in the press
Continuous reinvention
key to business success
C
ontinuous review and reinvention of company operations is key to successful business management, two renown local corporate executives have advised. In fact, this approach to business is what helped Sandals Resorts International CEO Adam Stewart and Pan Caribbean Financial Services Limited (PCFS) CEO Donovan Perkins drive their respective firms out of two separate economic crises. Both men were guest speakers at the Your Money eZine Business Summit on Tuesday at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge. Stewart said critical to Sandal’s success is the hotel’s knack for continuously “reinventing the wheel” and “keeping relevant” through innovative services.
Adam Stewart (left) making a point as Donovan Perkins (right) looks on, at the Your Money eZine Business Summit 2011.
“We had to find ways to strip costs in ways that have never been done before,” revealed the Sandals CEO.
Capital Merchant Bank, and later Sigma Manufacturers Merchant Bank, were all acquired as well.
“We were the first in the Caribbean to introduce butler service, swimming pool bars, hair dyers in the rooms etc” he added.
Perkins noted that PanCaribbean is always “scanning the landscape to see how things are changing”. In fact, he said this was what allowed the firm to escape the mid-1990’s financial sector meltdown under which many local firms crumbled.
“What we did was to use our foreign exchange business to develop relationships with the big trading houses and grew with them,” said Perkins.
Indeed, it was this chain of thought which helped the resort to survive the global recession which hit the tourism sector hard. Stewart said the company did this with innovative cost cutting measures that did not impact the consumer experience.
The philosophy for PanCaribbean was one of nimbleness and diversification. The firm went on an expansion drive, acquiring Montego Bay-based Lets Investment, giving it a greater stake in the financial markets in western Jamaica. Trafalgar Development Bank, Knutsford
“We consider ourselves anywhere from four to five stars, and we have done that by introducing new programmes,” said Stewart.
He added: “The next step was to look towards the future and realise that three million persons could not be serviced by 45 financial institutions, so we went through a process of merging and acquiring seven institutions starting back from 1998.”
yourmoney ezine
bio
O
Donovan H. Perkins
President & CEO PCFS, Director PCFS, Director PCB
D
onovan Perkins was appointed CEO of PanCaribbean in 1993, making him one of the youngest senior executives in the finance industry at the time. Eighteen years later, he is one of the two longest-serving CEOs in the industry locally. His leadership and business acumen have taken PanCaribbean through the turbulent mid-1990s implosion of the financial sector with a series of mergers and acquisitions into the diversified group PanCaribbean Financial Services is today. Perkins, a past student of Calabar High School, attended the University of South Florida (USF), completing a BSc. in Finance (Hons.) and graduated from The Darden Business School at The University of Virginia with an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Marketing. Perkins worked in Corporate Banking with Bank of America before relocating to Jamaica in 1993 to
take up a job at GraceKennedy, setting up their credit training programme and later to run their subsidiaries in corporate banking and financial management. In addition to his main responsibilities at PanCaribbean, Perkins is a Director of Pan Jamaican Investment Trust Limited, First Jamaica Investment Limited, the Jamaica Stock Exchange, National Insurance Fund and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund. He previously served as President of the Merchant Bankers Association, Vice President of the Jamaica Bankers Association and as a director of the Jamaica Exporters Association. He is currently a Vice-President of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica and was most recently appointed Chairman of the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Perkins is married and the father of two children.
yourmoney ezine
bio
Adam Stewart
CEO, Sandals Resorts International; Deputy Chairman, ATL Group
A
dam Stewart was named CEO of the world-renowned Sandals Resorts International in 2006. At 25 years old, he was one of the youngest chief executives in the world. Prior to this appointment, he worked as director of resort product, responsible for all on-property operations and revenues. He also served as chairman of the Sandals’ Youth Committee, developing creative approaches to children’s facilities at all Beaches Resorts. Stewart was born on January 27, 1981, the same year when his father purchased his first hotel and launched Sandals Resorts International. He attended Campion College then made his way to Florida International University’s acclaimed Hospitality
Management Program. He was recently recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus and presented with the Torch Award for his achievements at Sandals. Stewart is also a philanthropist, establishing the Sandals Foundation in 2008 to protect the ecosystems of the areas in which they have resorts and hotels and give back to the communities. Only three years into its operation, the Foundation is the third largest charitable organization in the Caribbean. He is also Deputy Chairman of the ATL Group, which includes Sandals Resorts International, ATL Motors and the Jamaica Observer. Stewart is married with one child. yourmoney ezine
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