CONTACT - Guernsey Chamber of Commerce

of events and organisations to boost
the quality of life and opportunities
for island residents. For many years
condor has sponsored the Guernsey
football team, but this summer it
decided to support the Quids in Sport
programme in conjunction with the
Sports commission. this gave young
people in Guernsey the chance to
take part in a wide variety of sports
for just £1 a session, to encourage
them to be active during the holidays.
Similarly, condor sponsors proms
on the pier, the Sand ace race, the
town carnival and the Guernsey
amateur Dramatic and operatic club.
it also supports individuals such as
local 16-year-old andrew Bridgeman
who is a promising laser sailor.
Mr edsall is full of
praise for his team.
‘Naturally a large number of condor
staff live in the islands and they
take great pride in the role they play
as an integral transport provider. i
can assure you that they have been
very frustrated during the technical
problems this summer. and as
you know, many of them worked
exceedingly hard during the volcanic
ash crisis, coming in on their days off
and doing much overtime to enable
us to schedule more sailings and help
travellers reach their final destination.’
Supplying a lifeline
the great majority of goods that
either come into or out of the channel
islands travels on condor’s two
freight vessels. these ferries ply their
trade day in and day out to ensure
the shops remain stocked and life in
the islands continues as normal. one
topic that is also often overlooked
by the community is that of the
contribution condor makes to the
States in the form of harbour dues.
For every car, passenger and freight
vehicle that comes in or out of St peter
port, condor pays a fee. this amounts
to well in excess of £2m. each year.
the company could also argue they
spend many hundreds of thousands
of pounds each year promoting
Guernsey and Jersey as destinations
to the UK tourism market. tourists
have a wide choice - and along with
Guernsey tourism, condor works
hard to attract visitors to the island,
bringing their valued contribution
to the local economy. these efforts
enabled them to increase passenger
numbers overall by 10% in 2009
and they have again experienced a
respectable increase this summer.
‘Although Condor is the only operator of car
ferries to the Channel Islands, it competes with
the airlines and in particular their
fly-drive offerings.’
although condor is the only
operator of car ferries to the
channel islands, it competes with
the airlines and in particular their
fly-drive offerings. Mr edsall says
they constantly monitor the prices
available on airlines’ websites.
Containing the costs
in 2008 the company was subjected
to wildly fluctuating oil prices that
were then reflected in their fuel
surcharge. condor recognised that
its customers, and particularly
the island residents, needed more
certainty in pricing. this led them
to hedge their fuel requirements
in May last year and consolidate
the surcharge into their tariff to
provide greater transparency and less
volatility. this hedging has now been
extended to September next year.
as a ferry operator, condor has a
high level of fixed costs - and therefore
has every incentive to increase
utilisation of its fleet. During 2009,
condor introduced short break fares
to offer lower prices for trips of up to
two and half days, five days or 10 days.
all condor sailings have a minimum
10% allocation of these special fares.
While condor has been busy
getting on with the business in
hand, it is also aware that the States
of Jersey and Guernsey launched
a joint consultation on the car
and passenger ferry market this
summer, with views sought on a
number of issues. although the
results of that consultation are
awaited, condor would argue that
the current regime works well.
‘the market is competitive
and we have a Memorandum of
Understanding with the States
of Guernsey that sets out various
obligations including the minimum
frequency of service, the vessels to be
used and a restriction on any increase
in our maximum fares without
prior approval,’ said Mr edsall.
the islands do operate an ‘open
seas’ policy and condor does not
have an exclusive position. Barriers
to entry are not that high and this has
been borne out by the introduction of
new operators on the southern route
in recent years. these newcomers
have gone the way of the horizon
and condor is proud that it’s still
an integral part of the channel
islands’ transport network. ➜
Condor managing
director Simon
Edsall talks to
guests at the
Chamber lunch
www.guernseychamber.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 | CONTACT | 27