Finding your way around Wightlink’s ports is now easier for people with visual impairments. The ferry company has teamed up with Isle of Wight charity Sight for Wight to produce and install special QR codes at the entrance to each port. When an individual scans the code with their mobile phone, they will get an audio and video description of the layout of the terminal so they can walk around it with confidence. More than 50 locations on the Island have now signed up to place the QR codes on their premises and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary has also taken up the initiative. Sight for Wight’s Chief Executive, Lisa Hollyhead, came up with the idea of QR codes with information after COVID restrictions meant many shops made changes to their premises to allow for social distancing and regular customers with visual impairments suddenly had problems getting around. Lisa says:
“Ferryports are busy places so it’s important for all customers to know where to buy tickets, how to find the toilets and where to queue to board their sailings. “We are pleased that Wightlink has come on board with our Hello Everyone initiative.”
Details about the scheme and the QR codes are available on Wightlink’s website at https://www.wightlink.co.uk/tickets/accessible-travel. Phil Delaney, Wightlink Commercial Director, adds:
“We want everyone to feel at home in our terminals and be able to find their way around. This is an excellent idea and we are very happy to install the codes at all our ports.”
Wightlink feature in the latest Private Eye, not in a good way though.
Private Eye points out that the underlying cause of these escalating fares is the hefty debt loaded onto Wightlink by its private equity owners.This financial strategy has led to substantial interest payments, which they say has become a drain on the company’s resources.Private Eye explains that Wightlink is controlled through a complex chain of holding companies, ultimately led by the Fiera Group of Canada. Fiera operates through its Eaglecrest Infrastructure unit, which focuses on acquiring companies that hold dominant market positions with high barriers to entry—essentially, businesses that consumers cannot easily avoid. Wightlink, with its essential ferry services and limited competition fits this investment profile perfectly.
In its latest financial statements, Wightlink reported a healthy income of £78.7m for the year 2022/23, translating into a profit of £15.2m. When this was raised by Island resident, Karl Hunter, in May 2023, some of what was claimed was debunked by the Wightlink CEO, Keith Greenfield. However, Private Eye highlights that this profit was entirely offset by interest payments amounting to £16.8m. A significant portion of these payments enriched shareholders, notably through interest on loans at an exorbitant rate of 9.25 percent.
What’s the point when there is no ferries running to see!!
Private Eye’s investigation further reveals the financial benefits reaped by the private equity managers and owners. Fiera’s executive chairman, Jean-Guy Desjardins, has reportedly earned over $22m in the last three years.
Basalt Infrastructure Partners, co-owner of Wightlink, and its partners have also seen substantial returns, with earnings of $36m in a relatively short span. Meanwhile, Wightlink’s highest-paid director, presumably CEO Keith Greenfield, received a salary of £377,000. Private Eye don’t mention the almost £2m bonus paid out to the ‘highest paid director’ in June 2019 in relation to the sale of 50 per cent of the company’s share and 50 per cent of shareholder debt.
How is a totally blind person supposed to know there is a QR code, or where it is?
How about just teaming up with regular customers and putting on a half decent service?
No doubt the cost for all that will be another hefty hike in the fares.