Buy local, save jobs
Monday 1st June 2009, 2:59PM BST.
Senator Alan Maclean in the central market with some lacally grown produce
MORE job losses are expected this year with the recession yet to fully hit Jersey, the Economic Development Minister has warned.
Speaking at the launch of the Think Twice Buy Local campaign – a States campaign supported by the JEP – Senator Alan Maclean said that unemployment levels were likely to keep rising.
‘We are facing a very challenging economic period,’ he said. ‘The Island tends to be eight or nine months behind the UK so there is still a bit to come. There’s a risk of job losses in the financial services, driven from the UK.’
Senator Maclean said that unemployment figures could be approaching 1,200 but added that he was confident that if Islanders boost the economy by shopping close to home, jobs might be saved.
‘There is a risk that we will see more job losses towards the second half of the year and that’s why this campaign is so important,’ he said.
Think Twice Buy Local was launched at the weekend as the States try to encourage people to buy Island products and services.
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I do hope people review and follow up on the comments placed. is this not a ‘Fair Play’ item rather than a ‘support local buisness’? It is clear, following the previous story on Saturday, that 100% of the comments placed (so far) were against the principle ‘Think Twice’ being promoted by Senator MacLean. Every individual in Jersey, businesses included, are going to find the most cost effective was of purchasing anything from products to services. Local retailers continue to miss opportunities to be more efficient and cost effective and are not interested in competing with external companies whether they are online retailers or not. I have previously sourced a product from a shop in the south east that did not have an online presence, but were still able to post a large item to me at a 30% saving on the same product here, even when I gave the local retailer the opportunity to reduce their price by only 15% to gain my business ‘Not Interested!’ was their response. Another electrical retailer here has said, when asked to discount, “I don’t need to discount as I sell enough anyway” when item was 40% more expensive than Amazon. It was almost as though by charging more and selling to unknowing people he could cover the lost business. Local retailers need to wake up.
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Think Twice Employ Local,
Could be a another campaign. Obviously some skilled jobs like doctors we may need to recruit offshore but with so many on unemployment benefit we have local workers to fill the gaps.
Buy Local, Save jobs, is a good idea also.
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‘Buy local, save jobs’
Is someone trying to put an element of guilt on the shoppers? Stop this now, throw this back at the retailers that have had it too good for too long ripping shoppers off, the tides have turned.
So Senator Maclean, what are you going to do for the people that are living on a shoe string and simply cannot afford the extortionate prices in jersey? Or is it YOU thinking YOURSELF and your fat pay packet that might diminish?
Again, this was a hot topic from Saturday where the majority of comments stated, BRING THE PRICES DOWN & then maybe we will start to buy locally and not from the internet.
I simply refuse to be ripped off anymore from the majority of retailers in the island, it is time they woke up and realised the internet etc is a very good tool for price comparisons.
I give our retailers a chance, if they are not prepared bring their prices down within reason, then I vote with my feet, they lose a sale and I gain money in my pocket by buying it outside of the island!
Again Senator Maclean, I don’t give a damn about such things as the retailer’s overheads, that is down to their bad negotiating skills and complacency!
Get a life Senator Maclean and start living in the real world where people are struggling to meet the costs of everyday essentials such as our utilities and food bills.
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I will buy local when you take GST off it
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To enable this Senator Maclean needs to do the following as far as I am concerned:-
1. Reduce rents in town for businesses, by introducing rental capping, enforcible by law.
2. Reduce imports costs by making importers reduce costs, enforcible by law.
3. Reduce travel to and from Jersey by reducing landing fees at the airport and reducing docking fees at the harbours.
4. Make sure businesses don’t charge VAT on goods under the guise of import costs, monitoring this and imposing fines on anyone who breaks this law.
5. Have a name and shame policy to force businesses to reduce costs.
6. Have a good business policy to publicise good practices.
7. Government support for local businesses providing good value services and goods.
8. No extra support for any companies that aren’t local or locally owned.
9. Promote all local work for local companies, unless there is absolutely no option.
10.Start up works on local projects to employ locally unemployed doing work such as cleaning beaches, extending sewer networks, cleaning town, cleaning the countryside, repairing sea walls, construction work for first time buyers houses to help free up housing stock for others.
11. Get rid of GST.
12. Take the cap off of social security.
Once all this is done I think people might think two and buy local items, as they will be more competitive with the internet.
I believe islanders will not boost the local economy because they are disillusioned with both the government and big business, so I suggest he helps remedy this by implementing the above.
I believe until then he is a wasting his time and effort.
What do others think?
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I just ordered a lens for my camera from Amazon. The price had been reduced from £48 to £17.99 so I could not afford to ignore it.
I then found that Amazon were sending it to me from their agent which is Indigo Starfish in Jersey! So I am buying locally after all.
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My experience has been better service and prices online, I only buy local when I have to.
I suggested a review of local products against imported several years ago in the hope that local products would come to the fore, this was ignored.
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This rant is a continuation of his last.
Nobody really gives a “fig” to be quite honest & everyone just wants a bargain wheather it originates in Jersey or Jerusalem!
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Adrian, I think, for the first time, I actually agree with you. Well, points 1 – 10 anyway.
Personally I don’t have a problem paying 3% GST (on the items I do buy here) as I think we are lucky not to have the much higher rate that we see in other countries. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I’d rather see GST be raised to 5% and income tax reduced but that is another arguement for another forum.
Also, I am not sure I would want to take the cap of social security completely, but I agree that perhaps this needs to be reviewed.
Getting back to the topic, I like may others admit to doing most of my shopping online purely because it is much cheaper than buying localy. I have just ordered some camera equipment and saved over £250.
If local business’ reduced their prices, I would give them my business, until then, I will continue shopping on line.
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Well on personal terms where is the incentive to buy local: example… I could buy a dvd player in town at £100, or I could buy the very same DVD on Amazon.co.uk and have it delivered to me, for free with the VAT taken off and no GST added. I Actually ordered something for my Wii and was charge double what I could get it for online, and had to wait 3 weeks for them to get in stock. I only thought about looking online once I was waiting for it and then found it on various sites for cheaper. I appreciate that businesses here have to make a profit, but in a dog eat dog business world with a credit crunch looming on everyone for the sake of my finances I am happy to shop else where conscience free. Sad but true.
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By local save jobs…the song has change ..LA LA LAL ALLLLAA
By local and save the greedy retailer charging twice for the vat free products he has bought yes save him because he is struggling to buy food and pay its bills.
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And yet in the paper a couple of weeks ago the states are going to bring over around 40 French and Portuguese nationals to work on the incinerator?
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Please don’t forget the landlords role here ,most of whom are fabulously rich….a lot of costs are just simply reflecting rents……
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The Secret to creating Utopia.
There are more problems that need fixing in Jersey than the need for local people to shop.
I have come up with a way in 11 easy to follow steps to make the island run as smoothly as the our Chief Ministers forehead!!!
1, Let the landlords of Jersey charge what ever they like for retail property rental
2, Make sure the landing fees in to the island for imported goods is reasonably high
3, Find a way to entice loads of extremely rich people to come to jersey by say offering them minimum tax and letting them set up businesses.
4, Set the minimum wage so low people are only able to rent out a room the size of a cupboard.
5, Make sure you tightly control who can set up a supermarkets in the island.
6, Put paid parking everywhere except in new developments.
7, Invite large off island development company to setup in the island and give them all the tenders for building projects.
8, Allow constant development of rural areas to bring in new tax paying residents to the island.
9, Ignore the growth requirement for rubbish disposal, sewage and traffic congestion.
10, Build a big cavern under the island that can be filled with sea water then the tide is up!
11, Ohh and put an end of sale tax on everything (well if possible can you exempt it on boat fuel for me? my sunseeker is already to expensive to run when I go to France to do all my shopping).
If you follow these steps carefully you will be in paradise in no time.
There is one word of warning which could unravel all your hard work.
If anyone who disagrees with the 11 steps above tries to get in to your government use every power at your disposal to discredit them for they will cause chaos and discontent around your people…….
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Adrian & Truthseeker – agree completely.
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Aren’t a few of these internet stores based in the Channel Islands? I know of Play.com and amazon at least…
If Play and amazon can manage to post items to me free of charge and cheaper than local stores then why is that? I can understand the volumes of merchandise involved helps them to negotiate reasonable transit costs but surely other large stores like HMV can do the same??
I can buy a DVD online for £2.99 (in one of the frequent online sales) and yet HMV will still be selling the same DVD at retail which they ridiculously still believe RRP is £19.99 for a DVD!
It is simply greed and these stores have made their bed…….
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Adrian,
well put but most of the top civil service jobs are given to people from the UK.
Most of the Council of Ministers are business owners.
The bleat of “buy local” is going on around the world now the economy is tight. It is allfor votes and serves no practical purpose.
Result is that nothing will get done. So I would invite everyone to vote with their credit cards and buy from the internet. Though no doubt they will try to put a tax on that soon as well.
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Well put Scott. Indeed a paradise for the select few. The rest can survive on the crumbs from the table, in my opinion.
As far as I am concerned the lack of tax on boat fuel just shows what the government really thinks. Sorry we can’t do that, even though it would raise lots of money from all the big boat users over here, but, we can introduce GST to take more of what little the elderly widow has to survive on over here.
Darren you are right there is no need to bring in civil servents from the UK. I would stop this practice, it is wrong, and is a massive disincentive to the local population who will hit the glass ceiling. We the tax payer are paying massive index-linked pensions to these people and may even have to pay for them should they need looking after in old age. They are also adding to the housing shortage and price of housing over here, as well as putting more of a strain all on all our local resources, from what I can see.
As you point out many in the CoM are wealthy or business owners. Is it any surprise when they therefore ask the hard working local population to support local businesses? Some would say its a case of the businessmen looking after their own, and from where I’m sitting it is falling on deaf ears.
It is now time for all, regardless of their position, in Jersey’s economy, to shoulder their fair share of the strain even if they aren’t legally called to do so.
Maybe when those in government listen to the peoples’ wishes the people might be more inclined to do as they are told. Until then…….
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The kind of music and DVD I like I can’t find in the tiny HMV here so I have no option but to get them online.
I know from two businesses that ceased trading in St Helier at the start of this year that the single biggest factor was massive rent increases. One was informed that their rent would go up by 80% Both units have now lain empty for months. Now that may not only be because of the rent, but given how quickly some other units have been filled I suspect that may be the case.
I can understand occasionally someone may have a genuine need to raise rent so spectacularly but I would wager that such need is few and far between and that greed may play a big role!
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Its fear and money the pillars of politics.
We are being asked to buy local or we will lose our jobs.
Utter rubbish let market forces work it out.
The woolworths of our world will become the new looks. Its market forces that make people bank here, it is what this Island is built on.
What will be next ? Pay more tax or nurses will go ? Introduce more tax or lose services ? Reduce company tax or lose business ? Hang on we are already told these things. Fear and money, keep us in fear to take more money off us.
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adrian(5) agree with most points.
scott(14)did you get hold of a leaked blueprint for life in jersey 2010?
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