Guernsey Digital Hub Cost Taxpayers £5m From Opening Until Closure

Figures released following a freedom of information request show that a Guernsey digital hub cost taxpayers £5m over its lifespan before its closure was recommended.

States spending on a Guernsey digital hub totaled £5 million from its opening until the venue faced closure, according to details released following a freedom of information request. The Committee for Economic Development stated that the innovation hub received a net £3.9 million of taxpayer support over its lifespan, while total spending ballooned beyond initial annual budgets in recent years.

Financial records show that after spending less than budgeted in 2023 and 2024, the venue overspent by £180,000, though income outpaced projections by £160,000 during that period. However, both spending and income dropped off markedly in 2025, with both figures falling £200,000 short of budget as income crashed from £220,000 annually to £81,000. In the aftermath of the closure announcement, disclosures revealed that each rented desk at the Market Square premises cost the taxpayer £10,000 a year.

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Funding for the initiative initially came from the Future Guernsey Fund between 2015 and 2020, before transitioning to the committee’s annual budget allocation. Annual funding rose from £205,000 in 2018 to £503,000 budgeted for the current year, supplemented throughout its existence by membership, event, and sponsorship income.

A programme impact survey conducted in May of this year suggested the hub generated £1.09 million in annual revenue, supported 46 jobs, and contributed about £294,000 in income tax and social security contributions. However, the disclosures noted that these figures were modelled estimates derived from a sample of just 31 respondents and 22 businesses, using self-reported revenue bands, an assumed 30 percent profit margin, and an average £35,000 salary.

The committee described the figures as indicative survey-derived estimates rather than validated findings, withholding the full report to prevent the data from being read as more authoritative than the sample size supported. The Innovate Guernsey Board, which recommended the closure, concluded that while the venue performed strongly as a trusted hub with consistently high user satisfaction, key performance indicators such as job creation and productivity were not tracked systematically.

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