Condor Ferries will be rebranded, CEO says

CEO Christophe Mathieu said the business would become Brittany Ferries Channel Islands

The chief executive of Condor Ferries and Brittany Ferries has said Condor will be rebranded - regardless of whether the company wins Jersey's tender process.

Brittany Ferries put forward its tender to run the island's ferry routes on Wednesday after Condor's previous bid to run the service was turned down by the Government of Jersey on 19 November.

Guernsey picked Brittany Ferries to run its services for 15 years.

Christophe Mathieu said Condor Ferries would soon become "Brittany Ferries Channel Islands".

Mr Mathieu said: "We will have rebrand the ships [and] the vessels progressively and they will be a Brittany Ferries ship with a Brittany Ferries' experience soon enough.

"The website of Condor will also be a Brittany Ferries website and so on and so forth."

Condor Ferries had been serving both of the Channel Islands for 60 years.

Mr Mathieu said Condor would continue providing ferry services for Jersey until its contract ended in March 2025.

The rebrand will be introduced progressively, the firm's boss says

Deputy Kirsten Morel, who is overseeing the tender process for Jersey, previously said Condor had asked for between £11m and £36m to guarantee running boats.

However, Mr Mathieu said agreeing a contract to run Guernsey's ferries for the next 15 years meant the funding was no longer necessary.

"Now that we've got Guernsey and we are committed to providing the service to Guernsey beyond April 2025, I can now say that we will find a way to operate until the end of March 2025 as per the contract without any extra money required by the government," he said.

Condor debt restructured

Mr Mathieu said the company could guarantee taxpayers they would would not have to step in to help with finances if it was awarded the Jersey contract.

He said Condor's debt had been restructured and Brittany Ferries had taken the debt on as the majority shareholder.

He added he expected to sign a contract to run Guernsey's ferries soon and he was waiting to hear whether the company's bid for Jersey's services had been successful.

Speaking about the scenario of a Guernsey-only ferry contract, he insisted it would be commercially viable because there would be fewer ships in operation and the schedule would be optimised.

"We believe that Guernsey can stand alone," he said.

"It's a shame that rather than thinking as a group of islands, there is always that 'us and them' reaction.

"I don't think Guernsey are getting a bad schedule, but they'd get a better schedule if Jersey decide to not choose us."