A Word from Our CEO, Murray Norton, September 2024
I always see September as a time where we all get back to it. A new school year, (which I always thought of as odd starting in September, but I’ll come back that) some meaty States debates like the budget and that feeling that the summer playtime is over and it’s time to knuckle down to some routine again.
Our Winter routine, other than increased traffic, darker nights, the argument on when the heating goes on, and how many weeks it is to Christmas, will be our line up of events. In short order September: 25th Breakfast Briefing – Should we have a University in Jersey? 26th Treasury Minister speaking at the Chamber lunch. October 9th Lunch Sir Stephen Dalton – Why does Art Matter. November 6th Lunch the Controller and Auditor General Lynn Pamment CBE and also in November a Breakfast Briefing on 5G. Finally on December 4th the annual Christmas Chamber Lunch, with a more light-hearted look at the year. If you’ve ever had people over for lunch or organised a get together, you’ll know I’m extremely lucky to have a team that makes this look easy.
Our new school term starts off with our new website, including the facility to run our newsletters all from the same system. By the way, if you do not already receive the Chamber Friday Update in your inbox, just email [email protected] and we’ll add you on. Welcome to Sure, who become our new newsletter sponsor too, delighted to have you partner with us.
At Chamber we are constantly involved in most aspects of island life and for 90% of it, behind the scenes too, trying to get the best results for our members – the island business community - and in turn for the good of the entire island.
The Air Display has cropped up in recent weeks. It’s good for business and very popular with islanders, and our meetings with officers and Minister, Chamber has expressed that it needs to evolve and find better funding mechanisms for the years ahead. We have engaged with the Fiscal Policy Panel and will be again later this month, with challenges across several sectors. We will be engaging with the New Hospital Scrutiny Panel, giving our thoughts on keeping cash and have inputted on the support required for businesses to get through the change to a Living Wage next April. There is much more engagement ahead this autumn and it is why so many businesses choose to be members of Chamber, so they can give their expert opinion and be heard. So, if you are not a member, join us, it’s easy to do with plenty of advantages. JERSEY Chamber of Commerce jerseychamber.com is where you’ll find the details.
Oh, and why do schools years start in September? Well the UK Education Act of 1899 made school compulsory for all children. This caused an uproar, especially for families who needed their children to work on the farm. A long holiday in the summer months meant that children could work on the fields and return back to school in September, and now that is the norm.
Hope you’ve all enjoyed the rest (in the field or otherwise) and let’s hope for an Indian Summer, which you might like to know, some speculate may have referred to hazy autumn conditions that allowed Native American Indians to continue hunting — especially in October and November.
Isn’t life one long fascinating lesson?
