Ferry boss has mixed feelings on launch of service

Brittany Ferries' chief executive Christophe Mathieu says he is excited for the launch of the firm's Guernsey service on Friday but is also disappointed over staff cuts.

For 60 years the Channel Islands had a joint ferry operator for both Guernsey and Jersey - but while Guernsey continues to work with Brittany Ferries, Jersey has chosen DFDS.

Brittany Ferries, the parent company of Condor, was selected in October to run Guernsey's service for the next 15 years.

Mr Mathieu said: "We've had a lot of encouraging bookings for Guernsey. However, there is still extreme disappointment for the people that have consequently had to leave Condor and it is very sad the way it ended up."

Condor's previous contracts with both islands ended on Thursday.

Brittany Ferries is in the process of selling two of the vessels that were part of the Channel Islands' fleet.

Mr Mathieu said: "The crew of those two vessels are leaving the company and of course there are people in Jersey that are either transferring to our competitor or moving on.

"There are also people mainly in the Poole headquarters [losing jobs], because a lot of support functions are impacted. There are quite a few people losing their jobs."

Brittany Ferries said it was committed to investing in the fleet that serves Guernsey.

Mr Mathieu said: "We are a regional operator and I think Guernsey will be very much in the heart of our network.

"Let's focus on the future and making it a successful partnership with Guernsey as we really look forward to it."

Mr Mathieu also raised concerns about the tender process for the contract that was originally for both Guernsey and Jersey.

He said: "I don't think there was a proper process and it was a decision that was taken a long time ago.

"The reason why I am still saying that is because, as we speak, I still see that there was a lack of preparation and a lot of improvisation still going on.

When asked about Brittany Ferries' relationship with Jersey, Mr Mathieu said: "It is obviously the case that we have a very good relationship with Guernsey and very little relationship with Jersey.

"We are doing things as professional and grown up but it doesn't remove the bitterness and the anger and we will not forget.

"But we will move on and we are serving the client that has given us the contract.

"We are excited to do that because we know we will build a lot of initiatives and developments to improve the Guernsey connection with the UK and Brittany."

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