---
title: "CI Co-op loses £3m in sales as Jersey roadworks drag on"
url: https://www.nsfw.info/ci-coop-loses-3m-jersey-roadworks/
published: 2026-11-02T07:00:55+00:00
modified: 2026-11-02T07:00:55+00:00
author: "Chief Editor"
categories: ["Business"]
image: https://www.nsfw.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/ci-coop-loses-3m-jersey-roadworks-1024x572.webp
summary: "Businesses near Jersey's year-long sewer roadworks report severe losses, including £3m at CI Co-op, but the Infrastructure Minister says no compensation is lega"
publisher: NSFW (https://www.nsfw.info)
---

# CI Co-op loses £3m in sales as Jersey roadworks drag on

**In brief:** Small businesses along a major road closure in Jersey say year-long roadworks have devastated their trade, with one pub cutting three jobs and the CI Co-op reporting around £3 million in lost sales. The Infrastructure Minister acknowledges the disruption but says there is no legal basis for compensation payments.

## A Year of Disruption on the Road North

A project to renew 2km of sewer network connecting St Helier with the northern parishes has now been under way for a year, and for the businesses caught in its wake, the patience required is wearing very thin indeed. The BBC reports that small businesses marooned by the roadworks say they are struggling to survive without any financial support from the government.

Todor Ivanov, who manages the Union Inn, told the BBC that only the loyalty of his regulars had kept the pub afloat. The human cost has been stark: he has had to cut three jobs, leaving just himself, a chef and one part-time member of staff. “Even with the three jobs gone, which is money-wise, it’s about £6,000 a month,” he said. “People don’t know what to do and it’s massive impact, massive.”

Sam Gaudin, owner of The Gooseberry Bush, a shop established for over 30 years, said the business felt forgotten. “There’s no signs to The Gooseberry Bush,” she told the BBC, adding that with wages, rent and Christmas stock costs all pressing down at once, the pressure on small businesses was simply too great.

## Big Numbers, Bad Signage

It is not only the smallest operators feeling the pinch. Mark Cox, chief executive of CI Co-op, told the BBC that the works had gone on too long and that, in terms of costs for the Co-op, “we’ve lost around about £3m of sales.” He added that there appeared to be “a lack of understanding from government around the impact that these types of roadworks have on businesses, both large and small.” Coming from the chief executive of one of the island’s largest retailers, that is not a comment to be brushed aside lightly.

The disruption is not purely financial. Ian Kenny, an optician at The Eye Clinic, highlighted the particular difficulty faced by older patients. “We have patients who are in their 80s and 90s phoning us lost,” he told the BBC. He described the signage as “either non-existent, inaccurate or too late,” with diversions directing drivers in the wrong direction or announcing an end to a diversion that had not, in fact, ended. For elderly patients trying to keep medical appointments, that is more than an inconvenience.

## The Government’s Position: Essential Works, No Cheques

Minister for Infrastructure Jonathan Renouf acknowledged the disruption but offered no financial relief. He told the BBC that the Northern Sewer Network Upgrades Project was “critical to Jersey’s future,” promising that once complete it would provide additional capacity, improve resilience, support future housing development including affordable housing sites, and help reduce the risk of sewer flooding.

On the question of compensation, Renouf was clear: there is no legal provision for disruption payments for work carried out under statutory powers. “These works are carried out for the public good, improving safety, access, and long-term infrastructure,” he said. “Introducing compensation would set a precedent with wide-reaching financial and legal implications, and no UK or comparable jurisdiction currently offers such rebates.” He said he remained open to dialogue and would continue working with the community to minimise disruption wherever possible.

It is a legally defensible position, and the minister is not wrong that compensation schemes are rare. But telling a pub landlord who has lost three members of staff and a shopkeeper staring down Christmas costs that the project is “critical to Jersey’s future” is the kind of response that tends to land rather differently at the receiving end.

## The NSFW Perspective

There is something almost poetic about a government that can find the budget for any number of consultants, strategies and awareness campaigns, yet draws a firm line at helping a publican who has lost £6,000 a month because the state dug up the road outside his front door. The minister’s argument that no comparable jurisdiction offers such rebates may well be accurate, but it is worth asking whether that reflects sound policy or simply a universal reluctance among governments to acknowledge the costs they impose on private citizens.

The signage complaints deserve particular attention. Spending public money on a major infrastructure project and then failing to erect accurate, timely diversion signs is not a minor administrative oversight. It is the difference between a business losing some trade and losing its customers entirely. If the government cannot get the signs right, it might at least consider whether a modest hardship fund, rather than a full compensation scheme, could soften the blow for the smallest operators who had no say in any of this and no way to move out of the way.

*Source: [BBC News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq77p5d5jz84o)*