiscal policy within the constraints set out in its own Fiscal Framework."

Overall it seems that the States are doing pretty well. The report concludes that the budget deficit is well within limits, and that "On-budget expenditure and revenue are well within the historic norm". It evidently also seems likely that, if things carry on as they are, the cumulative budget will be within the Contingency Tax Reserve limits, which is certainly good news.

Follow this link to access the full report.

Collas Day and Crill Canavan Announce Merger

2010-12-02T17:27:00.000Z

Leading Guernsey law firm Collas Day have today announced that they will be merging with Jersey law firm Crill Canavan in the spring of next year. The new firm will be known as Collas Crill.

Following the recent alliance of Mourant and Ozanne, this merger represents something of a continuation of the trend, and reflects the increasing demand from international clients for a cross Channel Islands service.

Follow this link for the official press release.

GBG December issue out

2010-12-02T11:59:00.006Z

The December issue of "GBG" magazine is now available from the usual retail outlets. It is packed full of the usual glossy features, plus of course the indespensible "Business Doctor" column!

This month the Doctor looks at staffing issues again, focussing on recruitment. You can also read "GBG" online at http://www.gbgmagazine.co.uk/

"The Lawyer" Offshore Special Report published

2010-11-30T09:44:00.000Z

A wide range of topics are covered in this month's report, which looks at what the future holds for law firms in international finance centres. At the funds summit held in Brussels last week the mood was reported as being "decidedly upbeat", with plenty of new funds work coming to the Channel Islands.

You can view the fill report at: http://www.thelawyer.com/regions/offshore/

Snow ? What snow ? (3)

2010-11-29T09:19:00.000Z

Well I am really paying for that complacent comment on Friday. This morning it is snow chaos in Guernsey. All the school are closed, as is the airport. St Peter Port is like a ghost town, but at least the parking was easy !

Roads are very icy out in the upper parishes. Fine if you are in a 4WD, apart from the nutters who take to the roads anyway despite (i) not having 4WD / chains (ii) being totally unused to driving in these conditions.

Of course my post on 23.11.10, “Snow Holidays ?” (see below) is now looking remarkably prescient !

Snow ? What snow ? (2)

2010-11-27T09:45:00.000Z

OK, remind me not to tempt fate again ! It was a stunning day here yesterday. Believe it or not had a long sea swim at lunchtime. Then last night hail storms, and this morning the island is pretty much closed on account of snow !

We were supposed to be flying to jersey, but airport is closed and roads only passable by 4WD.

All looks very pretty though ;-)

Bomb scare in St Helier

2010-11-26T15:43:00.000Z

Part of St. Helier was closed this morning when a suspect package was found. Shops, homes and offices were evacuated. Jersey realised some expert assistance was needed so bomb disposal specialists were flown in from Guernsey (N.b. I did not realise we had any). The package was declared safe at 12:40 and the area reopened.

Full story on BBC news at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-11846498

Snow ? What snow ?

2010-11-26T11:19:00.001Z

They might be having a tough time of it in Scotland and the North of England, but it is a stunningly beautiful day here in Guernsey today. Check out the view over the harbour from our webcam: http://www.atlasguernsey.com/webcam.html

Tipping Off

2010-11-25T16:19:00.000Z

Leading Guernsey law firm Mourant Ozannes have published an interesting briefing paper on a “recent, and largely unheralded, change to the tipping off provisions (that) is set to have a significant impact on financial services businesses in Guernsey”.

You can follow this link direct to the briefing paper:

http://www.mourantozannes.com/site/publications/?freetext=tipping+off

It’s a(nother) Bank Holiday !

2010-11-24T08:32:00.001Z

With the date of the Royal Wedding (Friday, April 29th) being confirmed as an additional Bank Holiday in the UK, we can look forward to an unprecedented “holiday fest”. Between Friday April 22nd and Monday May 2nd (11 days) there will only be three working days, so many people will be booking those three days as holiday.

It will also be interesting to see what level of sickness absence occurs over those three days ? Of course if you find that you need almost need a holiday to recover from a holiday, you can look forward to a long weekend over the following weekend (7th/8th May), because Monday 9th is Liberation Day !

Managing poor performance

2010-11-24T08:31:00.001Z

Absenteeism, such as taking excessive “sickies”, can be just one aspect of poor performance at work. The latest online issue of “People Management”, the CIPD journal, has an article and some top tips on managing poor performance. Follow this link for the article: http://tinyurl.com/cipd-performance-article

UK cap on migrant visas should not affect Guernsey

2010-11-23T09:37:00.000Z

The UK Coalition government will today be announcing a cap on the number of skilled workers that will be allowed into the UK from outside the EU. Last year approximately 50,000 tier one (highly skilled) visas were issued. Next year this could be reduced to 43,000, a 14% reduction.

Guernsey has its own work permit legislation to enable access to Guernsey for certain categories of highly-skilled migrants (e.g. commercial lawyers and fund accountants). We contacted them this morning and they had no knowledge of any plans to reduce the number of work permits available in Guernsey.

See more details on UK story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11816979

Snow holidays ?

2010-11-23T09:35:00.000Z

Last year Guernsey ground to a halt when about 2cms of snow fell, taking the buses off the road and hence causing the schools to close. Most St. Peter Port offices remained open, and different employers made various arrangements for staff who could not get in. Some let staff work from home, some let staff take additional paid holiday, and others required staff to take unpaid leave or make up the time.

What is your policy / your employer’s policy on this ? Now is a good time to clarify policies so as to avoid any misunderstandings when (and if) the snow arrives.

Jersey and IoM Zero-10 "fail" EU review ?

2010-11-22T09:39:00.000Z

The Zero-10 corporation tax regimes of Jersey and the Isle of Man “have failed” three out of five key criteria that the EU’s Code of Conduct Group has been using to scrutinise them, according to Richard Murphy, head of the “Tax Research” Group. http://tinyurl.com/3x44d6v

Important amendment to Guernsey employment laws

2010-11-18T19:34:00.000Z

An important amendment to the Conditions of Employment (Guernsey) Law, 1985 has recently came into effect. Previously you only had to provide employees with a written statement of their terms and conditions of employment if they were working more than 15 hours a week. That 15 hours is now reduced to zero, so every employee, even if only doing a few hours a week, must effectively be given a contract. See the Employment Relations section of the http://www.gov.gg/ website, or follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/37ugyme.

Ireland looks to be heading towards an EU bail-out

2010-11-17T19:32:00.000Z

Ireland looks to be heading towards an EU bail-out, whether they like it or not. It is interesting to read that their 12.5% corporation tax rate is likely to come under pressure as part of the deal. Makes you wonder how the EU will view a possible 10% rate in Guernsey ? Luckily we do not have the debt / economic problems of Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter). http://tinyurl.com/3yy4rpx

Guernsey’s Budget for 2011

2010-11-12T19:44:00.000Z

Details of Guernsey’s Budget for 2011 have been published and Petrol is going up 10.8% and domestic TRP by 20%. Duty on drinks and cigarettes will also increase, but otherwise all is much the same. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-11736818

Guernsey Airport “third most punctual to and from UK"

2010-11-11T15:40:00.000Z

Apparently Guernsey Airport is the “third most punctual to and from UK”, with 91.6% of flights leaving or arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled time ! That’s impressive ! See full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-11729388#story_continues_1

How much for your melons ?

2010-11-08T19:35:00.000Z

Local Jersey supermarket the Channel Islands Co-Op has made national headlines after a shopper was overcharged for fruit and veg “because the shop assistant's breasts were resting on the scales” !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-11710712

Does Guernsey need more anti-discrimination legislation ?

2010-11-04T18:02:00.000Z

The States have published a consultation on a review of employment law and protections. Do we need more discrimination laws ? http://tinyurl.com/35rfg6d

GFSC Seminars

2010-10-20T15:45:00.000+01:00

These continue today with specialist seminars on AML, Investment Funds, Banking etc. The papers presented will apparently be available from the website soon.

Jersey Housing Qualifications

2010-10-19T15:46:00.000+01:00

In future you will be able to gain a “Local” housing qualification after just 10 years residence. It was originally 20 years. http://tinyurl.com/3a3u2av

Chief Executive of CISX speaks to Chamber of Commerce

2010-10-18T16:05:00.000+01:00

The speaker at the Chamber of Commerce lunch on Monday was Tammy Menteshhvili, Chief Executive of the CISX. She was speaking about raising your brand, and with all the "doom and gloom" around at the moment in the financial services sector, it was great to hear a really up-beat presentation ! More details at: http://www.guernseychamber.com/index.php?more=104

Jersey lawyers' fees to be investigated ?

2010-10-11T19:00:00.000+01:00

Looks like the recent article on Jersey legal fees in “The Lawyer” has caused some controversy. A Jersey politician has asked for an investigation into the ‘cartel’-style behaviour. http://www.thelawyer.com/1005881.article