EARLIER this month Little Star in Liberty Wharf – one of only a few dedicated baby and child shops left in the Island following the recent closure of Mothercare and independent Boo’s Boutique – took delivery of a new type of travel cot.
But they weren’t just any travel cots – they were devised-and-designed-in-Jersey by-an-Islander travel cots.
Because the delivery was from BabyHub, whose SleepSpace travel cots are now being sold around the world.
Designed by Catherine Curtis, the product is the biggest success story of the Jersey Innovation Fund.
You see, Mrs Curtis was loaned £60,000 by the fund to help develop the SleepSpace, and the company paid back the money in full last year.
At the time, Mrs Curtis thanked Islanders – after all it was taxpayers’ money in the pot – for helping to fund a creative business.
It is well known that not all of the Innovation Fund’s recipients have been so successful, and concerns about one in particular led to the fund itself coming under investigation.
And then following concerns about how the fund had been managed by the States – and fears that a large chunk of the £1.4 million given out to start-ups may never be recovered – the JIF was frozen in 2016.
For 18 months £1.2 million has sat in that fund untouched – but that may be about to change with the news that the States are working on plans for a new way to support entrepreneurs and start-up companies.
Whether that will be the JIF 2.0 or something different entirely remains to be seen.
But the important thing is at least it is being thought about within government, and even better that action – in the form of a proposition promised for later this year – is actually being taken.
As the previous experience shows, however, the devil really will be in the detail. And the States has to get it right this time or start-ups will be doomed to receive no government help for decades to come.
Of course, when it comes to new businesses there will always be failures, and that is something that everyone – the States, the businesses themselves and the public – need to understand and be prepared for.
But it is how those failures are handled that can make or break such a scheme.
I’m no business guru but simple things like proper due diligence, transparent decision-making and appropriate ways of identifying potential conflicts of interest must all be a part of the new scheme, whatever shape it may take.
There are important lessons to be learned from the failure of the JIF and the implications of its mismanagement will be felt within the States for years to come.
But that should not put us, as an Island, off supporting start-ups.
There’s some (smallish in the grand scheme of things) money there ready to go, and definitely the demand, according to Digital Jersey head Tony Moretta.
Now it seems there is also the political will to revisit an issue previously considered just too controversial to touch.
Currently, responsibility for the fund rests with the Chief Minister’s Department, or whatever they are calling it these days.
Previously it had been delegated, to the then Assistant Chief Minister Philip Ozouf, then before that to the Economic Development Minister.
The delegation itself wasn’t a problem, but the changes and the processes for them caused confusion which ultimately contributed to the fund’s failure.
It goes without saying this must not happen again.
But the concept of having a ‘champion for innovation’ is not a bad one.
At a time when ministers are all being forced to rethink the traditional departmental structures and come under one legally responsible entity there is a risk that things could get confusing once again.
But if someone is given a clear remit to champion the new scheme and the concepts behind it then, with the right support and structures underpinning it, it can work.
It is likely it will indeed be delegated to someone, as I sense this is the style of the new Chief Minister.
What exactly will be delegated and to whom remains to be seen.
But one thing is for sure, there are more Catherine Curtis’ out there in this Island with many more ideas that could be just as successful as the award-winning SleepSpace.
