The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has confirmed that following a recruitment competition Martyn Roper’s position as Governor of the Cayman Islands has been made substantive. Mr Roper will now serve a full four year term as Governor.

Following the confirmation Mr Roper said “Lissie and I are thrilled that my position here has now been confirmed.   Over the next four years I plan to continue my work strengthening ties between the Cayman Islands and the United Kingdom and helping to ensure that the territory continues to flourish. The UK/Cayman relationship remains strong and close collaboration across a range of areas is showing real results. Local talent and knowledge combined with areas of UK expertise is a powerful combination.

The decision by the Cayman Islands and the UK to jointly purchase and operate a new helicopter for search and rescue, disaster relief and law enforcement operations is a great example.  Other areas developed recently include joint working to take forward trade opportunities overseas including the planned opening of a new Cayman Islands office in Hong Kong and my joint visit to New York this week with the Premier and Cayman Finance to support the financial services industry.  My office is also coordinating new UK involvement in many policy areas including Customs and Border Control, the training of the members of the new Asylum Appeals Tribunal, child safeguarding, work to combat sham marriages and support to the new Coastguard.

There is much that I hope to achieve as Governor. I have listened carefully and learnt a lot about the successes of the Islands and the many concerns people have on a range of issues. I would like to thank everyone for their patience and support during these last few months of uncertainty over my position. I am greatly looking forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead and to finally being able to unpack properly!

I will remain as accessible and open as possible to all and a big part of that is my activity on social media – Twitter, Facebook and my newly launched Instagram page. I encourage everyone to follow me to see the wide range of work that my staff and I do on behalf of the people of the Cayman Islands.

Being appointed Governor creates a unique and special bond with the people of these Islands. I will do my utmost to support our prosperity and security, defending the Cayman Islands’ interests and ensuring its views are fully understood and explained to the UK Government.”