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Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the Channel Islands Co-operative, Sandpiper, Alliance and Morrison\u2019s met the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny panel this morning. <\/p>\nRetailers have criticised the government for excluding them from the process that awarded DFDS a 20-year freight contract to supply the island \u2013 warning that poor communication, rising shipping costs and cancelled sailings are pushing up prices for consumers.<\/p>\n
At a Scrutiny hearing this morning, representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the Channel Islands Co-operative, Sandpiper, Alliance and Morrison\u2019s said they had \u201czero involvement\u201d in the tender process that saw DFDS replace Condor as the island\u2019s freight operator in late March.<\/p>\n
Mark Cox, CEO of the Channel Islands Co-operative, described the lack of consultation as \u201cdisappointing\u201d \u2013\u00a0adding that Guernsey had invited retailers to take part in discussions before it chose to continue working with Condor. <\/p>\n
Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the Channel Islands Co-operative, Sandpiper, Alliance and Morrison\u2019s met the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny panel this morning. <\/p>\n
\u201cJersey was a lot more silent,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Retailers also told the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny panel that the decision for Jersey and Guernsey to have separate operators had increased costs and logistical challenges.<\/p>\n
Mr Cox said: \u201cWhereas before, you had a seamless piece and you could move the volume between the islands, now I can\u2019t ship the stock between Jersey and Guernsey anymore. The cost of that has increased 40% because it has to go via the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morrison\u2019s operations director Andrew Holmes said that DFDS\u2019s reliability remained a \u201cbig question\u201d \u2013\u00a0warning Condor had more experience operating into Jersey ports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t give us any confidence for when the weather gets worse,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Mr Cox warned that the MV Arrow, the 122-metre vessel used for the Portsmouth-Jersey route, \u201ccan\u2019t cope in unseasonal weather\u201d \u2013 adding that Co-op had already logged around ten freight cancellations to Jersey compared with just two to Guernsey.<\/p>\n
Retailers also raised concerns about inconsistent departure times from Portsmouth, which they said disrupted staffing and delivery schedules.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can vary on a daily basis, much more than what Condor would have done previously,\u201d Mr Cox said. \u201cYou can have three or four hours\u2019 difference depending on what time that vessel left the night before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Holmes said Morrison\u2019s frozen products were regularly left behind on UK docks, while Alliance operations director Kieran Poole described the situation as \u201cextremely challenging\u201d.<\/p>\n
Businesses also criticised the government\u2019s decision to introduce a flat-rate freight charge, which replaced the volume-based discounts previously available to major importers. <\/p>\n
The government argued the change would create a more transparent and competitive market,<\/a> but retailers said it had done the opposite.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve pulled one lever to say we will have a flat-rate card to increase competition when there is no space for competition,\u201d Mr Cox said. \u201cThere is nobody capable of holding and handling fresh food other than Ferryspeed. It won\u2019t increase competition in the short term whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n