Mark Oliver

I am a passionate believer in the values of the co-operative movement and a great admirer of the Channel Islands Co-operative as a business and the role it fulfils in the local community. I admire the support given to local businesses and in particular our local food producers, the enlightened employment policies, the support given to local charities, the involvement in local community projects and above all else the fact that the business is owned by you the members and that members are represented on the Board of Directors.

Having said that, I do feel that the value of being a member has been somewhat eroded in recent years. We have lost 'double divi days', the core dividend has been cut from 4% to 2%. In addition, we have seen the loss of Homemaker, the travel business and several post offices, not to mention the loss of local warehousing facilities, which at times of ferry disruptions has led to empty shelves. Of course, the business does have to make tough decisions to maintain acceptable levels of profitability in order to continue investing in the future, but have we lost sight of the needs of the members?

I am putting myself forward for election to the Board, as I think that question needs to be answered by robust challenge of the Board and the executives. In all probability the cuts I mentioned before were necessary for the sustainability of the business, but maybe they could have been handled better. The timing of the announcement of the cut to the dividend was unfortunate, coming a few months before it was due to be paid and at the same time as a rollout of a re-branding exercise. At one point in my life, I was a single parent on tight budget, so I understand how much that dividend means to a large number of the members, I certainly appreciated it and looked forward to receiving it.

So, what would I offer as a member of the Board?

I am a semi-retired qualified accountant with over 30 years’ experience at board level in a number of commercial organisations, the final 23 years of my career were spent as Finance Director of Jersey Evening Post Limited and The Guernsey Press Company Limited.

In addition to the traditional role of Finance Director, I have at various stages had line management responsibility for HR, I.T., Warehousing and Logistics, Sales and Marketing and Customer Services.

I have experience in most areas of corporate activity including acquisitions, disposals, fund raising, restructuring, pensions, relocations, including property acquisition, project management, major contract negotiations including leasehold property, corporate governance, and risk management. In addition, I am experienced in working across multiple jurisdictions and in different cultural environments.

In addition to 'the day job', I was Honorary Treasurer of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust for six years and a Trustee of Jersey Heritage for a further six years, with the final three years of that appointment being Vice Chairman. At Durrell I was Chair of the Investment Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee. I chaired the Finance and Audit Committee at Jersey Heritage.

So, I believe that I have a lot of experience that I can bring to the Board. As I said earlier, I am standing for election as I would like to see how we can restore value to being a member. However, I am not a politician and so I am not going to make promises that I can't fulfil, but I will promise that I will try my very best to achieve what is best for you, the members.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Proposed by: Amanda Moll
Seconded by: Donald Gardener