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Bizzy Williams Supports Butch Stewarts’s Sandals/Beaches NOT Bernie Weatherhead’s ALMOND Suggestion

Local entrepreneur and the other member of the Williams dynamic duo Bizzy Williams has thrown his support behind Butch Stewart and Sandals/Beaches at the expense of local tycoon Bernie Weatherhead. Bizzy Williams letters to the local newspapers have gone under the radar this week but given the importance of tourism, the washpan of concessions to…

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Bernie Weatherhead
Bizzy Williams
Sandals Butch Stewart

Local entrepreneur and the other member of the Williams dynamic duo Bizzy Williams has thrown his support behind Butch Stewart and Sandals/Beaches at the expense of local tycoon Bernie Weatherhead. Bizzy Williams letters to the local newspapers have gone under the radar this week but given the importance of tourism, the washpan of concessions to Butch Stewart and the success of Bernie Weatherhead as a homegrown businessman it is worthy of discussion.

Read Bizzy’s letter to the traditional media:

Opportunities with Sandals/Beaches

My loyalty to Barbados and the people of Barbados has no bounds. My track record is transparent. I have many hard-working Bajan friends who share my feelings about our country and its people who are busting their brains to find ways to get our rock out of this recession. “Bernie” Weatherhead is one of them. I have admired his work and continuous investment to expand his business enterprises in Barbados. To demonstrate, we recently placed most of Williams Industries Insurance business with his Sun General company. I shop at his I’mart and Hallmark stores. I attended the reopening function of the failed Almond Resort in St Peter and I listened carefully to what he said and what our Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy said in their speeches. I commend “Bernie” for what he has achieved.

I have not invested one cent in Sandals. I have no reason whatsoever to be biased one way or another, but I feel obliged to sacrifice my friendship with Bernie in favour of my loyalty to Barbados if I am forced to choose. Barbados needs the power of the marketing juggernaut and the quality of the Sandals / Beaches brands in the US market especially, to put Barbados back up there as the most desirable destination in the Caribbean. And in my view, Barbados has to send a clear message to the world that when we commit to a business agreement we abide by our commitment.

http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2014/03/29/opportunities-with-sandalsbeaches/

118 responses to “Bizzy Williams Supports Butch Stewarts’s Sandals/Beaches NOT Bernie Weatherhead’s ALMOND Suggestion”

  1. Dompey Avatar
    Dompey

    Balance

    Are you kidding? I beg your pardon but what you have expressed above is certianly an understatement by any standard judgment. Because everything this man ( Prodigal Son )has written on BU thus far, has been impregnated and saturated with a hostile partiality for the opposing political narrative. And what he writes has become so commonplace, that one gets the sense that he is venting to appease his pathological hatred for the defeated his party has suffered in recent years. Now, what we’re dealing with here is an obvious detachment from reality, that warrants some kind of psychological intervention on this man’s part. In conclusion: it is not my design to deliberately endeavor to undermine the validity of anyone right to express his or her opinion, but it certainly infuriates me when one writes with the expressed purpose of causing detriment without justifiable cause, as he has done here on numerous occasions.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    Alex Mcdonald who is head of the Barbados Private Sector is quoted in todays newspaper that if the deal between the government and Beaches is not closed it should consider Bernie Weatherhead’s offer. BU finds Mcdonald’s position interesting because it obviously reflects a wider position prevailing in the private sector. The government should do well to build a bridge here and avoid the stupid responses seen from Minister Donville Inniss to every issue which he construes as anti government.

  3. Adrian Loveridge Avatar
    Adrian Loveridge

    David, agreed. What was wrong with the Sandals (whichever is the actual company that will own and operate it) is the secrecy that surrounds the deal and the continued lack of full disclosure. Government clearly (yet again) had not thought through the consequences to the entire remaining tourism sector. Having said that ,the deal with Mr Weatherhead was not either and the public is certainly not aware if anyone else was offered a comparable arrangement that Bernie secured. Someone has to sit down and measure the short. medium and long term benefits that will be achieved through BOTH options, before any intelligent decision can be made.

  4. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    I am at a loss as to how Almond can still be considered a valued Brand and Brand Name. It is a FAILED entity. Rebuilding the Almond Brand would be a difficult task.
    It is easier to build a NEW brand. Call it Heywoods Resorts or some such name.

    There is no question that given the resources Bernie Weatherhead is capable of building a successful Hotel Brand.

    There is no question that Sandals is a powerful successful hotel Brand / chain.They too can make a Sandals/Beaches Barbados into a profitable Hotel / Resort.

    The one thing that always concerns me is that when Government invest in these multi million dollar ventures like 3S, Veco, Four Seasons and Sandals they do not show the how why wherefore the money is spent.

    There is no difference in building and operating a Supermarket / Rumshop and building and operating a Hotel.The process is the same by the end result should be that the venture is profitable.

    For all those who sing the praises of all things Canadian you may be interested in the current state of Canadian politics.

  5. balance Avatar
    balance

    “There is no question that given the resources Bernie Weatherhead is capable of building a successful Hotel Brand”

    Perhaps Maybe or Maybe Perhaps, but what empirical evidence Mr Hants do you have to support your statement with his track record s his track record as a successful hotelier under dispute having had to shut down his flagship hotel Sandridge within walking distance from Heywoods a few years ago.

  6. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ balance,

    Which part of “given the resources” do you not understand ?

  7. balance Avatar
    balance

    “What about what I wrote is partisan ranting, balance? Read what Bajan 100% wrote and tell me if the person is not saying the same thing as I did.

    You give a man 40 years tax free concessions, build a hotel to his specifications and when I point this out it is partisan rantings? I expect better of you”
    Yes indeed, Prodigal, you are indeed entitled to your opinion but I implore you not to let your anger overcome your emotions. you are making CCC and AC look like your pupils and I even sense an effort by AC to tone down her illogic. all have the right to stupidly support whichever party they like but not at the price of their commonsense. What is ironic is that when the fatted calf is cut, diehard apologists people like you and AC and CCC don’t usually feast but are left to fester.

  8. ac Avatar
    ac

    is it me or is it some malfunction in my computer ….some how on numerous occasion….if find that the” rate voting” mechanism which is credited to rate a comment is turned off,,, kinda suspicious also a under handing practice which lacks the very transparency one which stands high on the totem pole of barbados underground ….now it seems more likely than not ….he riggges the rating and voting process by locking out some bloggers who would like to participate in the rating process ,,shame on u DAVID,,,,,,,,shame on you,,,, for the past few weeks i have monitored this child’s play designed to pull or sway public opinion in favour of the BLP yardfowls with a rigged voting system one which can be easily interpreted as one of being supportive of one partry (BLP} and shutting out bloggers whose vote may be in dissent while at the same time (also) denying same process and even handiness to the DLP bloggers who might support each others comments SHAME ON YOU DAVID BU… transparency my foot i have the evidence to prove .

  9. balance Avatar
    balance

    “Hants | March 30, 2014 at 11:49 AM |
    @ balance,
    Which part of “given the resources” do you not understand ”

    it isn’t the ‘given the resources’ thing which concerns me Mr Hants because mountains can sometimes be made out of molehills; it is his capability given the fact that he had to close down his flagship a few hundred yards away from Heywoods-Almond and i simply ask what evidence do you have of his successful track record in managing hotels given your carte-blanche endorsement. Due diligence on Mr Weatherhead might very well be unflattering.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    So we are contemplating importing a CEO for the NEW tourism authority?

    CEO search

    BARBADOS IS GOING on a global search for a chief executive officer to head the island’s new top tourism marketing agency.

    nationnews.com

  11. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    David….

    We have gone full circle as I recall in the 60’s and 70’s all major players (airlines and hotels) in tourism had to send bajans to be trained in their respective fields…..now in this second decade of the new century we have to look for people far and wide to show us how….or….. we can be generous and say that govt. is trying to attract bajans from the diaspora…..

  12. David Avatar
    David

    @Vincent

    Is it not incredible that Barbados and the Caribbean is regarded as one of the most tourist exotic destinations in the world and one which we have been practicing for so many a year yet we have to outsource Board CEO expertise? One side of the equation we continue to leak forex and by our own making we do same.

  13. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    David wrote “So we are contemplating importing a CEO for the NEW tourism authority?”

    Vincent Haynes wrote “we can be generous and say that govt. is trying to attract bajans from the diaspora…..”

    Gentlemen it is entirely possible that no qualified Bajans want that job because it is a very difficult job, does not pay very well and no one who is currently employed would want it.

  14. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Hants | March 30, 2014 at 6:06 PM |
    “Gentlemen it is entirely possible that no qualified Bajans want that job because it is a very difficult job, does not pay very well and no one who is currently employed would want it.”

    Maybe Butch Stewart could help out by “seconding” one of his fully ‘Sandalized’ lieutenants (preferably one with a good creole background but of Anglo-Saxon extract) to fill the breach so that the local workers’ plantation mindset would be fully operationalized.

    So this is where the billions invested in higher education have come down to? Not one holder of an MBA or PhD with a yellow and blue diploma in yardfowlism can be found locally?

    Why not do like the BIDC and hire a political has-been?
    Why not ‘relieve’ poor Jepter Ince from his ‘fiscal’ duties in both the Senate and Cabinet and make him the ‘physical’ president of both Tourism management and marketing agencies.

  15. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    Your posit is very possible and it would still be an indictment on Barbados and Barbadians.

  16. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    The top dog should have a successful track record in sales. The MBA types have been tried with no success. The last guy had qualifications popping out of his ears and experience in every department in tourism except selling. He was given a fancy car as part of his separation package. Miller’s comment about getting a Sandals guy resonates…

  17. David Avatar
    David

    @BAffy

    Do you remember when Arthur and the BLP hired a Butch Stewart disciple to head marketing at the BTA? Believe it was around the time we hired a Bajan in the diaspora to head then BNB and a few others were brought in, Griffith now Christian etc. How did that go?

  18. balance Avatar
    balance

    “BARBADOS IS GOING on a global search for a chief executive officer to head the island’s new top tourism marketing agency.”
    Why go so far when they have at their disposal their own Ms Sylvia Lynch who it was rumoured was the centre of the dispute between Mr Sandiford and his adamant Tourism Ministers in 1991 over the filling of the top post at the BTA. Not only is Ms Lynch a suitable candidate by virtue of her years of experience with the BTA but Ms Lynch was afforded the opportunity then to acquire the necessary qualifications in order to position herself for the top job on the relinquishing of the post by Mr Sandiford’s preferred choice at the time, Mr Tony Arthur for a diplomatic posting to accommodate Ms Lynch on her return.

  19. BARBADOS TRIPADVISOR.COM Avatar
    BARBADOS TRIPADVISOR.COM

    what is in it for bizzy??????got to be something to want to bring another foreighner in to little barbados.
    bizzy is a foolish ass anyway.i mean just look at the inbread jackass.
    bizzy bizzy money grabbing as usual. nothing is never enough ?
    if he never work another day in his life he already set for life.
    fucking idiots rule barbados.

  20. BARBADOS TRIPADVISOR.COM Avatar
    BARBADOS TRIPADVISOR.COM

    weatherhead would be the obvious choice as he is a barbadien.
    this other jackass butch the greedy wicked , theiving ,plotting ,asshole
    can stay where the ass he come fro .have you barbadiens not sick of these tunts from where ever coming and taking our land.
    dem want killing. all dem

  21. BARBADOS TRIPADVISOR.COM Avatar
    BARBADOS TRIPADVISOR.COM

    why not let the Chinese take it ,in Lew of loans.owing and make a china town as a visitor attraction ,eat dog and cat and ting so.blasted idiots
    that shitty beach and location. it will fail always . beach is shit.too far from anything.i think you should turn it into apartments for the mad . a extension of the mad house or a government housing project.
    that location was always a really bad idea.from it was here woods.
    or what ever it was .crap location.

  22. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Why are people jumping to the conclusion that a Global search for a CEO is inherently bad for Bajans? Are they projecting their own insecurities that Bajans are unable to compete with others for top positions? Perhaps the posting might attract a qualified person (Bajan or other) resident in another country who is untainted either by proxy or in person by the internecine warfare that follows every decision made in Bim.

    I can only hope.

  23. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Is there anything strategic that you understand Sargeant….?
    What do you think justifies our enormous expenditure on education over the last 60 years?
    When you advertise for an outsider to come and manage your family business what are you saying to your sons and daughters who you spent so much sending to school to PhD level? …are you building self esteem and self worth?
    …why not save the damn money on education then – and offer an even higher salary to high value outsiders?…..or does that remind you too much of the plantation days..?

    Listen corporal, THE WHOLE POINT of national leadership is about the DEVELOPMENT of YOUR people…..YOUR FAMILY….. That means providing opportunity, expecting much, and DEMANDING results….not dissing them and bringing strangers to rule and babysit them.
    …..unless of course your family are all a bunch of brass bowls…..in which case why waste good money on educating them….just bring REAL people to piss on them……
    Steupsss
    Bushie will soon demote you to private….

  24. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    David to tell the truth I don’t remember …

  25. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Bushie
    Am I to conclude that all the noise you make about Brassbowls was just your way of mamaguying everybody? Wuh I would be afraid to hand over the reins of any organisation to any of the Brassbowls that you keep saying we educating and have running rampant all over the place. Can’t you be consistent for once in your life?

    The global search for a CEO does not exclude Bajans, sometimes companies search externally too but the best candidate may be an internal applicant and you do understand the concept of best don’t you? If a Bajan in Timbuktu applies and is the best would you consider him as “external”?
    I like I gwine have to bill you for these lessons that I teach periodically, here is another lesson:

    Have you been following how the Malaysian Gov’t has been handling the disappearance of flight MH370? You see how the officials don’t know what way is up,North, South, East or West, you see in their daily briefings how they are reacting to every possible sighting of any debris on the ocean as a potential crash site. Yuh notice how in the early days they said that one of the passengers who carried a stolen passport looked like Mario Balotelli, yuh see how they sent a text in English to the primarily Chinese relatives of the missing passengers? Would you classify them as Brassbowls? I hope your answer is yes, but do you know the policy the Malaysian Gov’t employs to qualify for the top jobs in the country? They have a policy called “Bumiputra” (Bumiputera) which is a kind of affirmative action which reserves the top jobs for the Malays who make up 60% of the population. All the other minorities are shut out, so when you see the The Minister of whatever or the Head of the Air Force or the Head of Civil Aviation grinning and giving daily updates they all owe their jobs to “Bumiputra”

    But of course you would call it “national development” but a policy of ” Bumiputra” could be contributing to the decline of the Tourist Industry and a little mix of the gene pool is not necessarily a bad thing where would you be without ½ Guyanese Rihanna?

    This one is on the house but next time I will be coming for payment.

  26. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Sarge
    Good try……for a NCO….
    Bushie realizes that this level of analysis is above your rank and pay grade but try to follow……
    The Malay bumiputra policy that you malign is CORRECT.

    The objective in life is NOT to be richer than COW or Bill Gates (or Bushie 🙂 )…..BUT TO BE THE VERY BEST THAT YOU CAN BE…..

    THEREFORE, if a national strategic policy is to achieve that vision, it means making the most of your own brass bowls…..
    If you discard your OWN brass bowls in favour of outsiders, then even if you become as rich as Bushie, you will have FAILED strategically…. (gained the whole world and lost your own soul)

    The policy you describe of the Malay government is ENLIGHTENED….even if they do not become as rich as the Japanese. THEY run their own affairs. THEY call the shots……whether the USA press like um other lump um…

    THAT, skippa, is what a MAN is……

    ….besides….they seem to be doing quite well thank you….owning a fleet of 777’s with LOCAL pilots who seem to have withstood the scrutiny of the world…..

    Did the USA do any better with that passenger jet that they shot down and blamed on an exploding fuel tank?…..Wuh shiite – EVERYONE knows that that was bare lies…..

    Malasia can tell the whole world to piss off……but…
    ….Stuart can’t sneeze without the local foreign cabal’s permission…
    …Japan can’t shit without the USA’s say so…
    …and the USA can’t fart without China’s say so…..

    What does THAT tell you?

    Man Sarge……, the day that you could teach the bushman ANYTHING of value, Bushie will write you an open cheque issued on a BU IOU……..

  27. Amba Avatar
    Amba

    Balance

    Weatherhead did not close down Sandridge – he sold it just before the crash of 2008 for real money to a developer who could make more money (at the time (pre 2008)) rebuilding it as condos – exactly why most hotels sold before 2008. As a walker of that beach most mornings I can tell you that was one property which always had rooms occupied right through the year, even during the summer. Always had people on the pool deck or on the little beach in front the hotel or in latter years on the beach which is now St. Peters Hotel – the little beach could not hold all the guest.

    The hotel manager once told me they ran occupancy of near 90% year round even in the summer months. From what I understand many regard Weatherhead’s decision to sell and cash in just before the crash an oracles foresight – even when persons around him questioned the decision – time proved him right.

    If you want to look further look at all the other businesses he is involved in – hotels and other tourism companies. Or more importantly walk past Almond on any day and see what the hotel looks like right now and how many guest are there. I have and it looks great.

    I lend my full support to the Government looking at all options available as stated in yesterdays paper by Alex McDonald. I think a Bajan running that place would be better in the long run and see more of the profits of the hotel making its way back to Barbados.

  28. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    I hate to say this, but I sidin’ wif the NCO … Sorry Bush. You remember dah position called Chief Justice … the one that was open to any person as long as they were born/practiced in a Commonwealth country …? Remember the guy that the rules were changed to accommodate ..?

    My problem however is the type of person that they would be seeking to employ. The person that they should be looking for is one that will earn far more than he costs … but his asking price will be very high. It means of course that failure would be very expensive.

    Are there no people in Barbados who are adept at selling their own properties overseas …? Selling Barbados overseas may be a step up, but still on the same path. What about people who are successful as Travel Agent operators…? These are people for whom experience and talent are the only qualifications necessary.

  29. Annie Avatar
    Annie

    I find it funny when bajans says that these large companies employ people and invest in Barbados and hands off. The bottom line is profit. These guys are big fish in a small pond and could not make it outside of this island. Williams, haloute, Bernie …ect do provide stability but should we be holding them up to such high regard? Even when regional entrepreneurs expand out of their comfort zones like butch and Simpson, I can guarantee you that the profits are stashed in us bank accounts and don’t benefit their respective countries.

  30. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Annie … I just realize that there is no like button to press

  31. JoAnn Avatar
    JoAnn

    Annie – Can’t speak about Haloute but Williams and Bernie are spread right around the Caribbean. But what is important is that they are Barbadians and live right here on this rock. So even if they had money outside at least most of it is going to come back home and be spent here where they live. And if you want them to become truly global players “outside their comfort zones” as you put it, then they have to have money outside our country where they have other business.

  32. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Bushie
    I understand why you are so knowledgeable about Brassbowls, you likely hold the reins of chief cook and bottle washer of the group.

    You were so desperate for something to support your theory that you donned BAFBFP’s tinfoil hat about the US shooting down a jet and blaming it on an exploding fuel tank.

    Your unqualified support of the Malaysian Gov’t policy was just another way of confirming my supposition that you don’t have any confidence in Bajans ability to compete for top jobs against outsiders.

    Yuh grew up stupid under the union Jack and there doesn’t seem to be any improvement for you under the aqua marine and gold .I’ll be down in a couple of months and I coming for muh money.

    USD and/ or CAD please.

  33. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Baffy
    No problem…side with the NCO….birds of a feather…. 🙂

    The truth is that if you realize that you are inadequate yourself, there is probably nothing wrong with burying your few talents under the sand and looking to hitchhike on someone else’s coat-tails…..

    Bushie don’t REALLY expect any different thinking from brass bowls…..just saying what REAL PEOPLE would do….

    Every damn since Bushie suggested that you get together with Caswell and make Bajans an offer that they would be HAPPY to accept…. and all wunna doing is talking a lotta shiite bout finding some white fairy godfather to come and make wunna rich so that wunna could buy 50 inch TVs and IPhones…….

    ….Bushie thought that you was up there with colonel buggy man, ….but you like you is just another piece of cannon fodder like the corporal yuh….

  34. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Jesus C’rist .. I just side with the NCO and he say that I wearing a tin foil hat … stupse. There is a moral to this story …

  35. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Hallelujah, BAFBFP has seen the light
    OK I take back the remark about the tinfoli hat.

  36. JoAnn Avatar
    JoAnn

    I went away and have come back to finish my thought which was not complete above. At the end of the day Butch is a Jamaican and he is not going to bring any more than he has to bring in to Barbados. Have you read about the experience that Adrian from Peach & Quiet had when he paid his bill at Sandals Barbados? They could not even give him a VAT invoice.

  37. Annie Avatar
    Annie

    Jo ann I would like to see Simpson invest in something more sustainable at home. Selling cars and oil to consumers is not doing it. They are doing something sustainable in Guyana so why not here? I know for a fact that itc a main transactions and account reside off shore. Having office and home here does not come near to making your billions offshore.

  38. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Sargeant | March 31, 2014 at 8:40 AM |
    “Hallelujah, BAFBFP has seen the light …”

    Now where do I start with that … Sarge you beginning to scare me now …

  39. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    WTH!!!…..Sargeant….you beginning to sound about as logical as ac and Dompey now…..
    Nothing in your last post makes ANY sense…. Obviously you malign the Malays because CNN does……
    Obviously you believe that the fuel tank exploded because CNN said so…
    Shiite fella…..you make the perfect Sargeant….

    Yours is not to reason why……
    ….look go and kill as many of the “enemy” as you can – cause the general and CNN said that they are “bad” people…

    Man not a damn cent fuh yuh!!!

    @ Annie
    People like Weatherhead will not be promoted in Barbados because, like Lowdown, he depends on his actual ABILITY for success. This probably means that he don’t kiss donkeys, pay bribes to pimps, or grovel……
    …they will only call on such people when their asses are deep in shit and the NEED someone competent to bale (or bail) them out…..

    WATCH!
    In two or three years when Bernie gets things to settle down they will dump his donkey for one of their incompetent (but bribe willing) cronies….

    Until we can get some INTEGRITY and OPENNESS in government, we are just pissing upwind…..
    ….and Caswell and Baffy keep playing the donkey…..

  40. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Is this BU Hal in de Nation

    NO DEAD END “As such, says coordinator of the St Lawrence Gap revitalisation programme Hal Austin”

    Wha a big up like you doing in de Gap?lol

  41. David Avatar
    David

    @Baffy

    What the Marston Gibson appointment has exposed is that no one person can do the job.

  42. Bizzy Williams Supports Butch Stewarts’s Sandals/Beaches NOT Bernie Weatherhead’s ALMOND Suggestion | Black In Barbados

    […] David Local entrepreneur and the other member of the Williams dynamic duo Bizzy Williams has thrown his […]

  43. Knight of the Long Knives Avatar
    Knight of the Long Knives

    I believe that Barbados needs a high profile international brand if not Almond then another. I see Sandals advertise all the time on CNN domestic just imagine what we could do with that push…however Bernie Weatherhead is heavily invested in the tourism product including some Hotels that lose 6 figures every month, (don’t ask I just know). He keeps them open, keeps Bajans employed and the foreign currency in the island and for that I give him credit.
    Maybe we should dump the board and all the salaries and go with a good ad campaign, the UK would be the priority, then US and Canada.

  44. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    The Police Band and the Merrymen along with Paul Foster,Frank Odle,the Niblocks,Caves worked magic for Barbados Tourism.The Police Band and the Merrymen are still with us,but the new dispensation prefer to get on the DLPTV and talk bare sh%&@*te everyday as God send and fly first class and stay at the Waldorf Astoria and think that that is vision and hard work.Donkey holes and the bag blind brigade, ruiners of Barbados.

  45. Yazzis Avatar
    Yazzis

    Hello!!!??? I just went to Almond and it looks amazing, Wheatherhead has done a wonderful job… to get rid of all these buildings to put who knows what, concrete structure, would be crazy…. the place is so warm and inviting…. I saw a lot of people… food was fantastic… I am sure all those people that were there will come back…. for sure…to this island..thanks to Mr. Wheatherhead and staff..

  46. Augustus Holder Avatar
    Augustus Holder

    Mr. Loveridge.
    What secrecy are you referring to?
    From all indications the agreement with the government and Sandals/Beaches has been an open one with the list of concessions and the general terms being made clear to the public.
    And it has also been made clear that Sandals/Beaches will run the property under their flagship while the government and the people of Barbados maintains ownership.
    I understand your position about “full disclosure” but you cannot reasonably expect that any businessman or government would fill you in on the intimate details of an endeavour while it is still being negotiated. And even after the agreement had been made, you and me were informed of the decision and the terms of the under which it was met.
    Regarding Mr Weatherhead and what he has managed to do with Almond, the public must be properly informed.
    Yes… he made a profit. Yes he appears to have done well with it.
    But to what extent? What percentage of the rooms were being used? (One third). That is not full occupancy and we’re in the middle of the season. What happens when the summer months his us, will they then be using smaller amount of rooms and still record a profit?
    And what is this profit measured against? Operational cost alone?
    How many people were employed during this time? How long were they employed? What were the economic benefits to Barbados during this period?
    Are we asking these questions or are we as Barbadians so consumed with the idea of “keeping it local” that we continue to miss the bigger picture?

  47. BAFBFP Avatar
    BAFBFP

    Yazzis
    I have to agree… What really is so wrong with the existing plant that needs the major over haul ..? MY God … aren’t you also tired as well with mauby pocket administrations that boast of champagne tastes …?

    David
    I disagree. One effective administrator should be enough for any organization. More than one leads to infighting. If the administrator’s role does not carry sufficient teeth, well that can be changed, can’t it…?

  48. Jojo Avatar
    Jojo

    Is all this opposition against the Beaches brand and Butch Stuart because Bajans really think its not good for the country or is it simply because its not a Bajan who owns Sandals?
    Prodigal Son and others have shared brilliant ideas for marketing and simply “copying” the Butch Stuart play book with the hopes that Almond comes close to the level of Sandals.
    But we fail to understand that the Sandals Brand was around for over three decades. Its not a oneoff agressive marketing campaign that did the trick. Its over 30 years of hard work and expansion.
    Does Barbados have 30 years to experiment with Almond? It certainly doesnt seem so from the lastest reports of government financing.
    C’mon man. lets be practical here and honestly look at whats before us with an OPEN mind.

    We bajans do so till we scare away the whole caribbean and soon the whole world from our shores. its just “us us us us us us”… Can’t we see how the closed minded approach continues to affect our own growth?

  49. David Avatar
    David

    @Baffy

    You missed the point. How well can the CEO perform if the government does not allocate sufficient budget to do the job?

  50. Questions? Avatar
    Questions?

    What I would like to know is exactly what is being built with the loan to build the hotel? I read it was over 500 million dollars somewhere. What exactly will Sandals build with that? Basically 400 rooms – that comes out to 1,250,000 per room or there a bouts (that is 3 times the cost of my house for a bedroom). The average cost of building now can’t be over $250-300 per square foot at a very high end – see what size hotel you could build at that cost with 500 million – you could build real rooms not just 400. What type of rooms are they going to build at that price and can Barbados really afford it?

    Can Sandals bring in that much money per month for us to repay the loan?

    What about corruption in the mix? And Sandals is known for that too. Look at what happened year before when they had to pay their way out of corruption charges in St. Kitts I think it was. They settled the whole thing out of court but paid away lots of cash to keep it quite – google it. Just imagine what is going down here in Bim.

    Sorry, I just googled it – was in Turks and Caicos, they paid way US$12 million to get themselves out of hot water after bribing ministers in Government.

    What is really going on around here?

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