Tributes paid to Deputy behind Channel Islands' largest car hire firm

Tuesday 18 July 2023

A former Jersey Deputy and founder of the largest car business in the Channel Islands received a tribute and minute’s silence during this week’s States Assembly sitting.

Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae paid his respects to John (Jean) Falle, who died aged 95 earlier this month.

The Assembly heard that Mr Falle was Deputy of St. Saviour for six years after topping the poll in the election of November 1963.

Mr MacRae said the late Deputy has served on both the Social Security and Sewerage Committees until he retired from the Assembly in 1969, as well as playing a key role in introducing road safety measures around two schools in his parish: St. Luke's and Plat Douet.

Mr Falle had joined the family business, founded in 1926 by his late father Jack, in the 1950s, Mr MacRae added. Falle's Motor Works had three bases covering car sales and repairs and petrol retailing, and its car hire business – established in the 1950s – had, by the 1970s and 80s, become the largest in the Channel Islands.

Pictured: John Falle (left) and his son Helier at an event to mark the 90th birthday of the family business in 2016. (Jon Guegan)

The Deputy Bailiff said the company's fleet reached a maximum of more than 2,000 vehicles in the height of the tourism boom, but had subsequently declined as holiday tastes had changed, and that the car hire business had been sold in 2003.

He said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Falle's wife, his five children and 10 grandchildren.”

Members observed a minute's silence before continuing with Assembly business.

Falle’s also has an operation in Guernsey, where the company runs petrol stations with convenience stores attached at Cobo Bay and the Vale.

Mr Falle's funeral is set to take place at St. Saviour's Church on Friday 21 July.