AS OF yesterday, December 15, the head office of Agro-Grace has been relocated from 235 Marcus Garvey Drive to 697 Spanish Town Road, where the Hardware and Lumber subsidiary, H&L Agri & Marine is currently located.
John Mahfood, Chief Operating Officer of Grace, Kennedy's Retail and Trading Division announced that the move is part of the rationalisation exercise resulting from the merger between Rapid and Sheffield with Hardware and Lumber, and Agro Grace with H&L Agri & Marine.
He noted that one of the primary considerations of the merger was the comfort and convenience of customers while the Group also had to focus on containing costs.
"The Spanish Town Road premises has all the customer friendly elements that we are seeking in terms of parking, display and customer service areas and warehousing. It therefore makes good sense for us to locate this aspect of our business here " said Mr. Mahfood.
As of yesterday the former H&L Agri & Marine store at Spanish Town Road will be re-opened under the name of Agro-Grace.
NEW BOARD
Mr. Mahfood noted that a new Board had been appointed for Agro Grace and a new management structure put in place. The newly appointed Board includes members from both Grace, Kennedy and Pan Jamaica Investment Trust (Pan Jam). They are Erwin Burton (Chairman), Richard Byles, Edmund Christie, Maurice Clarke, Lloyd Facey, Ian Jackson, Andrew Levy, John P. Mahfood, Adrian Wallace and W.G. Bryan Ewen.
The management team includes Garnet Malcolm (General Manager), Codrick Farquharson (Sales Manager), Olive Downer-Walsh (Retail & Marketing Manager), Kelly McIntosh (Purchasing Manager) and Hilda Vaughn (Customer Service/Warehouse Manager).
With the new Agro-Grace merger in effect completed, the focus is now being shifted to the planning of the Rapid & Sheffield and H&L/True Value merger. Mr. Mahfood explained that, "due to the size and complexity of these businesses, this task is not expected to be completed until the end of the first quarter of 2004."
Mr. Mahfood noted that the merger with Hardware and Lumber was in keeping with the company's plans to better serve its customers and realise maximum cost effectiveness through a larger network of stores and consolidated centralised services.
The merger agreement, which was signed on September 9, 2003, saw the purchase by Grace, Kennedy of approximately 67% of the Hardware & Lumber Group, and the transfer of all shares in Rapid & Sheffield Company Limited and Agro Grace Limited, both previously wholly-owned subsidiaries of Grace, Kennedy, to the Hardware & Lumber Limited. The Pan Jamaican Group has retained a 25% holding in Hardware & Lumber, with the remaining approximately 8% held by a large number of individual shareholders.
