The Bosdet Foundation said they would not be able to operate their proposed large holiday village at Les Ormes if they could not house their staff.
The proposals for two four-bedroom staff houses are an extension of its already approved £13 million project to build 60 new self-catering accommodation units at Les Ormes – which was approved earlier this year after originally being denied planning permission in November 2019.
In a letter attached to the revised planning application, Mike Graham, managing director at Les Ormes, said: ‘In the last two years, we have seen several factors at play from Brexit, Covid, to an increasingly expensive island in which to live, from accommodation to other costs. The situation has deteriorated significantly in the last three months. It is critical and may well get worse, as shown with restaurants reducing their hours and other groups looking to buy lodging houses to staff their teams.
‘Accepting that Les Ormes and other organisations are not going to have permissions for permanent non-qualified staff, we have to move to a more seasonal operation with our core local staff supplemented by more seasonal staff in the key summer months. These staff will not place pressures on our Island infrastructure but do need a bedroom while here. Therefore, the best way to do this is to have good-quality staff bedrooms on site.’
He added: ‘Les Ormes as a self-catering resort is significantly more staff efficient than the hotel sector due to the need for less housekeeping, reception and other staff.
‘Applying for these staff units will enable us to maintain a two-season operation as we develop more units. Without the extra staff accommodation, more severe curtailing of customer service products such as the restaurant and Jump Jersey will be inevitable. The standards of our site, from maintenance and gardening, will also decline.
‘It is quite stark, but if we are unable to house our staff we cannot invest in new guest accommodation, as we would not be able to service it.’
