HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds in losses have been caused by the nearly week-long Islandwide gas outage, a leader of the hospitality sector has said.
Marcus Calvani, co-chief executive of the Jersey Hospitality Association, added that the “reputational damage is large” and urged Island Energy’s chief executive Jo Cox to “get in touch” with him directly “to simplify communication to hundreds of hospitality businesses”.
Mr Calvani spoke to the JEP following the announcement from Island Energy that the plant was switched back on, with engineers waiting for 24 hours before committing to restoring gas supplies.
Jersey’s gas network has been down since Saturday, affecting more than 4,000 customers and around 400 businesses – including many restaurants who have had to cancel or scale back their bookings. After hopes it would be restored by Tuesday were dashed, all domestic and commercial customers are now expected to have their gas supply returned by Sunday – eight days after the initial outage.
But Mr Calvani said there was “no relief” for JHA’s members with that announcement.
“There is no sense of relief, confidence or belief that it will happen until it happens,” he continued. “We appreciate the difficult situation the chief executive is in and appreciate the health and safety aspects, but at the same time, there are far better and clearer ways of communication and setting realistic goals of what people can expect.”
He continued: “The reality is that we’re now looking at hundreds of thousands of pounds of loss, if not more. Some hotels are completely reliant on gas for cooking and hot water and they have had to move guests out.
“The reputation damage to the Island is large. While the Destination Jersey conference this week went well, restaurants, particularly those taking part in the Delicious Jersey food festival, have really suffered,” he said.
The Delicious Dine-Out Festival, due to take place from 1 October to 12 November, celebrates local food and drink this autumn.
“It is incredibly frustrating that we launch a new food festival and bookings are increasing and now we have to cancel them all again,” said Mr Calvani. However, the “dynamic” industry has adapted by buying barbecues, changing their menus, and offering cold salads, Mr Calvani said. “We would urge Island Energy’s chief executive to get in touch with the JHA, because it can simplify communication to hundreds.
“At the moment, we’re asking businesses to continue tracking their losses and potential losses and extra increased costs that they’ve incurred. Once the dust has settled, we will be having an association-wide meeting about compensation. It will be easy to prove the losses, so as an association we will have to develop a standard compensation claim. We will be there fighting for our members, to the very end.”
Food loss and waste has also affected businesses.
Jon de Gruchy, who runs Entwistles Fish and Chip Shop in Gorey with his wife Monika, said the gas outage was “just another hit” after struggles with the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr de Gruchy said that Entwistles’ losses due to the gas outage were pushing £10,000 after having to throw away almost £2,000 worth of fresh produce and missing out on around £8,000 in sales due to being closed since Saturday morning.
“Friday night is our busiest night, so if the gas isn’t back on by then we’ll lose out on another £3,500 to £4,000 in sales,” he added.
