Institute of Directors
1st October 2009
When I was first told that I had been chosen to attend the annual Institute of Directors debate I was extremely excited, as I realised what an opportunity this would be. We were told that the debate was titled ‘2020 – Where will we be?’ and the moderator for the evening was renowned journalist and TV presenter Alistair Stewart. We were also going to be fed – what more could you ask for?
We arrived in the Dave Ferguson Hall at Beau Sejour at 4.30pm and gradually the hall started to fill with 500 of Guernsey’s “movers and shakers” from the business community – some of whom I recognised – including the Chief minister of Guernsey Lyndon Trott and others who I recognised from Young Enterprise events.
The panel who would be leading discussions were all highly respected members of Guernsey and Jersey’s business and political communities for example John Davey of Spearpoint, Senator Philip Ozouf the Jersey Treasury and Resources Minister, Tamara Menteshvili, Head of the Channel Islands Stock Exchange and Peter Neville ex-Director General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.
The format for the evening was to be along the lines of “Question Time” where the panel would give their opening statements before questions and comments were invited from the floor.
The debate started and it became immediately apparent that Alistair Stewart was a superb speaker, his professionalism shone through throughout the event. He clearly took his role seriously, and was very well informed on the topics debated and I admired the fact that he had prepared so fully on local issues and I think that he set a very good tone for the debate to take place.
The four topics chosen to debate were ‘The Economy’, ‘Pan-Island Issues’, ‘Social’ and ‘Government’ with the first two to be tackled before supper and the second two afterwards. My favourite topics were the latter two, maybe as I’m always happiest with a full stomach - however I preferred these two topics as the audience were more involved and the debate proceeded more fluidly from person to person.
During supper I was interviewed by the Guernsey Press on my thoughts of the event so far, and I told them that I was fascinated by everything that I had seen and heard, and that it encouraged me not only to take a greater interest in Guernsey’s current affairs but also that one day I may be interested in joining the Institute of Directors myself.
During the final Government section, feeling brave, I raised a point to the panel and the floor about how the States of Guernsey could motivate University students who study specialist subjects, such as medicine, to return to the island by offering more favourable grants, provided they agreed to return and give something back to Guernsey as surely the social benefit would outweigh the private costs. My comments were immediately met by a round of applause – which I’ll never forget - and to me showed that the Institute of Directors are very open and interested in the ideas of students, who, as Alistair Stewart commented, could be seen as the future of the island, and this appreciation of our views made our whole student table feel valued.
After the event I was also interviewed by Island FM as myself and some of my school colleagues had wandered over to talk to Alistair Stewart, and they asked him his views of the evening. He summarised that the key objective for the future was that greater unity between Guernsey and Jersey was necessary, especially as Offshore islands many of our challenges were similar and by working together we may be able to have greater impact.and I fully agreed with what he said. He also stated that he was impressed by the contribution of the student table and that the future of Guernsey was in good hands.
This brought to a close a fantastic evening and overall I felt that attending the debate was an amazing experience and a real privilege. I also believe I have learned a lot of skills and etiquette that it is important to experience in person which cannot be learned in a classroom. It has also confirmed to me that I do want to go to university to study Economics, which is my favourite A level subject and events like these can really motivate you to try harder in class.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Du Putron Fund Management Group for allowing me and my peers to not just watch, but to be encouraged to actively engage in, such a brilliant learning experience. I would also like to thank the Institute of Directors for hosting the event and for inviting us to attend – it was truly an amazing night.
