Congrats on your golden anniversary! Newly appointed head of the Bank of Jamaica, Richard Byles (right), congratulates founder and chairman of the ICWI Group, Dennis Lalor, OJ, at ICWI’s 50th anniversary celebration, held at the Devon House East Lawn on June 15.

A number of top-ranking business leaders from the Caribbean, members of Government, friends and well-wishers turned out last Saturday, June 15, at the East Lawn of Devon House to celebrate with The Insurance Company of the West Indies (ICWI) on their 50th anniversary.

“It is hard to believe that 51 years ago a small group of us, charged with the fervor of independence and unbridled entrepreneurial spirit, got together with the dream of forming a local non-life insurance company,” said founder and Chairman Dennis Lalor in his address.

Today, ICWI stands as one of the island’s leading general insurance companies, with offices spanning the region in the Cayman Islands, Trinidad, Bahamas, St Maarten, St Kitts and Nevis, the British Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos.

As they stepped onto the blue carpet, guests were taken on a journey through time with a collage documenting major milestones over the company’s 50 years. They pulled out all the stops with elegant and stunning décor that set the mood for guests to let their hair down and make the most of the night.

DJ Kurt Riley provided the tunes between performances by Trinidadian electronic violinist Shiva Chaitoo, and reggae sensation Tarrus Riley, who closed the evening’s activities. The elegant blue-carpet affair saw the likes of R. Danny Williams and his wife, Shirley; newly appointed head of the Bank of Jamaica, Richard Byles; Senator Aubyn Hill; Joseph Matalon; Minna Israel; Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy Financial Group Grace Burnett; and former Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy Douglas Orane in attendance.

ICWI also used the occasion to celebrate the birthday of their chairman as well as to award their Employee of the Year, Stanece Zeng, and Branch of the Year – Ocho Rios Branch. To close his address, Lalor gave the secret to the company’s strength for the 50 years.

“We have built our balance sheet to protect ICWI and its customers. We have sustained a culture which delivers consistently superior service from point of sale to point of claim. We have always put our customers first, because serving you is all we do,” Lalor said.