Clifford Reis’ brief summary of aspects of the performance of the group of companies comprising Banks DIH Ltd over the past six months, underscores the entity’s ongoing commitment to strengthening its capacity to provide the goods and services it offers to Guyanese consumers.
There appears to be no period in its operations when Banks is not involved in some upgrading, refurbishing, modernising or rehabilitating exercise and that, one expects, is understandable in a company where profitability depends not only on efficient management but on the efficiency of plant and machinery. More than that, the work undertaken by the company over the past six months – particularly the enhancement of the services of Demico House and the creation of a new Sports Bar suggests that the management is alive to the importance of continually modernising a traditional company in order to keep it abreast of contemporary competition.
Noteworthy too is the ongoing effort of the company to improve its information and technology capacity, an initiative which, by Mr Reis’ admission is designed to enable “a more effective transmission of data and use of plant and equipment technology to support the sales and marketing strategies.” Simply put, Banks DIH Ltd sets much store by ready and reliable access to information as a marketing and sales promotion tool and that is one of the hallmarks of good management.
In its own particular circumstances, there seems never to be a time when the efforts of Banks to raise its game is not confronted by some formidable challenge; the best-remembered of those being a surfeit of unfair competition from illegal imports. This time around, Mr Reis alludes to an unavoidable hurdle, “the increasing prices of oil and related petroleum products on the world market,” a circumstance which the company Chairman says continues to place an “onerous burden” on its finances.
For all that, the nature of Banks’ operations places the company in a position where it must continue to invest in exactly those areas where costs are already high. The replacement of vehicles, which has been part of the focus of the company over the past six months, is one such investment. Mr Reis says this will continue in the period ahead, making the point that resilient business entities are used to staring adversity in the face and forging ahead.
As Mr Reis puts it during his assessment of the company’s fuel and energy challenges, “in the absence of any meaningful remedy” there really is no choice than for the company to focus on “prudent management of resources” and “reduced expenditure”. In business terms, that is the language of the determined and the durable.
