When Independence celebrations get into full swing and heroes are discussed, the name Lawrance Andrew Stuart may not be mentioned but his story is one of survival through every adversity that has stalked his business and personal life.
Stuart – who operated Stuart’s Engineering in the heyday of Barbados’ manufacturing sector, exporting millions of dollars in products to Trinidad and Tobago – lost almost everything when the bottom dropped out of the Trinidad market.
His business came crashing down and a multimillion-dollar manufacturing facility, One Accord in Warrens, St Michael, ended up in the hands of receivers when Stuart could not satisfy creditors.
Today, Stuart does not handle the kind of revenue he did back in the 1980s but, “by God’s grace”, he got back his cherished Warrens building. It has a significant number of tenants and business is looking up despite the recession.
The 59-year-old told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that his message to businesspeople, both young and mature, was that the entrepreneurship race was not for the swift, but for those with endurance.
The born-again Christian and Seventh Day Adventist lay preacher credited his faith in God and the support of Caribbean Financial Services with helping him transform the One Accord building into a shopping plaza, providing a home for other businesses trying to make it in a tough economic environment.
“Many people give up too easily but I say that storms are good because they show you what God can do in your life,” he said.
