Some companies have left Bermuda and others are planning to do so because it is too difficult to do business on the Island, the executive director of the Bermuda Employers' Council claims.

BEC executive director Andrea Mowbray yesterday said that she knew of four companies that had left to go to other jurisdictions and a further dozen that were looking into leaving because of problems with work permits and growing red tape.

Ms Mowbray, speaking on behalf of her 400 members who are heads of companies, also warned that Bermuda ran the risk of being perceived as not being business-friendly.

"The situation is not critical, but there is a feeling that it is getting more and more difficult to get things done in Bermuda," she said in an interview with The Royal Gazette on what her members wanted from the election.

"We have been noticing changes that are coming almost daily. We have to watch out that we do not get a reputation of a place where it is hard to get things done."

And Ms Mowbray, who was at pains to say her comments were non-partisan but the views of her members, pointed to Jamaica, where added bureaucracy had led to companies fleeing and a subsequent economic decline.

"Companies will start looking elsewhere and I already know of a few that are looking," she said. When asked the number of companies she knew were looking to leave she said: "Easily a dozen."

She said the companies were members of her association and varied in size - employing between two and 40 staff.

"And if they go it is not likely they will take their Bermudian staff with them," she added.

Ms Mowbray said that the companies looking to move were setting up small offices in the Caribbean, which they could then move to if needed.

"They are doing this 'just in case' - some are finding it that difficult at the moment," she said. "They have assurances from Caribbean countries that if they come, they will be treated in certain ways. It is not a crisis but things are happening slowly,"

And she said that her members were looking for a compromise with the Government that would allow both the businesses to do well and to make sure Bermudians were getting fair treatment.

Ms Mowbray said that in the last year nine out of 16 members the Bermuda Employer's Council lost last year were due to companies closing and four to moving away to other jurisdictions.

"Of the members we lost last year, over 50 percent were to closure... and four have moved out of Bermuda altogether," she said.

"Everybody predicted a mass exodus, but it didn't happen like that. It is a trickle. We are not going to see a flood of companies leaving."

Ms Mowbray would not name the companies who had left or those that were considering the move, but she asked that Government revisit some of their policies.

And she cited the length of time to process work permits, term limits on work permits and overtime as the main issues her members come up with time and time again.

"The main issue is work permits," she said. "Specifically we are looking for a compromise. There has to be a way for the employers and the unions and the Government to figure out a compromise."