Sol EC Ltd

SOL GROUP

HELPING YOU ALONG

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SOL EC LTD

FUELING SAINT VINCENT 2 | URECON / LOGSTOR

Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Steve Francis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines General Manager at Sol EC Ltd, about new ownership, investing in employees, and the future of fuel.

The Sol Group is the Caribbean’s largest petroleum marketing company, covering twenty-three territories in the region. With over 500 service stations, as well as facilities to fuel aircraft and maritime vessels, Sol serves an area of operations spanning tens of millions of people. Sol acquired Shell’s assets in the Eastern Caribbean, Guyana, Suriname, and Belize in 2005, and subsequently further expanded through the purchase of Exxon and Rubis assets in the region. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, all Shell retail sites were re-branded “Sol”in 2014.

“We now no longer carry the Shell brand at our service stations, and only stock Sol products,” explains Steve Francis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines General Manager at Sol EC Ltd. “Despite re-branding, the change from Shell to Sol has been a smooth and relatively small one which our customers seem to be very accepting of. We command the largest market share in the country at 60%, selling LPG, diesel, gasoline, lubricants, grease, and even jet fuel.”

ACQUISITION AND RENOVATION In January 2019, 75% of Sol’s shares were purchased by a Canadian company, Parkland Fuel Corporation. “Since Parkland purchased their shares there have been some changes in terms of the leadership of the company,” says Mr. Francis. “We now have a new CEO, Pierre Magnan, who is from Canada but is based in Grand Cayman. We anticipate that following the acquisition there will be some movement towards Canadian working culture, and generally we feel that our employees are happy and accepting of these changes. We are looking forward to growing the business further, and we anticipate Parkland’s involvement facilitating this.”

“Another recent development is that in June 2018, we reopened a service station in Kingstown,” elaborates Mr. Francis. “This station has actually been in operation for the last fifty or sixty years. We totally rebuilt it, which has enhanced the aesthetics of the capital, and increased our offerings through the modern convenience shop there.

Compared to the previous incarnation of the service station, this is very modern, and our customers appreciate our modernizing of the outlet. There was some discussion on whether we should continue as it was or even give it up completely, bearing in mind that it’s in a very built up area, but I’m happy that we have rebuilt and persevered.

Opening this brand-new version of a longstanding gas station benefits both us and our customers.”

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SOL EC LTD

PECO International Ltd. Lower Estate, St. Michael, Barbados, W.I.Tel: (246) 436-9289 / 429-6903 Fax: (246) 429-3071 • peco@caribsurf.com

Distributors of Petroleum and Liquid Handling Equipment in the Caribbean for Gas Stations, Marinas, Terminals, Airports, Construction and Industry

OFFERING ASSISTANCE Responsible corporate citizenship is a byword across the whole of the Sol Group. “We recently assisted an organization called the World Pediatric Project, which has its headquarters here in Saint Vincent” says Mr. Francis. “We have offered them financial support to help with the cost of surgeries which are unaffordable for many families in their respective home countries, so they are performed primarily by U.S. doctors visiting Saint Vincent and other Eastern Caribbean islands. Our assistance means many more children can benefit from their important work. Naturally, this is a continuing project, and we hope to continue associating ourselves with these kinds of social interventions in the community.”

The Sol team is also involved in smaller, local projects in Saint Vincent. “We offer regular assistance with beach clean-ups and that kind of thing, especially the beach in the Arnos Vale area where we reside, which means more employees can get involved,” says Mr. Francis. “We were one of the first local organizations who chose to help clean up the beach. We have assisted a football team in their participation in the national

football league. We have also assisted many schools with materials and functions. We try to help as much as we can and in as many ways as we can.”

PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT In Saint Vincent, Sol also invest heavily in training employees. “We are always exposing our employees to various kinds of training, from sales and operational management to vocational skills,” explains Mr. Francis. “One of our maintenance technicians has just returned from Miami where he took a course to enhance his skills and streamline operations. Another maintenance technician is overseas as we speak, on a separate course about safety training.

Wherever we find courses and programs that can be of benefit to our staff, we try to enroll and sponsor employees. It is very important that our employees get the most out of their training. For example, when you look at the dispensers at service stations or commercial sites, we must have people who are able to troubleshoot and repair increasingly modern and automated equipment. By offering good employee development, we are able to keep

up to date, keep our employees up to date, and ultimately to serve our customers as well as we possibly can.”

ECONOMIC DRIVER Sol offers a range of products which are less polluting than conventional fuels, while ensuring Vincentians across sectors have access to the fuel they need. “The world is looking to renewable energy, but currently fossil fuels are still in great demand in this part of the world,” says Mr. Francis. “So it is very important that we have a good relationship with and reliable supply to our retail, commercial, marine, and power sector. We offer diesel with a lower sulfur content, which is of great benefit to the marine sector, as the International Maritime Organization will be reducing sulfur content for ships travelling our route by the year 2020. It is important that we have the necessary product to service these particular sectors.”

“We also offer our diesel with reduced sulfur content to our local transportation sector,” says Mr. Francis. “There is no public transportation system here, so mini-buses and so on are primarily private. When we provide an efficient type of fuel, there is a reduction in operating cost for local transportation. We support other education and training through sponsorship of activities such as graduation ceremonies, and we provide training in lubricants and LPG for retailers and users. We see our role as assisting economic development. If we don’t have a good supply of fuel to keep the economy turning, then obviously our economy would not be in the position it is in today.”

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE As the world moves towards new technologies and diverse sources of energy, Sol are positioning themselves to continue adapting to the changing needs of consumers. “We

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“WE TRY TO HELP AS MUCH AS WE CAN AND IN AS MANY WAYS AS WE CAN.”

are still evolving, and there are a lot of new plans being discussed,” says Mr. Francis.

“One thing we are aiming to do is to optimize our group’s strong supply advantages, inserting key products so that we can better serve customers in certain market segments.

This will allow us to get even closer to our customers. We also want to do more for the environment, and we plan to work with key external organizations in order to educate the public on the need to become more environmentally conscious.”

“Earlier this year, the government celebrated the commencement of drilling at a site for geothermal energy,” says Mr.

Francis. “Perhaps in another two years or so we may be utilizing energy from our volcano.

This means that there may be a reduction in demand for fossil fuels and for diesel in particular, which is something that we are cognizant of and preparing for already. There will also be an increase in solar production, as seen in Union Island, where in the last few weeks they installed a solar PV plant and were able to power the whole island for approximately eight hours a day. So we need to recognize these positive changes and work towards incorporating and benefiting from these changes when they are fully realized and implemented.” c URECON / LOGSTOR

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Sol Group 3rd Floor International Trading Centre, Warrens, St Michael, Barbados o: 1 (246) 431 4800 solpetroleum.com

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