Derek Coates was a passionate enthusiast for the Channel Islands. His experience of surviving cancer in his early thirties drove him to a creative restlessness which spurred a succession of new businesses, in particular in marketing, tourism and health. He craved novelty, and as for all great entrepreneurs, the failures were merely part of the pre-requisite to future successes. Nor were these founded purely on favourable tax regimes: that Healthspan, Coates' best known creation, not merely survived the removal of UK VAT reliefs in 2012 but has since continued to thrive in Guernsey, is testament to its enduring strength. Never afraid to put head above parapet, Coates was a noisy advocate for reform where he saw complacency or waste. His bid to acquire Aurigny in 2010 was controversial, and eventually fell foul of concerns that Guernsey would lose sufficient control of its Gatwick slots and the Alderney routes. But the idea was rooted in the sincere belief that a bigger airline with one set of overheads could transform the islands' tourism prospects. Coates' buccaneering entrepreneurial spirit and his restless desire for innovation will be much missed. Perhaps more significantly, his willingness to question the status quo, and his ability to change it - through a combination of articulate argument and financial heft, were a pretty rare thing in the islands. It is in that respect particularly that they will be much the poorer for his loss.