Jersey Supermarkets on Radio 4

As Chair of the Jersey Chamber Small Business Group I tend to get requests to do interviews whenever there is a potential threat on the horizon to the small business community.

Well a few weeks ago I had such a request from BBC Radio Jersey who were doing a piece for the BBC Radio 4 programme "You and yours".

Out of the blue today I got a call from a friend of mine to say that the programme had been aired and had I heard it?

It got me reflecting though on how fast things change. Since that interview, Le Masurier have put forward plans to build a new supermarket etc. in Bath street, whilst Channel Island Traders, the owners of the Le Riche brand have put forward a proposal on a site probably no more than 1,000 metres away also in St. Helier.

Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Well the debate rages - As I've said before the political will is there, but do the economics add up? There is after all only one cake on Jersey and all that happens is that that cake gets sliced up in a different way as market share changes hand.

The loosers I fear though may well be many small businesses, the old Central Market with its Fruit and Veg offering? Who knows? The winners, well the theory is the consumer in the form of lower food prices, however is this sustainable over the longer period given the logistics of getting things to this Island?

It's a tough call, but maybe ultimately it comes own to us as individuals, what do we really want? Jersey is a special place, it's different, and it's different because of its diversity. Surely it's all too easy to throw that all away for the sake of cheaper bread and milk, but then again if you are unfortunate enough to be below the poverty line, your qualiy of life won't be that great either, and you'll be one of those cheering on a new Supermarket offering.

I hope we all get the opportunity to debate this point before any decisions are made, in the mean time have a listen to this 5 minute piece, be warned you need to choose the "Co-Op" sound bite, the BBC seemed to have mixed up their segways. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/listenagain/wednesday.shtml