CORPORATE giant CLICO is about to start a more than $212 million transformation of Barbados south-east corridor with the full backing of Government. Prime Minister Owen Arthur also made it clear that no amount of political provocation would make his near 13-year-old administration engage in whimsical and other vicious relations with the company headed by Leroy Parris. The CLICO Group has interests in insurance, construction, is a major land owner in St. John and is now venturing into the tourism and hospitality sector in a big way. FINANCIAL ADVISOR SCHEMES Arthur announced that by September a massive $200 million restoration of Sam Lord s Castle, St. Philip including a 250-room five star hotel and conference facility, plus 200 condominiums would be started by the entity. Next door in St. John would be the $12 million Villa Nova hotel, with plans awaiting approval for the construction of a 45-unit community there, he added. That s not all for that rur...
Someone I know, a big-cheese software developer at a FTSE 100 company, dreads cocktail parties. He knows that his answer to the inevitable “what do you do?” question will immediately be followed by a sudden glazing over of eyes. After glazing over, those eyes will then start desperately darting around the room for somebody, anybody else – even a corporate lawyer – to talk to rather than the IT professional standing before them. he irony in the title of the Channel Four comedy programme The IT Crowd reflects the public’s perception of those who work in information technology: the big-haired bespectacled chap in a terrible jumper who speaks a different language to the rest of the company and hides away in a basement office, only venturing out to fix computers or send e-mails about server trouble. The reality, however, is that the IT industry is the single most important factor in the success of the UK’s economy – the fifth largest economy in the world – and it is at the heart of s...