|
|
Heartline Magazine July - September 2005
Pillar in the community - Collins Ltd. backs anti-smoking drive
By Tony Cumberbatch
From its formation in 1985 the Heart Foundation of Barbados
has sought the partnership of members of the business community in pursuance of
its mission to keep people heart healthy and reduce suffering and death from
cardiovascular disease.
One company that immediately stepped up to support the cause
was one of Barbados’ oldest and most respected businesses, Collins Ltd.
In particular, Collins Ltd. has given assistance in funding
the cost of production of the Heart Foundation’s quarterly newsletter (now
magazine) Heartline, throughout its full 20 –year life, by way of sponsorship
and advertising. The company has always been willing to assist the Heart Foundation in many ways, including event sponsorships, donations, participation
in seminars and other events, product displays and presentations.
Executive Chairman and managing director of Collins Ltd.,
Peter Bourne, said that the Heart Foundation’s stated goals fit well with
Collins’ interest in building a healthy community. “As a leader in the
pharmaceutical industry and in the distribution and sale of a variety of health
products” he noted, “some directly related to heart health, we at Collins and
our affiliate company, Carlisle Laboratories Ltd. are pleased to give support
wherever possible to efforts to promote healthy living in our nation. I am also
particularly happy to lend my own and my company’s support to the efforts by the
Heart Foundation to end or control the use of tobacco products in Barbados.”
Collins Ltd. also contributes to many other organizations,
including the Diabetes Association, and supports continuing medical education
locally and overseas.
Shoppers at Collins Ltd., the popular retail store and
pharmacy on Broad Street, have a wide choice of personal or household items to
choose from. One thing they won’t find on the shelves, however, is cigarettes or
tobacco products. That’s because Collins Ltd., at the insistence of Mr. Bourne,
took the decision about six years ago not to sell tobacco products, as well as
to ban smoking on its premises.
A strong supporter of the anti-smoking initiative, Mr.
Bourne and Collins Ltd. got involved with Dr. Tony Gale’s anti-smoking campaign
some years ago, underwriting the cost of posters and advertising, also with the
distribution of Dr. Gale’s book. “I felt very strongly about the issue,” said
Mr. Bourne, “and got personally involved with the campaign.”
“Added to that,” he continued, “an old school friend and
employee who had become addicted to smoking, died from cancer of the throat,
lungs and it seemed everywhere else, clearly due to smoking. I felt terrible and
thought, here we were marketing and selling products that promote good health,
and at the same time selling cigarettes, which are known to be hazardous to
health. It just didn’t make sense. So, together with the Board we made a policy
decision to stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products altogether. We haven’t
regretted it, and Collins Ltd. pledges itself to the continuing efforts to curb
smoking, and I would really like to see other businesses coming on board.”
On leaving Harrison College in 1957, Peter Bourne went
straight to work at Collins Limited. This was not a new experience for him, for
as a young lad he had spent much of his time at the pharmacy, a business that
had family connections since 1888. His grandfather Allan Bourne was manager of
Collins Pharmacy, first located on Roebuck Street, and in 1916 became a
shareholder in the firm. He was sold one share by then owner J.C. Collins in
order to satisfy a stipulation required by law to turn the business into a
limited liability company. Later, in 1919 Allan Bourne, in partnership with Mr.
Henry “Harry” Evelyn bought the business.
Peter Bourne’s first job at Collins Ltd was as a salesman,
where he not only covered the Barbados market but had the opportunity to travel
the Caribbean islands as well. He received training as a medical representative
by Lederle, in Puerto Rico and in Curacao. Following the family tradition he was
articled to Frank Howard, chief pharmacist at Collins Ltd. and qualified in 1962
as a pharmacist. He took over the management of the company in 1977, when his
father Clement Bourne died.
Today Mr. Bourne heads a large and successful group that
includes Lambou Investments Limited, COEM Limited, Collins Pharmacy and Retail
Store on Broad Street, as well as Collins’ expansive wholesale and distribution
network covering Barbados and the entire Caribbean, and subsidiary
pharmaceutical manufacturing company, Carlisle Laboratories Limited, all located
at the company’s spacious corporate headquarters and business complex at
Warrens, St. Michael. Collins Pharmacy is still the largest single pharmacy in
Barbados. Altogether, over 240 persons are employed by the group.
Collins Ltd. was located on Roebuck Street in the late
1800s. In 1907 a branch was opened in Broad Street, and this is still the
location of the business today. In 1942 the Roebuck Street branch was closed,
and a pharmacy in Tudor Street was purchased in 1945.
In its early days the pharmacy made in-house items such as
cough remedies and tonics. Later Mr. Clement Bourne made injectable penicillin,
mouthwashes and lotions, as well as a vitamin tonic for racehorses and other
products.
“A number of pharmacies were making their own products for
dispensing prescriptions at the time,” said Mr. Bourne. “They were compounding
creams and ointments, putting up powders, making pills and doses of medicines.
Also such things as eye drops and aloes balls. These were all made by hand. At
the request of Dr. Edgar Cochrane, Collins Ltd. made Becoplex Syrup for Enmore
and other clinics. I grew up in this environment, watching my father make these
products. Then more commercial injectables, tablets and capsules began to come
onto the market, and, of course, things changed. The art of making pills is
lost.”
When Government established the pioneer industries act
allowing 7 years free of company tax for manufacturers, the directors of Collins
Ltd. decided to set up a separate company, and in 1961 Carlisle Laboratories
Limited was born.
The business first operated from a building in Tudor Street,
with a small staff of seven, and produced various cough and cold medications as
well as multivitamin preparations.
Mr. Bourne remembers the first big order for 7,200 x 40 oz
bottles of Anurine Compound for the Trinidad government. The small staff worked
18 hours a day for several days to fill the order, which had to be produced in
small batches and loaded onto a boat in the careenage for shipment. At that time
they also produced Cafenol under an agreement with Sterling Drug when they ran
their tablet machine on shift for 24 hours a day for several weeks.
After outgrowing the building in Tudor Street, a site in
Fontabelle was acquired in the late 60s, and then the company moved to a
location in Warrens about 1973. This proved a wise decision, for the
construction of the ABC highway has permitted ease of transport to and from the
airport and the Bridgetown harbour; also the area has blossomed into a business
hub.
In the late 1989/90 period the company built its corporate
headquarters and distribution and manufacturing complex at its current site in
Warrens.
As the only local manufacturer of pharmaceutical products,
Carlisle Laboratories with a staff now exceeding 50 adequately serves the local
market. Over 80% of their business is in exports to Caribbean countries.
“In two years the Broad Street site will celebrate its 100th
anniversary, and I will have myself served 50 years with the company,” said Mr.
Bourne. “This is a joint milestone which I look forward to. There have been some
challenging times, especially in the early 1990s when the Barbados economy was
in trouble, but we’ve come through pretty well. We’ve had a lot of support from
a loyal staff, and that has been crucial to the company’s success.”
He particularly recognizes the contribution of his wife of
44 years, Sally, who has been a tower of strength and support. Three of the
couple’s four children are in the business. Son Richard Bourne is a Pharmacist
and Marketing Director, and son Geoffrey Bourne, an Accountant, is Finance and
Information Technology Director. Daughter Gina Lowhar is Marketing and
Advertising Director and handles Human Resources. The eldest daughter, Rozanne,
is in the Insurance Industry in Canada.
Always willing to serve and contribute to the community
Peter Bourne is a founder member of the Barbados Cancer Society. He was an early
member of the Barbados Manufacturers Association and is a former President of
the Barbados Pharmaceutical Society and former Chairman of the Pharmacy Council.
He was also a member of the BNSI Chemical Council and an early member of the
Barbados Rally Club.
In 2004 he was rewarded for his service to the community, to
the pharmaceutical profession and to industry in Barbados with the prestigious
GCM Medal (Gold Crown of Merit) in that year’s Independence Honours.
“It was a great honour and privilege,” said Mr. Bourne, “and
quite unexpected. I don’t do things for the purpose of getting honours, in fact
much of what I do to help people I keep private. My efforts go towards helping
people, and doing what I can to assist in the development of our nation.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
