Sagicor chairman [and Jamaica College Old Boy] is Jamaica Observer Business Leader 2017
Richard Byles, chairman and former CEO of Sagicor Group Jamaica, was last night named Jamaica Observer Business Leader 2017, topping a field of 12 of the island's top chief executive officers which Award Selection Committee Chairman Moses Jackson described as “an embarrassment of riches” and which gave the committee a tough time to arrive at a decision.
In fact, so difficult was the selection committee's task that they first had to select a top four, then narrow the choices to a top two, using a series of key performance data of the companies run by the nominees.
“All 12 nominees for the Business Leader: Corporate Steward Award not only meet, but far exceed the most fundamental rule for consideration for this singular accolade — that first and foremost they must be the steward of a company or companies that have produced sustainable profits over time,” Jackson said in his report to the packed Jamaica Pegasus hotel ballroom.
The other nominees for the Business Leader Award were:
• Marlene Street-Forrest, Managing Director, Jamaica Stock Exchange;
• Christopher Williams, President and CEO of PROVEN;
• Gary Peart, CEO, Mayberry Investments
• Patrick Hylton, CEO of NCB Group;
• Jeffrey Hall, CEO, Jamaica Producers Group;
• Sharon Donaldson, Managing Director, General Accident Insurance Co Ja Ltd
• Don Wehby, CEO, GraceKennedy Group;
• Earl Jarrett, CEO, Jamaica National Group
• Odetta Rockhead-Kerr, Country head of Sutherland Global;
• Josef Fortsmayr, Managing DXirector, Round Hill Hotel; and
• Peter Moses, retired head of Citibank in Jamaica.