Newly elected President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Anthony Branker in his first address to the BCCI membership, lauded the outstanding role and response of the government of Barbados in stemming the tide of the pandemic, as well as the pivotal part played by the Chamber. He further stated, “we look forward to continuing the work with Government and the Barbados Private Sector Association to support the sustainability and development of business across our island and helping to
shape Government policy.”

He was speaking at the 195th Annual General Meeting of the BCCI, held on May 31, 2021 as a virtual event. The Barbados Chamber made changes to its leadership, following elections, with Mr. Anthony Branker, Assistant Vice President with Massy Distribution (Barbados) Ltd succeeding Mrs. Trisha Tannis, CEO of Unicomer (Barbados) Ltd as the new President of the Chamber. She served as President for two consecutive terms and will continue to serve on the Executive Committee as Immediate Past President.

Other members serving on the new BCCI’s Executive Committee are Senior Vice President, Mr. James Clarke (General Manager – Corporate, TMR Sales & Service Ltd); Vice President – Finance, Ms. Joan Betty Brathwaite (Managing Partner with Topstar Services SRL), Vice President, Ms. Vidia Woods (CEO, Hanschell Inniss) and the Chamber’s Executive Director, Mrs. Misha Lobban-Clarke.

At the AGM, the following twelve persons were also elected to serve on the BCCI Council for the 2021-2022 period:

• Mr. Andy Armstrong (Armstrong Agencies);
• Mrs. Alison Browne-Ellis (Cave Shepherd Group of Companies);
• Mr. Avinash Vaswani, Satya Enterprises Limited;
• Mr. Anthony Clerk, Republic Bank (Barbados) Ltd;
• Mr. Victor Boyce, Ansal McAL (Barbados) Ltd
• Mr. Imran Philips, Rubis Caribbean;
• Mr. Phillip Lewis, Northpoint Consulting Inc.;
• Mr. Scott Oran, Oran Limited;
• Mrs. Ronaele Dathorne-Bayrd, PricewaterhouseCoopers;
• Mr. Norman Barrow, A&B Music Supplies Ltd.;
• Mr. Sanjay Amin, BCQS International and
• Mr. Paul Inniss, Sagicor Life Inc.

During the AGM, the new president also shared with members, his vision for the Chamber, which included implementing creative solutions to better engage the public and address their flawed perception of business, as well as leading the roll out of a new, robust 3-year Strategic Plan for the Chamber, developed on the pillars of Building, Connecting, Collaborating and Innovating. Also high on the new president’s agenda is customer service, as he shared, “I would like to give more support to BCCI members in the area of Service Excellence, which has become an area of concern both for our customers and ourselves as business leaders. Our employees must be encouraged to clearly see the nexus between their level of commitment to service, the survivability of the business and the ability to support their families. In this regard, training is key.”

Mr. Banker also added, “I will continue our advocacy around the following present concerns of Price Increases; Renewable Energy Approvals; Front of Package labelling; Banking Fees; the Customs Bill and the Duty-free Sector proposal to Government. He further stated, “As I project my vision beyond our COVID restrictions, I see the Chamber driving “Business Excellence” through a program where companies will align with set criteria, to inspire and help their organization on the journey to excellence, culminating with the hosting of an annual event to award outstanding companies.

President Branker closed his remarks to BCCI members with a plea for unity and support as he said,” in times of stress and uncertainty, it is understandable if people think of “breaking for themselves.’ Our watchwords must be ‘United we stand.”

Mr. Branker previously held the position of Senior Vice President of the Chamber and has over 20 years of progressive Senior Management and Executive Leadership experience in the private sector, particularly in the Retail and Distributive Sector. In his current role as Assistant Vice President with Massy Distribution Barbados Ltd, he is responsible for the Health & Beauty Division, the Shipping Division and Knights Ltd. He has held this portfolio for two years.

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