Armed with decades of experience in the management of the distribution and retail sectors across the Caribbean, Geoffrey Evelyn has recently been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BrydenStokes Ltd., a member of the ANSA McAL (Barbados) Ltd. group of companies.

Happy to be at BrydenStokes after having left the then Stokes and Bynoe in 2012, Evelyn said he looked forward “to completing the process started by the merger and brining the company to the pinnacle of its potential.”

He added: “My experience in the retail sector with Trimart was a good one and it gave me the opportunity to augment my skills further. I’ve now worked with the manufacturer, the distributor and the retailer and possess an even greater appreciation for what makes the ‘merry go round‘.”

Before joining Stokes & Bynoe in 2006 and taking up the position of CEO in 2007, Evelyn worked with the Nestle Group, spending 20 years there, where he progressed from Sales Supervisor to Business Manager and finally Area Manager. “This provided me with tremendous experience in managing distributors and understanding how food products should be distributed profitably in even the tightest margin constrained markets.”

BrydenStokes was created by the merger of Bryden’s Distribution, Bryden’s Barbarees, A&R Tempro, and Stokes & Bynoe in 2012. It is more than twice the size of the previous Stokes and Bynoe with twice as many employees. “This makes it all the more imperative to have strong performers across all departments and fortunately we have good people on our team,” the new CEO explained.

Speaking to the importance of his team in achieving results and success, he went on to add that as with any organisation BrydenStokes “was only as strong as our weakest link so we need to constantly keep training and motivating our team members in the pursuit of excellence and be able to share the rewards of our hard work with them in the form of performance incentives.”

In commenting on Evelyn’s new appointment, Nicholas Mouttet, CEO of ANSA McAL (Barbados) said that the group was happy to welcome Evelyn back to BrydenStokes. “Geoffrey continues to demonstrate tremendous value across our group with strong support from a motivated team.”

Mouttet went on to add, “And as we thank Geoffrey for his leadership of Trimart Supermarkets we look forward to his continuing the process of achieving sustainable growth in the distribution sector in Barbados.”