Statement on the Closure of Digital Greenhouse

We are deeply disappointed by the decision to withdraw funding, which in practice closes the Digital Greenhouse at the end of this year, and we are extremely concerned about the vacuum this will leave.

For some time, the Chamber has raised concerns about the lack of support for the non-finance business community in Guernsey. Finance is vital to our economy, but Guernsey is more than the finance industry. A thriving wider business community is what sustains the finance sector in turn -they are not competing interests, they are interdependent. 

Much of the Economic Development workplan simply cannot be delivered without the Digital Greenhouse or an equivalent mechanism in place. Closing it without a replacement structure does not remove the need it was created to meet - it just removes the means of meeting it. Guernsey Businesses still need somewhere to turn for innovation support, digital skills development, and diversification. Right now, this decision leaves nowhere.

We are also concerned about how this decision based solely on saving the £450k budget. At the same time as this closure, government has found an additional £1 million for Guernsey Finance (taking the total to £3.5million) and created a new senior "finance concierge" role. We understand the importance of the finance industry to our economy, but the Island cannot afford to put all its eggs in what is a shrinking basket. A resilient economy is a diversified one, and that requires sustained investment across all sectors -not just the largest.

Government needs to urgently set out how the functions currently delivered by the Digital Greenhouse will be maintained, and to commit to a proper, funded mechanism for supporting the whole of Guernsey's business community -not just one part of it.