Neal & Massy ready to go outside TT

The Neal & Massy Group is vowing  to improve the quality of its corporate leadership, even if it means looking outside of Trinidad and Tobago for competent people to fill those spaces, Group CEO Bernard Dulal-Whiteway has said. His position was outlined in the conglomerate’s 2004 annual report. Using the recent appointment of Gervase Warner as Executive Director and Chairman of the Energy Business Unit and  who took up his position with the N&M Group last August, Dulal-Whiteway said Warner had been employed with the international consulting firm, McKinsey and Company Inc. “We recognise,” he said, “that the quality of our leadership and human resources are key factors in achieving our goal of sustained and profitable growth.”

To this end, “We have therefore embarked on a leadership development initiative aimed at improving the managerial skills of over 100 executives, in addition to our existing group-wide training and development programmes,” he said. He said in addition to this, the company will also  seek to recruit executives from outside the group, “particularly those with international experience who can help contribute to the group’s status as a world-class organisation.” N&M Chairman Arthur Lok Jack took a similar view. “I am convinced that investing in people is a most important avenue to growth, as people grow, so does our company.” Lok Jack added that leadership development remained at the top of the company’s agenda and there was need to dramatically improve the capabilities of employees at all levels, thereby helping them to achieve their personal best.

Dulal-Whiteway insisted that this year Neal & Massy would increase its focus on top-line growth through renewed efforts in business development initiatives. He also stated that the retail distribution/logistics would continue to make strategic acquisitions and to this end, local and regional expansion initiatives have already begun. The CEO cited the energy, industrial gas, retail distribution/logistics and information technology and communication business units, which were already moving to take advantage of many opportunities in the region, particularly those in Trinidad and Tobago. He also pointed to the fact that supplier consolidation, local content priority and downstream industry promotion had generated a number of major projects for the energy and industrial gas business units.

“The opening of the telecommunications market and the pursuit of remote services generated significant business development opportunities for the ITC business units,” added the CEO’s report. The Neal & Massy Group, according to CEO Dulal-Whiteway, knows that even as new blood is sought for the top,  customer service must maintain a priority. He said although the company recorded satisfactory performance in all areas of our operations, “We are determined to guard against complacency and will continue to strive to deliver superior value to all our stakeholders, particularly our customers.” This years, he said, special emphasis will be placed  on ensuring that the level of our customer service is improved.