– offering ‘higher standards’ of service
Two Guyanese technicians with related skills have teamed up to establish a service company which they hope will help to raise standards in their respective professions and contribute to higher levels of safety in the quality of installations in public buildings, private homes, offices and factories.
Keane Mitchell is a 49-year-old Guyanese who returned to Guyana from the United Kingdom recently, ostensibly to invest in the tourism and agricultural sectors. Along with a partner who resides in London, Mitchell has already acquired land and property comprising the Susannah’s Rust resort on the West Bank as well as several acres of land on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. But even as Mitchell proceeds with the development of the two ventures, which includes the establishment of farming and poultry-rearing enterprises, he has decided to return to his long-time profession.
Recently, the former employee of British Telecom and graduate of the North West London College teamed up with Guyanese electrician Keith Profitt, a graduate of the Government Technical Institute to form what Mitchell believes is a partnership that could make an impact locally.
Mitchell is the holder of technical certificates in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning and Building Services Engineering. Apart from British Telecom he worked with various building services companies in the UK until 1999, before setting up his own environmental management company, Combin-ed Systems Resources Ltd. In 2007 he set up a second company, K. Mitchell Ltd. “By the time I set up my second company I had already begun to think in terms of returning home,” Mitchell says.
By contrast, Profitt has lived in Guyana all of his life and runs his own company, Electrical Plus Sales and General Procure-ment Services. Over the years he has undertaken contracts for several public and private sector agencies including the ministries of Education, Public Works, Amerindian Affairs and Health, the University of Guyana and both GT&T and Digicel.
Earlier this year the two men who had met some time earlier decided to pool their respective skills under CKL Inc another company set up by Mitchell with the intention of developing Susannah’s Rust to provide affordable resort-type facilities for local residents as well as visiting Guyanese.
During an interview earlier this week Mitchell told Stabroek Business that he has already invested around 40,000 pounds in his current project but feels drawn to a sector that allows him to practice the skills that he has learnt. “I consider myself a Guyanese rather than a remigrant investor and while part of my focus is on tourism and agriculture myself and Keith intend to use CKL Ltd to provide a higher level of service in the electrical and air conditioning sectors.
Profitt says that he has found a valuable partner in Mitchell. “Apart form his particular skills in electrical installation his biggest asset is his concern with thoroughness and safety,” Profitt says. Mitchell, whose training in the UK also included courses in safety systems, says that he has not always been impressed with the standard of work that he has seen on some buildings in Guyana. “Sometimes you see jobs that amount to short cuts, dangerous short cuts in some instances. Frankly, I’m surprised that there are not more electrical fires in Guyana.”
Mitchell and Profitt have already secured a few small contracts and according to Profitt the two work well together. “It is comforting to have a trained and experienced technician working beside you,” he says.
Mitchell, who says that he is challenged by having to devote time to both his major investment and his pursuits in the electrical and refrigeration sectors told Stabroek Business that he is determined to use his association with Profitt to help raise standards in the sector. “The small jobs that we have worked on together have helped me to develop a focus for CKL Ltd; that focus is on setting standards. I believe that I have brought with me from the UK a level of experience that can raise standards both through providing on-the-job training for the apprentices that we will recruit from time to time as well as by applying my own taught standards of safety and thoroughness to the jobs that we do together,” he says.
Mitchell says that Guyana offers much more potential than he had expected when he decided to return home. “I always knew about the country’s agricultural and tourism potential. Now that I am here, however, I have discovered that there is more. There is a building boom, an expansion of the business sector and there is the promise held by the opening of the road link between Guyana and Brazil.”
Mitchell says that part of the immediate-term focus of CKL is to establish itself as a reputable firm. “Frankly, we are taking our time about this. We hope to engage some of the larger firms in Guyana with air conditioning and industrial refrigeration requirements. In addition to that we are monitoring developments on the Guyana/Brazil road closely. I have noticed, for example, that firms in Georgetown are already seeking to establish themselves in Lethem. Storage is likely to be one of their concerns and whether their needs are electrical, air conditioning or refrigeration for storage purposes, I believe that we are in a position to help them.”
