Viewing the panoply of colour at Guernsey Clematis Nursery with founder and owner Raymond Evison (Right) and Paul Ingrouille (Horticultural Manager)
There's much more to Guernsey than financial services. We ought to value our financial service industry which not only opens up Guernsey to global business, but provides resources for other services and businesses to exist here and to provide jobs. However we should endeavour not to be over-reliant on any one industry. This we ought to have learnt from the past when Guernsey was heavily dependant on horticulture for the bulk of the twentieth century.
When the UK joined the EU in the 1970s it became increasingly difficult for Guernsey to compete with subsidised fruit and flowers grown and marketed in bulk by the big EU member states benefiting from the Common Agricultural Policy and other schemes. Tomato growing died a death within a decade. Some flower growing remained but it has had to innovate and diversify to be sustainable. In the last decade the UK government's decision to remove VAT Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR) has hit hard on flower growers in Guernsey. Small local growers were still managing to be competitive by sending small flower packages by Post which came under the LVCR de minimis level of £18 and was therefore not subject to VAT on importation into the UK. After this came the recession and thus a double whammy for flower growers trying to eke out a living.
The variety of colours, flower sizes, shapes and plants is staggering.
It is therefore very heartening to see horticulture bouncing back. Especially in the form of such clever innovation and niche marketing which looks resilient enough to withstand the storms of doing business both near and far. A good example of this is Guernsey Clematis Nurseries Ltd. and its associated Raymond Evison Clematis. Under the entrepreneural skill of its founder Raymond Evison MBE VMH who began the Guernsey operation in 1985 the firm has developed a business model which involves dedicated breeding and global marketing on an incredibly large scale. Plants are grown from cuttings and prepared either for UK or European sales, or carefully pruned as young plants and exported as far afield as North America and Japan. 3 million plants are produced annually here. A quarter of the world market in clematis plants originates in Guernsey!
Raymond's successful business model comes from the idea he had that as people in the West increasingly moved towards living in cities and smaller dweliings without gardens, they would want some kind of easy-to-maintain garden experience in what little space they might have - a patch of patio, a balcony, or even a window box. They needed things to grow that were fairly unfussy, colourful and hardy. Clematis plants fit the bill perfectly. They are so versatile too, plus with his innovative species cultivation programme the options continue to expand.
As the son of a grower I was fascinated by the way in which this "vinery" (as we call sentimentally call glasshouses over here in reference to their original use for growing grapes) operates. Much science, design, and technological skill goes into the the production process, The care taken over breeding plants so that colour, size, shape, number of blooms, etc. are all taken into consideration, coupled with the fact that it takes around 10 years to develop a marketable new variety from initial concept, means that serious investment and risk are involved in this industry. So its not surprising therefore that each year Raymond comes back from the Chelsea Flower Show - the world showcase for the horticultural flower industry - glistening with medals and awards. He is of course also Vice=President of the Royal Horticultural Society and was awarded the prestigious Victoria Medal of Honour for his services to horticulture.
Along with several others, including my cousin Ivan Le Tissier, and as president of the Guernsey Botanical Trust Raymond has pioneered the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden at Saumarez Park in the Castel parish. This is a beautiful painstaking project which is definitely worth a visit.
So, there's much more going on in Guernsey, and Guernsey Clematis is a brilliant example of this. They are expanding too, building another expanse of glass to cope with the increase in demand as they partner with other distributers and garden centres in Denmark, the Netherlands and further afield.
Our daughter Grace checking out the flowers!