St. John’s Antigua- The tents went up and the champagne bottles popped at the Brysons building complex in celebration of Nagico Insurance’s 30th Anniversary Thursday evening.
Geo W Bennett Bryson & Co Ltd, better known at Brysons Shipping & Insurance, has been Nagico’s managing general agent in Antigua & Barbuda since 1992, although it was founded in 1835.
Bryson’s manager, Majorie Parchment, welcomed guests that included policyholders and dignitaries and gave opening remarks.
In an interview with OBSERVER Media, the manager said that the evening was mainly about celebrating the real guests of honour — their policyholders.
“Celebrating milestones are generally ceremonial. What matters to me is what happens in practice. What have you done with that period of time that you have been in business as a company?” she said. “I think that Nagico has certainly demonstrated that it is here to stay, not only in Antigua, but in the Eastern Caribbean,” Parchment said.
Patrick Ryan, CEO of Brysons, gave a history of the company. The evening’s guests were treated to musical interludes from 20 young steel pan players from the Sunny Side Tutorial Steel Band. The programme was followed by a cocktail reception.
CEO of Nagico, Imran McSood-Amjad, travelled from St Martin to join the celebration of the company he created 30 years ago.
“They (Brysons) have done a fantastic job at promoting and representing Nagico. Over the 20 years, there have been many hurricanes and claims that we had to deal with and we have never had a contentious issue with Bryson’s. The relationship is just great,” he said.
Guest speaker for the evening, Minister of Finance, Harold Lovell, applauded the company for what he described as their excellent service to the people of Antigua & Barbuda, “The days when we could do things in a mediocre way are gone. It is very refreshing when we have a company that can truly boast of excellent service to its customers and its clients…I feel that they have done a good job and I wish them many more years of success.”
Other dignitaries that attended the event included Senator Joanne Massiah, Minister of Culture, Eleston “Namba” Adams, and Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack.
Minister of Education Dr Jacqui Quinn Leandro collected an unexpected $40,000 donation from Nagico and Brysons towards the Ministry’s Partnership for Peace programme. The initiative, facilitated by the Directorate of Gender Affairs, will instill programmes in schools that discourage violent behaviour in young boys.
