Chidozie Ofoego was named the new Financial Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. He will be responsible for the finance ministry’s headquarters, Accountant-General’s department, the Department of Social Insurance, the Office of the Tax Commissioner, Customs tariff and duty collection, and the Registrar of Companies. His previous experience includes working for the London Borough of Hounslow and as director of financial reporting and planning at Imperial College London. 

Gemma Rochelle has been promoted to to executive vice-president, group general counsel and chief compliance officer at BF&M. She has also been promoted to the group executive committee.

Hamilton Insurance Group named two new directors to its board: Therese Vaughan, a former CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the standard-setting body for insurance regulation in the US, and Neil Patterson, the retired chairman of the KPMG group of entities in Bermuda, who will also serve as chairman of the Hamilton board’s audit committee.

Everest Group has promoted Jim Williamson to lead its reinsurance and insurance businesses, adding to his existing responsibilities as Everest’s executive vice-president and group chief operating officer.

Robin Saul has been appointed deputy managing director and legal counsel at Arch Insurance (Bermuda). She joined Arch in 2019 as head of claims and legal counsel, and will retain her current responsibilities in addition to her expanded new role.

Greg Hendrick, the CEO of Bermudian-based Vantage Group, has been appointed as an independent director on the board of Verisk, the global data analytics and technology provider.

Clarien Bank has appointed Roger Brown as senior vice-president and head of commercial banking. He will be responsible for managing Clarien’s growing portfolio of high-value client relationships within the commercial, corporate and institutional sectors. Mr Brown was previously a regional vice-president in Commercial Banking at Laurentian Bank in Toronto. 

Jamie Schmerer has been promoted to the role of SVP, Enterprise Risk at Fortitude Re. His responsibilities will include leading Fortitude Re’s regulatory relations efforts in Bermuda.

Charles Craigs has joined Ascot Group as managing principal overseeing the company’s third-party capital operations in Bermuda. Mr Craigs joins Ascot from Canopius Re, where he spent 15 years in executive leadership roles, most recently as CEO of the Canopius Bermuda platform.  Ascot also announced the appointment of Dane Lopes as head of US Partnership Engagement & Strategy.

The Everen Specialty board of directors appointed John Talarico as chairman and Tim Bucci as deputy chairman.

Chris Sinkey has been appointed to the new role of chief operating officer at Relm Insurance, the specialty carrier supporting emerging and innovative industries. He will oversee sales and marketing, operational excellence, and corporate development, including capital raising and M&A.

International General Insurance has promoted Stav Tsielepis to the post of group chief actuary, with responsibility for capital, pricing, reserving and exposure management.

Rosemarie Minors has been appointed manager, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs and Privacy Officer at Axa XL in Bermuda. The company also announced the appointments of Tiffany Heslop, vice-president, senior underwriter, Excess Casualty, Insurance and James Gregory, vice-president, senior underwriter, Professional Lines, Insurance.

Juniper Re, the reinsurance broker, has appointed Chris Hayward as head of office to lead its new Bermuda operation.

The post Movers and shakers appeared first on RG Magazines.

After years of increasing costs, the outlook for Bermuda’s local business community brightened in the first quarter with the increasingly realistic prospect that at least some costs could start to fall over the next two years.

The reason is the imminent corporate income tax (CIT): the first estimate of what it will add to government coffers came in David Burt’s Budget statement in February — “at least $750 million a year”, the Premier and finance minister said. That is the equivalent of 60 per cent of the Government’s revenue estimate for 2024-25. Such a boost would create considerable opportunities for cutting taxes.

With CIT funds expected to flow in from July 2025, Mr Burt floated ideas including seeding a new health insurance fund with capital to support implementation of universal healthcare and cutting duty on fuel, food and construction items in the next fiscal year. And by 2026-27, he suggested employer payroll tax could be reduced.

The good news is there is little sign of a vanishing tax advantage sparking an exodus of international companies of economic substance, although much attention this year will be focused on the nature and size of qualified refundable tax credits, which will be critical to domicile decisions being considered in boardrooms.

The Government has signalled that companies within scope of the CIT will no likely no longer pay the employer’s share of payroll tax.

How the impact pans out will depend heavily on the ongoing work of the Tax Reform Commission. Led by Darren Johnston, the TRC has been tasked with making recommendations on tax credits, revisions to the tax system, how CIT funds should be spent for the community’s benefit, and legislative or constitutional guardrails (perhaps to ensure that a certain proportion of the money pays down debt or tops up the underfunded Contributory Pension Fund).

The deadline for the TRC’s final recommendations is the end of October this year.

It all seems too good to be true, and ironic, that Bermuda appears set to benefit enormously from a global minimum tax regime designed by large countries to effectively drive business away from offshore financial centres.

The new rules, the result of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development initiative, require multinationals with revenue over 750 million euros ($815 million) to pay a rate of at least 15 per cent by allowing governments to apply a top-up tax on revenues earned in countries with lower rates.

Could the CIT prove to be a fiscal and economic lifeline? Only time will tell.

***

One of the reasons why Bermuda’s international re/insurers are not looking to take flight at the first sign of a tax on profits is that the island is a genuine global hub for the industry with a cluster of world-leading talent and regulation that meets the highest international standards.

A powerful reminder of that was the third Bermuda Risk Summit in March. The Bermuda Business Development Agency event attracted more than 450 delegates, 40 per cent of them from overseas, including re/insurance executives, regulators, risk managers from companies including Amazon, and industry media.

The BDA estimated that the event generated around $3.4 million in economic activity, supporting 432 jobs. But as the BDA observed: “Far more significant were the long-term economic benefits brought about by the additional visitors who flew to Bermuda for business meetings during the week of the summit.”

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Business travel to Bermuda is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels but it is bouncing back — and the reopening of the Fairmont Southampton will help hugely with the rebound.

That’s the view of Stephen Todd, chief executive officer of Bermuda Hotel Association, who said the island would benefit from having the landmark Southampton hotel back.

“Clearly, I think we are all waiting with bated breath for the eventual reopening of the Fairmont Southampton, because that’s going to give us our largest meeting venue,” he said.

“From a standpoint of business travel, we believe that’s going to see a re-emergence of larger groups seeking to meet, as they previously did, prior to the pandemic.

“We’re seeing the interest on the part of business travel.”

Mr Todd described Bermuda as being still in the “throes of post-pandemic recovery” but with some encouraging signs.

Bermuda Tourism Authority figures show there were 32,768 air visitors who came for business in 2023, compared to 47,285 in 2019. Business visitors saw the largest growth in 2023, up 42.4 per cent year-on-year.

Mr Todd said business travel would be a “key component” in the recovery of the island’s tourism industry, with an emphasis right now on attracting small to medium-sized corporate events.

“That’s been demonstrated most recently by the Business Development Agency and their conference [Bermuda Risk Summit] at the Hamilton Princess,” he said.

“We’re positioning ourselves to meet that re-emergence of business travel and group meetings. We’re getting the message out that we’re open for business.”

He added: “We’re not going to try to sell something that we can’t support. We may not be able to entertain an event for 400 to 600 people but we may be able to handle 350 to 400.”

At the height of the pandemic, many wondered if corporate travel would ever return to normal levels, with companies realising the cost savings that video-conferencing technology could bring.

But Mr Todd said: “That’s not proving to be the current status at all.” There was nothing quite like meeting clients and colleagues in person, he added.

“As much as technology is advantageous, it’s also impersonal,” he said, adding that an in-person event lent itself to many more opportunities for interaction.

“Having that social interaction and the ability to, for want of a better term, press the flesh, this technology doesn’t provide us with that upfront, personal interaction.”

Mr Todd noted a post-pandemic trend of business visitors adding additional non-work days to their trip, something the Hamilton Princess has noticed too.

A hotel spokeswoman said: “As experienced globally, a business traveller may add on extra days for leisure, joined by a partner and other family members.”

She said the Hamilton Princess’s business clientele profile had “always remained constant” and the hotel was now seeing the “return of the corporate group traveller, attending groups and conferences”.

Business analysts have suggested the high number of people who relocated after the pandemic means many executives now need to travel to meet colleagues within their own companies.

The Hamilton Princess spokeswoman said the hotel had experienced an increase in requests for meeting spaces geared towards board meetings. It has responded to demand with a new executive meeting suite floor, consisting of four boardrooms, including the Tea Rose and Tea Rose terrace, with views over Hamilton Harbour.

Mr Todd said increased airlift to Bermuda from several US cities from April would provide another boost for business travel.

“We are going to prove to be far more attractive,” he said. “We are in very close proximity to the US eastern seaboard.

“That, to me, is an incentive for groups that want the ease and convenience of getting here. We are talking as short as 90 minutes and perhaps no more than three hours, depending on where you are originating.

“In a couple of hours, you could be walking along a beach, or having a swim, or playing pickleball.”

He said it was heartening to see ground being broken on the multimillion-dollar renovation of the Fairmont Southampton in February, when owner Westend Properties indicated it should be ready to welcome guests before the end of 2025.

Mr Todd said Bermuda’s marketing should focus on the quality on offer here.

“If we can provide a brand experience, whether it’s a local or international brand, then the price is not the issue. It’s really whether we’ve given value for money.”

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It’s not just the business opportunities that have tempted affluent individuals into investing in Bermuda’s economy over the past three years.

The chance to live the dream on a paradise island is also playing a major part in the success of the Government’s Economy Investment Residential Certificates initiative, which gives residency rights to people who invest at least $2.5 million in Bermuda.

A total of 49 applications have been approved since 2021, according to the Bermuda Business Development Agency, equating to a total investment of $464 million in local businesses and real estate.

Those certificate-holders are required to spend at least 90 days on the island each year and have brought their families with them – meaning an extra 123 residents are now enjoying life in the middle of the Atlantic.

“Many of the applicants tell a similar story,” Kyle Rogers, research and intelligence manager at the BDA, said.

“They have travelled here regularly from a young age or have experienced a significant life event here and love the idea of being able to live here long term.

“Other applicants invest here because Bermuda is just a great place to do business. This includes the expertise of the quality service providers located here, our advantageous geographical location and sophisticated island lifestyle.”

Mr Rogers said EIRCs have proved most popular with high-net-worth individuals from the US, the UK and Canada – although people from Spain have invested the largest amount in total.

A breakdown of the figures shows $212 million has been invested in new businesses, $203 million in real estate and $49 million in existing businesses.

Twelve new applications were approved in the past nine months, representing about $40 million of new investment in real estate. Realtors say the programme has helped boost demand for luxury homes, a sector in which finding buyers can sometimes be a relatively slow process.

Mr Rogers said: “We continue to see strong levels of interest for new applications.

“We remain extremely optimistic about the long-term potential of the EIRC initiative and are proud of the role we have played thus far in creating economic growth.

“Bermuda has always been an exceptional place to live and do business. Since 2021, EIRC has provided high-net-worth individuals, and their families, with an opportunity to live here to see their investment prospects realised.”

Individuals can qualify for an EIRC by investing $2.5 million in:

• Residential or commercial real estate
• New Bermuda-based business or existing business excluding exempted undertakings
• Bermuda Government bonds, Bermuda’s Sinking Fund or the Bermuda Trust Fund
• A Bermudian-registered charity
• Any social or practical venture that benefits the island as determined by the Minister of Economy and Labour.

Clients interested in applying for an EIRC certificate must submit a set of documents to help the BDA vet their identities, their sources of wealth and their sources of funds.

The vetting process also looks at the applicants’ originating country to identify anyone applying from high-risk countries with known Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing deficiencies.

Once all the necessary documents have been received, the completed application is submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Labour for review and approval, at which point the investor receives immediate residency rights.

Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, has said the Government launched the programme because it wanted to harness immigration as a tool for economic growth.

Mr Hayward has said individuals tend to invest much more than the minimum $2.5 million. The average investment per certificate works out at more than $9 million.

The Government believes affluent individuals appreciate Bermuda’s well-regulated business environment and that the programme’s success highlights global confidence in the island. This year, Bermuda added EIRC to its National Risk Assessment against AML and CTF.

The EIRC application process is confidential and anyone who wants to start should visit bda.bm/economic-investment-residential-certificate.

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The demolition work taking place at 91 Front Street this year heralds a rejuvenation for a Hamilton site previously occupied by a boarded-up building.

Brookfield is the company behind the nine-storey development, which will act as the headquarters for all of the company’s Bermudian-domiciled listed affiliates — Brookfield Reinsurance, Brookfield Property Partners, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Renewable Partners and Brookfield Business Partners.

There will also be office space for tenants and retail space on the ground floor, on both the Front Street and Reid Street sides of the building. In his 2024-25 Budget Statement, David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, estimated the project to construct the building would support about 200 jobs over an 18-month period.

What exactly is Brookfield? While Bermudians are accustomed to seeing large offices bearing the name of re/insurance companies, it is unusual to see international companies in other industries owning their own office building on the island.

That’s not to say Brookfield does not have insurance interests — its insurance solutions business, founded in 2020, has already grown to have more than $100 billion in assets under management. Part of it is Brookfield Re, which purchased Bermudian-based Argo Group in a $1.1 billion all-cash deal that closed in November last year. However, insurance is only a small part of the vast global network of Brookfield companies with head offices in Toronto and more than 200,000 employees around the world.

On the face of it, there could be few better businesses on the planet to oversee a real estate development. Brookfield’s real estate division owns more than 500 million square feet of prime real estate around the world, including London’s Canary Wharf.

The philosophy underpinning these investments is “high-quality properties in the best locations, as well as the strong tenant basis and long-term leases they attract, will withstand market cycles and drive long-term value”.

One of Brookfield’s most remarkable projects is Manhattan West in New York. The eight-acre, mixed-use complex was built on a platform over rail tracks running into Penn Station. It has revitalised the Hudson Yards district with four office buildings, an apartment block, the Pendry West Manhattan Hotel and a 2.5-acre pedestrian plaza, open to the public.

In addition to real estate, Brookfield’s $900 billion portfolio includes infrastructure, renewable energy, private equity, credit and insurance. One of its infrastructure businesses is Triton International, the world’s largest lessor of intermodal freight containers, a Bermudian-based company acquired last year by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in a $13.3 billion deal.

Brookfield’s connections with Bermuda have attracted some controversy around its tax practices. A report last June by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) was titled, “Brookfield’s Bermuda base: is Canada’s largest alternative asset manager dodging global taxes?”

The report stated: “Brookfield’s structure has been described as a cascading ownership pyramid, with local subsidiaries controlled by complex chains of foreign entities with direct investments through individual investment funds ultimately winding up in Bermuda.”

A search of the Bermuda Registrar of Companies website found 282 entities bearing the Brookfield name — 16 more than were mentioned in last year’s CICTAR report. Brookfield Ltd appears to have been the first one to form, with an incorporation date of January 27, 1998.

The International Tax Review, when it reported on the CICTAR report in June last year, quoted a Brookfield spokesman as saying: “We are committed to providing relevant and proportionate disclosure about our tax payments in accordance with recognised reporting frameworks and in a manner that is both informative and transparent.”

The new Front Street building will increase certainly Brookfield’s economic substance in Bermuda. Brian Kingston, chief executive of Brookfield’s Real Estate business, said in March last year when the plan was first announced: “This development is a reflection of our commitment to Bermuda, one of the most sophisticated financial and business markets globally, with access to top talent. We see numerous opportunities for growth in the coming years.”

On its website, the company says in real estate, it has a “focus on ‘placemaking’ —creating places for people to live, work, dine, shop and play”. Bermudians will hope that is reflected in Hamilton.

Brookfield did not answer our requests for comment for this article.

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“Game changer” may be an overused phrase these days, but in the case of Generative Artificial Intelligence and its potential to transform business, it is an undeniably apt description.

Global management consultant Accenture says GenAI portends “likely the most significant change to work since the agricultural and industrial revolutions”. It promises to cut out drudgery and massively increase productivity. Businesses in Bermuda and around the world are scrambling to harness its power.

Stuart Lacey, founder of the Bermuda Clarity Institute and a recognised expert in GenAI solutions and tools, leads AI workshops at the BCI’s New Venture House home. In these popular sessions, he has seen mixed reactions — many people excited to put GenAI to work and some fearing for their jobs.

Historically, technological revolutions — from the printing press to electricity to the silicon chip — have followed a pattern of adoption, with each successive wave occurring at a faster pace than the preceding one. “Today’s pace of change is accelerating like a freight train and you need to try to get on,” Mr Lacey said.

Citing the name of the inventor of a history-changing, 15^th-century printing press, Mr Lacey said: “If you analyse those ‘Gutenberg moments’ in history, 20 per cent of the impact was human replacement and 80 per cent was human augmentation. Most people tend to focus too much on the job replacement aspect and miss the other four-fifths of the historically-proven impact, which is the growth and value created from human augmentation.”

Using an analogy with the familiar concept of horsepower, Mr Lacey cites the example of a solopreneur who could suddenly go from one to about 20 humanpower by using GenAI to effectively have a finance team, researchers and a marketing crew, for example.

What are the use cases for Bermudian businesses? Mr Lacey and Aaron Smith, BCI’s AI growth leader and president of the Igility Group of Companies, gave multiple examples, grouped into several categories. They include:

• Content generation: GenAI enables the creative generation of content, from targeted marketing materials to product development plans, amplifying productivity and creativity
• Content rewriting: repurposing existing content or translating into multiple languages to target different groups, particularly beneficial in marketing strategies
• Extraction: extracting structured information from unstructured data sources like text documents
• Data analytics: drawing actionable insights from rapid analysis of datasets, such as financial statements
• Social media management: crafting tailored social media posts based on customer data and target audience preferences, mirroring the work of a dedicated social media team
• Meeting optimisation: revolutionising corporate meetings by summarising discussions in real time, eliminating the need for manual note-taking and allowing outcome to be shared efficiently

“HR is a classic example of a use case that people in our workshops tell us they go back and implement immediately,” Mr Smith said. “We show them how to thoughtfully put together company information and a job profile and turn AI into your extended HR team. It will help you to assess candidates, identify skills gaps in resumes and design interview questions.”

Mr Lacey points out it is not the technology itself that delivers benefits to a business, but how users interface with it. Training the workforce is not only essential for effective AI implementation, but also to win over people feeling threatened, by showing how their current role could be expanded rather than eliminated.

“Prompt engineering” — the process of asking AI for something — is how humans interface with the technology. Typing in a single, brief instruction, will rarely be enough. An essential skill is “prompt stacking”, the crafting of a series of prompts to steer AI towards the desired outcome.

“Rushing to put shiny new tech in without paying attention to data rights, privacy and proper training will not achieve its full potential and waste time and effort,” Mr Lacey said.

“First, companies should do an AI audit, a diagnostic and strategy document to assess AI readiness. That means take stock of where you’re at first: consider what software you need, what data you can put into the models, consider privacy and data rights, ideal use cases, low-hanging fruit — and then move forward on an informed basis — ‘less haste equals more progress’.”

BCI has launched an AI audit service and recommends businesses undergo this process in parallel with staff training. Additionally, BCI is rolling out fractional AI services, giving businesses access to an AI worker to enable a controlled implementation at a fraction of the cost of hiring an expert.

For more information, visit https://clarity.framer.ai

The post Bermuda businesses prepare to tap into power of AI appeared first on RG Magazines.

Bermuda’s economy has changed markedly over the past 30 years and international business has become a much larger part of it.

That was one clear takeaway from the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce’s “Deep Dive” — an extraordinary release of data, illustrated in a series of graphs, which have provided much food for thought for business leaders, policymakers and the community.

A handful from the trove of eye-opening statistics:

• IB generates more than one third of Bermuda’s total employment income, or 34.5 per cent, up from 11.6 per cent in 1997; over the same period hospitality and retail’s share of wages has fallen from 20.4 per cent to 10.4 per cent
• The number of IB jobs rose by 984, or 25 per cent, between 2019 and 2023 — Bermudians and their spouses, and permanent resident certificate holders accounted for 55 per cent of this job growth; high-value insurance jobs were a feature, with the number of underwriters up 26 per cent and actuaries up 45 per cent
• From 1993 through to 2023, hotel and guest house room count fell by 56.6 per cent, while jobs in the accommodation sector fell by two-thirds
• Retail sales volume fell 8% between 1995 and 2023, while the number of jobs filled has fallen 3.6% — there is a notable correlation between the two statistics over the past three decades.

Marico Thomas, Chamber president, and Danielle Riviere, chief executive officer, came into their roles last year with a mission of providing data to provide a much-needed factual basis for conversations on the island’s future.

The Chamber’s Economics Division led the research and the results were unveiled in February at the Chamber’s Budget Breakfast, where David Burt, the Premier and Finance Minister, was a special guest.

While the aim of the Deep Dive was to provide accurate, actionable information, rather than offer opinions based on it, Mr Thomas said it was clear there had been structural changes in the economy.

“There was a time when tourism was the big gorilla of the Bermuda economy and taking a career path as a bartender would allow me to buy a house, or buy a taxi, and put my kids through college,” Mr Thomas said.

“That has changed. The story around international business when I was a teen is remarkably different from the ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ conversation I have with my kids. When you look at two data points — IB’s share of GDP and tourism’s, the 1980s and 1990s compared to now — you can see that the conversations in business meetings will also be different.

“Some of those impacts have not necessarily resonated throughout the conversations in every dining room and boardroom — you have some people who still reflect on how things once were. We are just trying to ensure that people are having those conversations based on accurate information.”

Ms Riviere stressed that the Deep Dive was only the start of a more data-driven Chamber. With plans for more data releases in future, the Chamber is urging members to share information when asked to help paint as accurate a picture as possible.

“This is not a one-off conversation,” Ms Riviere said. “It’s not just about the data, we really want people to understand that good information can help to change behaviours.”

A useful indicator of IB’s impact comes from the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers’ annual economic substance report. ABIR, which represents many of the largest international re/insurers with operations on the island, has tallied a staggering direct impact of $12.84 billion on Bermuda’s economy over the past 15 years.

Included in ABIR’s calculations are salaries and benefits for locally based employees, travel and entertainment in Bermuda, including hotels, airfares, restaurants, taxis and catering, and donations to Bermuda charities, which totalled nearly $6 million in 2022 alone.

IB workers earned more than $1.3 billion in 2022, a significant injection of money into the local economy. The imminent corporate income tax, Bermuda’s response to the OECD’s global minimum tax, effective from January next year and levied on large multinational companies, is expected to massively increase the impact of IB. Mr Burt has estimated the new tax could raise $750 million per year — equivalent to about 60 per cent of the Government’s revenue estimate for the current fiscal year.

All this creates a “multiplier effect” with IB dollars coming into the economy circulating through multiple transactions of many kinds, from taxis and restaurants to rents and retailers.

However, Martha Harris Myron, a former financial adviser who was The Royal Gazette’s personal finance columnist for more than 20 years, cautions that statistics showing healthy GDP growth do not capture how much of the money is flowing straight off island.

“I believe Bermuda has a fragmented multiplier effect, for many reasons,” Ms Harris Myron said. “One is the high increase in money moved and spent abroad. Many IB workers are paid in US dollars and my impression is that many of their investments and savings are in overseas brokerage accounts and banks, including their pension funds, whose custodians are abroad.

“They also purchase properties overseas, partly because of the high prices on the island. I remember many years ago I had a client who said his family went to Florida and bought five houses — one for them and one each for the four children — for the price of one home in Bermuda!

“Many of our largest domestic companies are completely or partially foreign-owned, such as Belco, Butterfield Bank, HSBC (formerly the Bank of Bermuda), BF&M, Clarien and One Communications, so their profits and dividend payments flow off island.

“Then there is the money that we spend every year buying fossil fuels from overseas and the huge amount we pay to service the Government’s $3 billion-plus debt, nearly all of which is financed by US dollar bonds. I don’t understand why we do not have more Bermuda dollar-denominated bonds, so the Government’s interest payments would stay in Bermuda, instead of going to foreign creditors.”

Ms Harris Myron cautions against pinning high hopes on the corporate income tax. “We just don’t know if it will be an economic life-saver,” she said.

She is also concerned there may be a lack of foreign currency held in reserve in Bermuda — needed to fund overseas transactions. “The Government used to provide this number, but I cannot find it now,” she said. “I think everyone keeps hoping that US dollars keep flowing in from international business.”

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Hospitality is a tough industry in which to achieve top-employer status, with the requirements for long, unsociable hours and hard work. That only makes IRG’s achievement all the more remarkable.

Employees wax lyrical about career development opportunities, clarity of communication, fair and transparent pay structure and family-like culture.

IRG’s business is built on delivering excellence, consistency and value that makes satisfied guests want to return. “We all strive daily to be proud, professional, knowledgeable, passionate and friendly deliverers of dining experiences,” the company stated. Success depends on having an engaged, motivated team.

One employee said: “IRG’s whole reputation is built on mutual respect for our team and that is conveyed on a daily basis. Our teams are constantly striving to be better and not only for themselves, but for our loyal guests.”

Restaurants were among the hardest hit local businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, but IRG’s response as an employer was appreciated by staff, strengthening workforce trust and loyalty. The company paid health insurance premiums in full for six months and provided daily lunch-to-go boxes for staff unable to work, so they could feed themselves and their families.

One employee said: “All employees were looked after during lockdowns and layoffs. Health insurance was covered and staff were given vouchers for grocery stores, along with other great gestures.”

An open-door communication policy welcomes feedback and ideas. Managers hold periodic staff meetings, enabling open discussion of how its restaurants can improve the guest and employee experience. Staff are paid to attend. IRG works hard to develop local talent. It has partnered with the Department of Workforce Development, Bermuda College and the Bermuda Tourism Authority to create, from scratch, a Restaurant Training Initiative, which includes on-the-job training at IRG.

The group also operates a Bermudians-only management programme, creating pathways for promotion for capable and motivated locals to higher-level posts currently occupied by work-permit holders.

WHAT THE EMPLOYEES HAD TO SAY …

“Equality, leadership and fairness all in one employer — the best in Bermuda.”

“Open effective communication and everyone in the company knows what is expected out of them to perform.”

“I even encourage my friends to work here, because they can learn and grow with this kind of management.”

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Set up in 2017, the Bermuda branch of the international law firm has seen strong growth in its business ever since. Over the past year alone, its payroll has risen more than 15 per cent to 52 people.

The staff is 60 per cent female and 53 per cent Bermudian, and the firm placed second in the Diversity Index section of the survey. Employees speak glowingly of the working environment, describing a meritocracy where everyone’s opinions are heard.

One employee said: “Carey Olsen prides itself on being transparent and meritocratic. We have regular town hall meetings where fee earner’s billable hours are shared with the group in an effort to educate staff on how various sectors of the business are performing. This lends itself to transparency when it comes to promotions, which are based on merit rather than office politics.”

Staff feel the firm strives to have value for Bermuda, in the business that it brings here through Carey Olsen’s global network and in local employment. As one employee said: “We prioritise the employment of Bermudians and seek to retain jobs in Bermuda over outsourcing to cheaper jurisdictions.”

Supporting the development of local talent is also important to Carey Olsen. Its Investing in People Award is a scholarship that supports a Bermudian law student, while all Bermudian athletes are eligible to apply for the Carey Olsen Athletics Scholarship, a one-year bursary to support their sporting career.

Each year, the Pupillage Programme is offered to two Bermudian aspiring lawyers, who are paired with senior lawyers for one-on-one training to prepare them to meet the requirements to be called to the Bermuda Bar. The mentoring programme helps new recruits integrate into the firm, while the Women’s Network fosters the professional development and recognition of female leaders. Philanthropic activities include participating in the Relay for Life, as well as donations and volunteer work for charities including the Family Centre, the Coalition for the Protection of Children and the Grateful Bread.

WHAT THE EMPLOYEES HAD TO SAY …

“In my 38 years of being in the working field, this is the most appreciative and enjoyable place of employment.”

“We all roll our sleeves up when we have to and we work as a team, supporting each other (no person left behind!).”

“The firm as a whole strives to be the best in class, both as a service provider and as an employer.”

The post #2 Carey Olsen Bermuda Limited appeared first on RG Magazines.

The Bermuda office of the international law firm employs 56 people, 80 per cent of whom are Bermudians and 80 per cent female — the highest proportion for both groups in the Top Ten — while from a racial perspective, the staff has almost equal Black and White representation.

Given those statistics, it may not be too surprising that diversity, equity and inclusion is of high importance to the firm, which strives to “foster a culture that values and celebrates our differences and individuality”.

Success in the legal profession has traditionally been associated with unsociably long hours of hard slog. The comments of employees suggest Walkers tries to break that mould.

One staff member said: “Particularly among law firms, it is difficult to find growth opportunities that come with work-life balance, but at Walkers, time off is valued and colleagues and executives will work to help you take vacation and be present for important life events.”

Another employee remarked: “Walkers’ growth in Bermuda has been remarkable. I joined a couple years after the firm opened and despite the stressors of opening and operating a new business, it is remarkable how management has maintained a positive and encouraging atmosphere.”

A theme of the survey feedback was that staff feel heard and their opinions valued. Another point many stressed was the opportunity and encouragement to pursue career development.

“The management structure is very flat and open and everyone is able to contribute their thoughts and ideas which will be considered on merit,” said a staff member. “The management team thinks about succession and career development and actively implements paths for people at all levels of the organisation to achieve success in their careers.”

Walkers looks to attract the next generation of Bermudian talent through its paid, four-week summer legal internship and through its Legal Scholarship Award, worth $20,000 plus up to three bursary awards of $7,500 each, awarded annually to a Bermudian studying law.

WHAT THE EMPLOYEES HAD TO SAY …

“Walkers puts an incredible amount of effort into nurturing and developing Bermudian talent.”

“The leaders are accessible, approachable and value the ideas and contributions of the whole team.”

“While it is a high- output firm where high standards are set, the environment is family-like.”

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