The PLP's claims to be competent managers of Bermuda's economy are looking mighty thin in the wake of the Bermuda Cement Company (BCC) fiasco. It's hard to imagine a better example of ineptitude than the Government's need to resort to...
While you're trying to decide whether former Premier Sir John Swan's recent warnings about international business are genuine or just scaremongering, keep in mind these comments made by a senior Bermudian reinsurance executive earlier this year: "The threat of departure...
Last October, the Bank of Bermuda rolled out a new internet banking system. While the new system offered some improvements over the old, transaction downloads to Microsoft Money were essentially broken. In the .ofx file, the payee field no longer...
Please can someone explain why, when I want to withdraw a non-standard amount of cash from a Bank of Bermuda ATM machine, I need to enter the amount in dollars and cents? Since the machine only dispenses bills, why make...
One of the reasons that the Corporation of Hamilton opposed HSBC’s original plan for a new building on the Triminghams site was its height. “The Corporation is opposed to any building in excess of six storeys,” wrote City Engineer David...
Sunday trading rules will not be waived in the run-up to Christmas because of a conflict with the time that many people attend church. That was the message sent by Finance Minister Paula Cox to the Chamber of Commerce this...
I’m disappointed with, and slightly puzzled by, the UBP’s stance on work permit term limits. In Friday’s Bermuda Sun, Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert said that the policy was not in Bermuda’s best interest and created unnecessary uncertainty in the international...
There’s less than meets the eye to today’s announcement by BTC that it is upgrading its DSL customers to a faster connection at no extra cost. Customers who currently pay $89 per month for a 256 kbps upload rate and...
For the last twenty-four hours, I have been trying without success to log on to the Bank of Bermuda’s internet banking site. Yesterday, I was invited to enter the first, second, last and last (sic) characters of my password in...
With the massive, big-bang upgrade to the Bank of Bermuda’s systems that took place over the weekend, some problems were perhaps to be expected. I managed to sign up for the new internet banking service successfully this morning, but when...
Something is wrong when a company that goes the extra mile to provide good customer service is threatened with significant penalties as a result. By considering revoking the right of Four Star Pizza to employ expats because a foreign manager...
Counter Service writes: "Bermuda businesses, be they international or local, often claim to be world class. Some reach round the world with innovative insurance products; others supply locals with world class customer service. However, the side is let down by...
Any employee who walks off the job in a fit of pique at not being promoted to a senior position has probably just demonstrated one of the reasons they didn’t get the job.
While I wish Damond Philpott and Bryant Richards luck with their new classified ads site, Go Fish Ads, the chances of them breaking e-moo’s stranglehold on the market seem slim. I’m no marketing expert, but I’ve read a book written...
According to Chris Backeberg, programmes director for drug-testing firm Benedict Associates, Bermuda’s companies need to do more to help employees with drug problems: “Companies have a duty to tackle this. If you’ve identified a problem, be willing to be part...
Several things bother me about the spat between the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) and the Government over the latter’s proposal to penalise companies who do not appear to be training and promoting black Bermudians. First, although Community Affairs Minister...
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that BTC has announced that it is seeking approval from the Telecommunications Commission to introduce a 3 Mbps residential broadband service. Provisionally the service will be available for $109 per month, with 2 Mbps...
Few people will be surprised by the findings of the Charteris report on the Isle of Man's e-commerce strategy, which concluded that Bermuda is no longer a viable contender in the e-commerce market. The report's authors list 12 reasons why...
BTC, and their parent company KeyTech, are clearly embarrassed by last week's DSL problems in St. George's. On Friday, Barry Catmur, KeyTech's Director of Business Development emailed Pondblog author Gavin Shorto to personally apologise for the problems. Then today, Gavin...
This week, BTC have been running a series of half-page ads in the Royal Gazette, titled "The ABC’s of DSL". "Learn something new every day," they promise. Here’s what I’ve been learning. Yesterday, at around the same time that the...
The Bermuda Professional Photographic Association (BPPA) has issued a strongly-worded press release condemning the decision of the Government’s new tourism ad agency, Global Hue, to bring in a foreign photographic team to shoot the new Bermuda tourism ads. The BPPA...
In his column in today’s Bermuda Sun, Larry Burchall wonders how Bermuda can have anything other than a zero unemployment rate. Since there are 11,000 non-Bermudian work permit holders, and since Bermudians have first dibs on any job, he says:...
Slashdot discusses BELCO's plan to harness ocean currents to generate electricity. It's not particularly informative, but you might get a laugh from those worrying that the presence of the generator could lower temperatures in Europe, reduce the effectiveness of the...
HedgeWeek is reporting that Bermuda has lost a number of hedge funds to the Cayman Islands because of their compliance with the EU's Savings Tax Directive: Not only are the vast majority of Cayman funds not affected by the directive,...
Unsurprisingly, the Chamber of Commerce declared this year's Buy Bermuda campaign to have been a success. I'm curious to know on what basis they made that assessment. The evidence cited in that article - of "strong sales" at the Phoenix...
Local bookstores and the Chamber of Commerce have been making a fuss about the arrival of the floating bookshop Logos II, which dropped its gangplank on Front Street yesterday. I think its arrival is a good thing. The local retailers...
Let's get straight to the point. The new building that HSBC wants to build on the former site of Triminghams is ugly. Damn ugly. And to my mind, it's unnecessary too. I have no inherent aversion to glass and steel...
The Government is seeking input from the public on whether Bermuda should change its daylight savings schedule to match the changes recently introduced in the US. Starting in 2007, summer time in the US will begin three weeks earlier and...
Several weeks ago there was an interesting article in the Bermuda Sun about why some Bermudians choose to emigrate. The article looked at the undergraduate thesis of Alaina Cubbon, a Bermudian student at Oxford University, who surveyed 92 Bermudian emigrants...
Here's an extract from the travel journal of one of our cruise ship visitors, here on vacation right now: "The ship moved (very slowly) from Hamilton to St. George overnight. St. George is a posh colonial town that was almost...
In last week’s column I complained about a local computer retailer who would not exchange a faulty CD-ROM that I had purchased, or a malfunctioning PC (brand new) bought by my mother-in-law. Yesterday I received an email from the owner...
In last week’s column I mentioned the Payback! reward card, which is due to be launched here next month. Ahead of that launch, I thought people might be interested in hearing a little more about it. The card was first...
Still on the subject of shopping in Bermuda, I was interested to read what Maritza Sequeros, group sales manager for the Calypso group, thinks the closure of Triminghams will do for service here: One good thing that may come out...
One of the other things that I wanted to mention in today's column, but decided to omit for reasons of space, was what the future holds for Bermuda's CD, DVD and video game retailers. In short, unless they change their...
Royal Gazette Opinion, Thursday 11 August 2005 Last Friday I returned from a four-day trip to Boston. Staggering back through the airport with bags bursting with my purchases, surrounded by Bermudians similarly laden down, I began to wonder just how...
So, Garry, any truth to those reports that you failed to act on a recommendation to install fire suppression equipment in the switching room that caught fire? “I think the important thing is this report, that analysis, that investigation that’s...
One of the most startling pieces of news in the weekend newspapers was the Bermuda Sun's revelation that the switching room in which Thursday's fire started had no fire suppressant system. "I am not sure, based on this particular incident,...
When the Bank of Bermuda was sold to HSBC last year, I was one of those in favour of the deal. Having recently arrived from the UK, where I banked with HSBC, I could see many ways for the Bank...
Most people would welcome being able to shop on a Sunday in Bermuda, according to a recent poll conducted on this site. 63% of the 258 votes cast were in favour of Sunday trading, with 33% opposed and 4% undecided....
Bermuda’s largest and most iconic retail store, Triminghams Smiths, is to close after 163 years in business. Although the store is not going into bankruptcy, it was apparently unable to secure the financing necessary to continue in business. Competition from...
Royal Gazette Opinion, 10 February 2005 One of the greatest things about Bermuda is its tax code. There’s no income tax. Payroll tax is laughably low. And arguably more important still, residents are spared the agony of filing an annual...
President and CEO of the Argus Group, Gerald Simons, has reported a massive response to his company's new health insurance plans, which were announced last week. Rumours that the new policies have been modelled after ones available in Ontario, Canada...
I spent much of Sunday digesting the draft economic empowerment legislation put forward by the UBP on Friday. The bill proposes to establish an Office of Economic Empowerment (OEE) within the Ministry of Finance, which would seek to enable meaningful...
Bermuda’s role in luring away investment from the United States is under scrutiny again. According to a report by Martin Sullivan published on Monday in the journal Tax Notes and widely reported in the American press, “US multinational corporations are...
Last night someone wrote a comment on my previous post suggesting that "[Bermuda has] bigger problems than charities not filing accounts or race week sponsorship". Instead he asked how large Bermuda's deficit was. As this commenter had previously mentioned that...
In the last week there’s been some debate about what the termination of ProActive means for black empowerment in Bermuda. According to a commenter on this site, shadow Works Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said it meant that no-one in their right...
Bermuda now has its very own version of eBay. GMD consulting launched the online auction site kitchensink.bm yesterday. Thankfully the Royal Gazette included the URL in their story today, so at least we can all find it. Unfortunately, this evening...
Political activist Rolfe Commissiong is renewing his call for the Government to establish a Commission On Black Male Culture, to investigate what's going wrong with Bermuda's black men. Former Premier John Swan, the NLP's Graeme Outerbridge and former PLP senator...
Couples planning a wedding in Bermuda and wondering where to have your wedding list, be warned: if you're in any rush to get your gifts, don't have it at Triminghams. My wife and I got married in Bermuda on September...
Premier Alex Scott has been defending the Government's odd policy on work permit term limits again. The 2001 policy restricts expats to a maximum stay of six years, or nine years for "key staff". The effect of this policy will...
Premier Alex Scott was back on the radio news again this morning, trying to put further distance between himself and PLP backbencher Derrick Burgess who earlier this week said Government contracts should be given to black-owned companies. Mr. Burgess' comments...
One of the good things I'm hoping might come out of the takeover of the Bank of Bermuda by HSBC is an end to the derisory rates of interest currently offered on the Island. Current accounts here offer zero percent...
Shareholders have given their approval to the takeover of the Bank of Bermuda by HSBC by an overwhelming majority. Of the 84% of shares that voted, 91% were in favour of the deal and just 9% opposed. I think it...
As the vote on the proposed takeover of the Bank of Bermuda by HSBC draws ever nearer, pundits are resorting to fear and confusion to try to persuade shareholders to vote against the deal. In this weekend’s Bermuda Sun, columnist...
No-one should be surprised by Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry’s pledge to crack down on US companies who avoid taxes by reincorporating in Bermuda, a promise made in a debate back in September but which has just been picked up...
There's been an awful lot of sound and not much light recently about the impending HSBC takeover of the Bank of Bermuda. Predictably, lots of people got upset last week when it was revealed that the top Bank of Bermuda...
UK clothing retailer French Connection has just opened a brand-new two-level store on Reid Street, its first in Bermuda. With its stylish decor and fashionable clothes its arrival delivers a blast of fresh air into Bermuda's often staid retail scene....
HSBC has just announced that it's going to buy the Bank of Bermuda for $1.3 billion. If they approve the deal, shareholders will receive $45 per share. A lot of Bermudians are going to be upset that one of their...
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