Business icons and long-time friends Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart (left), chairman and founder of Sandals Resorts International; and Richard Branson, founder of Britain’s Virgin Group, share their famous camaraderie before participating in a panel discussion and luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, yesterday. (Photos: Joseph Wellington)
TWO of the Caribbean’s most iconic personalities — one an honorary citizen and the other a son of the soil — yesterday implored entrepreneurs to shake off the fear of thinking global and find the courage to take on the world.Richard Branson, the colourful founder of Britain’s Virgin Group, with its flagship Virgin Airlines; and Jamaica’s Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, the Caribbean’s top hotelier and founder of the Sandals Resorts chain, double-teamed in their joint call to business owners, especially the young, to use their Caribbean experience to launch out into the international marketplace.
The Jamaica Pegasus hotel’s Talk of the Town skyroom in New Kingston was teeming with mostly young entrepreneurs, some with high hopes and brand new ideas. They hung onto every last word and advice offered by Branson and Stewart, both empire builders and creators of world-renowned brands and long-time friends.
“Be not afraid to think global. Start where you are and believe in your product,” Branson said, singling out his Virgin Records for its modest start in London before becoming the world’s largest independent recording company.
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