Tim Brown said that while the volume of letters sent had declined during lockdown, there had been an increase of between 15% and 20% in package and parcel mail, with the majority of these items being sent off the Island.
‘As an island we are a net exporter – there are tens of millions of pounds worth of goods that are exported through Jersey Post alone, let alone the freight companies and other parcel companies in the Island,’ he said.
‘The export market is still a big source of revenue and profit to the Island and employment so it’s really important. I don’t think people always recognise or remember that.’
He highlighted the global nature of this market with the majority of the products exported going to Europe and the USA.
‘We’re talking about subscription contact lenses into Europe, bought-and-sold goods, telephone cases, Jersey produce, Jersey coffee. Those are things that we do.
‘More than 90% of it it does not go to the UK but to the USA and Europe – those are the important trade lanes’, Mr Brown said.
But he also highlighted a growth in local parcel deliveries as companies in Jersey adapted to the changing circumstances imposed by the coronavirus crisis.
‘They’ve really made a success of selling online alongside their retail business and, as a result, they are probably stronger than they were going into Covid because they’ve broadened their channels to market and the ability of people to access their services,’ he said.
Some companies, he added, were finding that offering these services, primarily for local consumers, was also attracting customers outside the Island.
‘I think what Covid-19 has said is that you have to embrace a multi-channel approach to accessing the market place – it can’t just be bricks and mortar. It also has to be digital even for on-island selling to Islanders here,’ he said.
- Mr Brown is the subject of the Saturday Interview.
