In 1981 I was appointed Engineering Manager of Harrison Lister Engineering Ltd. to restructure the Company with a view to making it a profitable concern. Within a few months I informed the Chairman that this could not be turned around
and it should be closed down. He in turn consulted my counterpart from Britain to examine my conclusions. My British
counterpart agreed with my conclusion and the company was closed.
Case 2
In 1982 Sri Lanka State Trading (Tractor) Corporation, a business undertaking of the Government of Sri Lanka
employing a workforce of about 1500 employees was running with colossal losses each month and the Government was subsidizing the loss. US Aid and the World Bank gave the Government of Sri Lanka an ultimatum of turning it around within one year, and failing which to close it down.
In 1982 I was appointed General Manager and given the above mandate. Within one year the Tractor Corporation
was able to cut the losses and break even. To the satisfaction of US Aid, the World Bank and also
Messy Ferguson of Britain. Messy Ferguson had also given the Government notice that they would take a Private Company as their Agent if within a year the Corporation did not significantly improve sales. I continued as General Manage until 1986 during which time the financial status continued to improve and the Corporation became the most profitable Corporation according to the Central Bank report. I also visited Messy Ferguson in UK, and Switzerland to ensure that they would give added sales support with the increased sales.
Case 3
BCC Lanka Ltd. (formerly British Ceylon Corporation), manufacturers of Coconut oil, Laundry and Toilet Soaps and
Provender Feed was a privately owned Company, managed from its inception mainly by the British with a good
dividend record. In 1972 the Government of Sri Lanka acquired this Company and it continued to flourish for a few
years. After that there was a marked deterioration in the profit year after year running into Millions and Millions of losses and the Government paying out Rs. 4 Million a month to pay salaries.
BCC had a workforce of 1800 Employees and a large number of executives. It also had about 12 trade unions which virtually dictated to the management.
Both the US Aid and the World Bank was very much against the continued government subsidy hence in 1991 the Minister of Plantation Industries appointed me Chairman/Director of BCC Lanka Limited (formerly British Ceylon Corporation). My assignment was to restructure the Company, by identifying excess staff and reducing overtime, establish norms based on a 8 hour shifts and turn it into a viable organization for the purpose of privatization. I completed the above assignment by December 1991. Since January 1992 the government subsidy was stopped and BCC managed to break even and by the year ended March 1993 & 94 we recorded a profit. I continued as Chairman until July1994.
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