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Whether you’re going to the markets for your groceries, exercising at Les Quennevais Sport Centre, or meeting your friends at a local café on the beach, each of these spaces are part of Islanders’ daily lives, and spaces that are managed by Jersey Property Holdings (JPH).
JPH act as the corporate landlord for all publicly owned land and buildings. This means they are responsible and accountable for the day-to-day and long-term decision making of all land and property assets.
JPH, which sits in the Infrastructure and Environment department, oversees more than 1,972 locations across the whole Island, from sports and leisure centres, to education and health facilities.
Sophie A’Court and Darren Donnelly are part of the Estates Team whose roles are key to the smooth running of publicly used sites and services across Jersey.
A day in the life of Sophie and Darren
Darren, a Senior Estates Surveyor, and Sophie, a Property Manager, both have hands-on responsibilities which aim to find the right balance of serving the needs of the public while adhering to important policies that ultimately protect the Island.
Darren said: “Our work is very varied. It could be anything from finding new office space for another Government department, sorting lease and licence renewals, to dealing with land acquisitions for Government capital projects.
“We can be at Howard Davis Hall in the morning and then out at L’Etacq in the afternoon. I know it’s cliché to say, but no two days are the same.
“We also work closely with colleagues in Land Management to ensure our site users are compliant with permitted land use, and the conveyancing team at the Law Officers’ Department, to understand land boundaries when processing land transactions.”
Sophie added: “The Central Market is a significant project we’ve been working on recently, renewing the leases of well-established tenants, as well as welcoming new businesses. I also enjoy supporting the setup of smaller concessions such as beach cafes and food or ticket kiosks – there are many small businesses and pop ups all around the Island.”
Step into Howard Davis Hall
One of the projects JPH has particularly focused on recently is Howard Davis Memorial Hall, which was gifted to the people of Jersey in 1939 by philanthropist T.B. Davis.
Darren has overseen important refurbishments throughout the Hall, including floor restorations and helping to facilitate the reinstallation of an important historical portrait of Howard Davis.
Darren said: “The hall has been open to the public on weekends while it’s been under the curatorship of JPH since the start of this year. It’s a memorial hall or a place of reflection for the public to be able to come and enjoy and look at the history.
“We are in the final stages of appointing a new operator who will oversee the daily opening of the hall to the public.”
Moving away from tape measures
Using the data recording and software tool, Matterport, to keep a digital record of the condition of Howard Davis Hall, Darren explained how technology like this has transformed their work: “Historically, when we would create a floor plan or a survey of a building, it was done with a measuring tape, pen and paper – the old-fashioned way. It was quite time consuming and difficult.
“But now, using modern technology like the Matterport means our job is a lot more efficient and we can capture digital photography of buildings, create floor plans, create virtual walk-throughs, and it’s something we can pass to the occupier of a building and helps us keep a digital record which we can refer to over the lifetime of a building.”
“Your property is our priority”
When talking about their career paths and the reasons they do the jobs they do, Sophie and Darren both showed the same qualities of care, customer focus, and passion.
Sophie said: “Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to visit all our sites in person as much as we’d like to as we have hundreds of smaller businesses operating from our premises which requires a fair amount of administration.
“But for me personally, it’s great working with all kinds of people, helping to provide a space for them get their business off the ground, assisting them on their journey, and seeing them grow.”
Darren added: “One of the things I enjoy is putting a face to the Government. When people deal with the Government, the perception is that it’s a faceless organisation, but when you have those connections that Sophie mentioned, you are building relationships and get an opportunity to really put a face to the brand.”
“We care about the Island’s property portfolio and land use, if we had a bumper sticker, it would be: ‘Your property is our priority’. I would like people to know that what we’re doing in JPH comes from a place of passion, we care about what we do, and we genuinely have an interest in looking after the stock while it’s in our hands.”
All under one roof
Now with many of Jersey’s civil servants being under one (solar panelled) roof in Union Street, cross collaboration across departments has been made much easier.
Sophie explained: “We moved from La Collette to the new Government building in Union Street. It’s nice to be working within the same building as other departments.
“To be on the same floor as colleagues in Regulation, being able to take a few steps and speak to them means we are able to resolve things for Islanders a lot more efficiently.”
With the help of technology and collaboration, Sophie and Darren are not only responsible for JPH’s estate management, but also ensuring the property needs of Islanders are met while preserving Jersey’s heritage.
As key members of JPH and the wider I&E Department, they play an essential role in keeping the Island’s property portfolio running.
