GUERNSEY - The redevelopment of La Grande Mare is entering its final stretch, with owner and billionaire businessman Stephen Lansdown announcing that the upcoming resort will look to hire "over a hundred employees" ahead of its official launch in 2027.
Lansdown, the co-founder of financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, purchased the hotel and golf course near Vazon Bay along Guernsey's west coast in 2019. Since the acquisition, the original structure has been demolished to make way for a multimillion-pound transformation.
With the resort's opening on the horizon, Lansdown emphasized a strong preference for building a local workforce. Focusing on hiring locally would "serve the island," he noted, adding that housing locals would be "easier" than looking further afield.
"We will probably be well over a hundred employees by the time we open - so we need to fill those positions," Lansdown said.
While the positions fall under the "general description" of hospitality, the billionaire highlighted a diverse range of roles up for grabs. "There are the people who would have to work on the course, in maintenance - all sorts of jobs which will be available," he said. "We will find the skill set's needed where we can find them - but hopefully we can find a lot of those in Guernsey itself."
While the main resort is slated for 2027, the wait for the golf facilities is nearly over. The resort’s golf course is scheduled to open to the public on August 1 as a pay-and-play venue, with green fees set at £200 per round.
The course has been completely reimagined since 2019. It now features a 5,367-yard layout, marking an increase of more than 600 yards from the original course.
Designers took a highly sustainable approach to the massive overhaul, using soil and turf materials from the original site "whenever possible" during construction. However, visually and structurally, the transformation is total.
"We basically turned the place upside down," said Robin Hiseman, golf course designer at European Golf Design. "We started from the ground up, there is nothing left of the old La Grande Mare golf course except the site."
The opening of the course follows the launch of La Grande Mare's Golf Performance Centre last November, a facility Lansdown hopes will encourage young islanders to take up the sport.
Reflecting on the long, complex journey of turning the site around, Lansdown admitted the multimillion-pound project brought significant challenges.
"I think there have been times when I could have ripped up the papers and said 'forget it' but now we are here, and we got it - it is a very special moment," Lansdown said.
