SOME STAFFERS openly cried yesterday as Leroy Parris bade farewell to CLICO International Life Insurance Limited (CIL).
The top insurance executive officially stepped down as executive chairman of CIL and spent from about 10:15 a.m. meeting with financial advisers and life insurance underwriters at the company’s Whitepark Road, St Michael headquarters.
Parris praised his staff for building the company into the major enterprise that it had become, and for assisting the institution in diversifying its operations into areas such as agriculture and housing.
The company was also the first to have a commercial banking institution, the former Caribbean Commercial Bank (CCB), forerunner to RBTT Bank.
Several workers paid tribute to Parris’ more than 30 years with the company, expressing regret that he was leaving at this stage.
Others suggested he still had much to offer CLICO and hoped he would continue to contribute his significant expertise to the industry.
One senior executive acknowledged that despite the financial difficulties facing the company, CLICO had been a success story here and the Eastern Caribbean under Parris’ leadership.
Parris, who is executive chairman of CLICO Holdings Barbados Limited, will remain on the boards of some of the company’s other subsidiaries. (WG)
