JUST UNDER 25 employees of Duty Free Caribbean Holdings who applied for voluntary separation packages last month had their requests granted.
This was confirmed on Tuesday by Peter Allan, chief executive officer of the group which includes Cave Shepherd Retail, Colombian Emeralds International, Jeweller’s Warehouse and Harrisons.
He told the DAILY NATION that team members were given the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy packages in light of the continued financial challenges facing the company.
He said the exercise took place over a four-week period in June and involved a “thorough process”, including interviews with applicants.
Allan said some interested employees had to be turned down “as any position that would have had to have been replaced could not be considered”.Noting that sales were down across all divisions, he said management was exploring all opportunities for cost reduction but no additional reductions in head count were on the cards for 2012.
The CEO said the company was continuing to focus on creative efforts to draw consumers into the stores, including communication via social media.
Referring to last Saturday’s Megaday event which formed part of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Bridgetown Alive initiative, he said this helped to increase traffic not only in Cave Shepherd but also the other operations in the group.
“We are doing everything we can to improve sales,” he said.
Allan noted that the Crop Over season usually brought additional visitors to the island and he was optimistic this would happen this year. (NB)
