AITKEN SPENCE

Aitken Spence is anchored to a heritage of excellence spanning 150 years, driven by over 12,000 employees in 16 industries in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Fiji, India, Oman, Myanmar, Mozambique and Bangladesh. Its global footprint offers valuable insights, enabling the Group to identify opportunities, optimise resource allocation and leverage synergies to navigate uncertainties facing the nation. Transformative leadership in the Aitken Spence Group and prudent investment decisions are crucial in establishing inclusive and sustainable business models to benefit all stakeholders, and support the country’s economic revival.

Q: What has been Aitken Spence’s recent growth strategy?
A: We do not look only at seizing opportunities but also focus on creating them. Short-term strategies evolve to meet our vision and remain flexible, given the rapidly changing business landscape.

Our focus has been on growing our businesses, improving efficiencies and effectiveness of existing business segments, cost management and building competitive advantages through technology, aligning to sustaining earnings, liquidity, capital and growth.

The long-term vision of our Group is sustainable growth through diversification of goods and services with a high market share. We recognise the importance of transformative leadership in the next phase of expansion. So the Group’s leadership evolution strategy focuses on building leaders who can effectively bring about transformational reforms.

Q: What are the pillars of your success?
A: The sectoral and geographic diversity of the Group is a main contributing factor to the Group’s success amidst global and domestic crises.

Another extremely important pillar of our success is the ‘Spensonians’ – their shared values and team spirit that was demonstrated through agility, adaptability and professionalism in navigating the present crisis. It’s the essence of uniqueness in our value proposition.

Q: What role can corporates play in uplifting Sri Lanka’s image internationally?
A: Aitken Spence has made bold investment decisions that changed the way key industries operate. We introduced Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) architecture to the world outside the US and laid the foundation for a movement in sustainable tourism across Sri Lanka.

It was one of the first Sri Lankan businesses to manage hotels overseas and venture into a public private partnership (PPP) abroad with our entry into the South Pacific for port operations management.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we responded to crucial social and development needs by launching Sri Lanka’s first ever ‘waste-to-energy’ power plant, uplifting the island’s image on an international scale.

Many businesses have shown resilience amidst the ongoing crisis, which sends a reassuring message. International investors should have confidence in the private sector as we drive the nation through extreme turbulence.

QUICK-FIRE ROUND

Three recommendations to revive Sri Lanka’s economy
Urgent and consistent policy measures supported by good governance.
Meritocracy and transparency in both public and private sectors.
Explore higher value and high-tech exports, as well as effective trade finance, to promote exports.

Three most admired global business leaders
Tim Cook (Apple)
Sundar Pichai (Google)
Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase)

Q: How should corporates balance the ‘triple bottom line’ – given the volatility of today’s business environment?
A: Respectable businesses conduct operations responsibly balancing ‘People, Planet and Profits.’ We believe this is best achieved by managing a fourth ‘P’, which is ‘Processes.’

Especially in a new era of change, respect is determined by an organisation’s agility, adaptability and capacity to turn daunting challenges into positive changes while staying true to its values. This shows true resilience.

Our strategy to realign, reinvent and relaunch has been adopted well by our motivated Spensonians, proving their true grit.

Q: How important are stakeholder perceptions – and why?
A: Balancing stakeholder interests is vital for the sustainable growth of any business, institution and administration, and cannot be taken lightly. Identifying those perceptions results in opportunities for growth whilst conveying respect for stakeholders and their changing expectations.

Q: What are the main attributes of your Group’s image?
A: Aitken Spence is built on the key values of reliability and honesty. The brand promise reflects our efforts to be transparent, inspire confidence by continually raising benchmarks across industries, and being a reputable and sought after employer.

Aitken Spence has focused on transforming operations and business models to serve customers and stakeholders better. The Group is guided by a legacy founded on a spirit of togetherness, and combines skills and effort to remain steadfast, maintaining leadership across sectors while creating a positive impact.

Telephone 2308308  |  Email info@aitkenspence.lk  |  Website www.aitkenspence.com