Mr. Leslie Eustace Richardson, until recently Senior Manager at the Caribbean Commercial Bank, one of two indigenous banking institutions in Anguilla, has the distinction of being the first employee of the bank who, having retired, is now back as one of its Directors. He has in fact held the dual positions as Senior Manager and Director and is continuing in the latter post to which he was elected.

Management and staff of CCB and others

Mr. Richardson’s banking career has spanned over 36 years. Of that period he served for 11 years at what was then the Anguilla Branch of Bank of America where he rose from Teller to Auditor and Operations Assistant. He was later wooed to CCB where he has made a sterling contribution to its development over the past 25 years.

He was highly commended for his service at a retirement party held by CCB at Paradise Cove Resort on November 1. His last day of work as a staff member was October 31. The ceremony was chaired by Trevor Woodley, the bank’s newly-appointed Senior Manager. Mr. Woodley told the large gathering, which included Governor Andrew George, that the occasion was “to celebrate his predecessor’s years of dedicated service as a customer, co-worker and adviser.”

Mr. Leslie Richardson and family

Manager of the Credit Department, Vanessa Connor, spoke on behalf of the staff. “Mr. Richardson has literally been serving the people of Anguilla…for more than my lifetime,” she said. “He has had a management style that makes you want to cry and yet, at the end of it all, a learning experience of wisdom and a quiver full of commonsense approach to the banking profession. That’s what he provided to us.

“A jack of all trades and a master of most, he has been counselor, banker, teacher, preacher, sportsman, annual Senior Citizens’ entertainer and ‘Mr. Fix It’. Mr. Richardson has been all of this and much more. A devoted employee, he chose to go beyond the call of duty on countless occasions…Most importantly, he has called on staff to approach the new day with confidence, togetherness and to strive for excellence to match rewards. We are here to talk about a career that often took him away many days from having breakfast, lunch or dinner with his family…whom he openly acknowledges for supporting him through thick and thin.”

Mr. Osbourne Fleming, Governor George and others

Mrs. Connor then presented a bouquet of flowers to his wife, Mrs. Lauris Richardson, whom she described as a devoted wife and mother, and a strong woman behind a successful man.

Chairman of CCB’s Board of Directors, Osbourne Fleming, recalled that 25 years ago when he began his association with the bank he was privileged to have met Mr. Richardson there. He noted that Leslie Richardson, Preston Bryan (the former Managing Director) and Marjorie Horsford, were among the first employees at the bank which was then a very small place at the Caribbean Commercial Centre.

He was delighted that the bank, now with its own premises, had grown over the years from five or six employees to 52 with Mr. Richardson having been the number two person in command. “You all owe him a big round of applause for that,” Mr. Fleming said, as he observed that Richardson was now continuing in the higher role as a Director of CCB.

Mr. Fleming presents award to Mr. Richardson

“Being a Director of the bank is a very important position to be in and we are very happy that in spite of the fact that Mr. Richardson will not be in office at 8 o’clock in the morning, he will still be at the helm of the running of the bank,” he stated. “We hope that he will continue the same level of work which he demonstrated over the years.

“The story of Caribbean Commercial Bank is a very successful story and Leslie Richardson has been part of that story…When I came in 1986 as a Director, my colleagues and I worked for free for years and Leslie was there. Money was not the objective. The aim was to see a small institution rise to where it is today taking in a number of Anguillian young people in the professions they now hold.” Mr. Fleming noted that in 1994 the assets of the bank stood at 67 million dollars and 13 years later the assets had climbed to some 800 million dollars.

He thanked Mr. Richardson for his services to the bank, as a senior staff member, and his family for their support, and offered him every good wish in the future. He then presented him with a plaque on behalf of the bank.

Mr. Val Banks

Replying, Mr. Richardson gave the actual length of his banking career as having been 36 years, 2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days. He said he was publicly thanking his family for their support, recalling that he had “juggled between them” and his work. “My career as a banker started on August 11, 1971, but the dream was budded some three years earlier,” he stated. “That was when I wrote during Career’s Day in school that I wanted to be a banker (because of my love for numbers). It also followed from a passion and love I had for people.”

After leaving secondary school he began employment at Bank of America, as a Teller, under the leadership of Preston Bryan and over the years held a number of senior posts there. Bowing to the urgings of several persons he joined Caribbean Commercial Bank on October 1, 1982, as Operations Manager. That post was later restyled Manager of Operations and Accounts. From 1999 – October 31, 2007, he served in the capacity of Senior Manager, Credit/General Administration.

“They were many good times but, like life, there is always the other side. But I did not allow those tough or rough times to deter or break me, but rather I used them to make me a better and a stronger person,” he went on. “As I reflect over the 36 years that I spent as a banker, some of my cherished times were seeing the smiles of customers who eventually ended up my good friends. I will carry forward that with me, bringing joy and hope to humanity. It was my goal I pursued and I think I accomplished it.”

As he took his leave from the CCB staff, Mr. Richardson, he told his listeners: “Service should be at its best. It is about serving people. Whatever capacity in which we find ourselves, once it is an element of service, we should strive to do our best. I have had the good fortune of working for these past 25 years with a dedicated and committed staff at Caribbean Commercial Bank. They deserve a hand. I call them home-grown bankers and they are literally 100 percent Anguillian.”

He also commended the recently-appointed first female Managing Director, Mrs. Starry Benjamin, with whom he worked for five months. He added that he was confident that CCB was in good hands and he urged the staff to continue to build on the excellent foundation that had been laid.

Mr. E. Valentine Banks, Chief Executive Officer of the National Bank of Anguilla, with whom Mr. Richardson worked at Bank of America, said in part: “We regard ourselves as pioneers in banking in Anguilla. We should be proud of Leslie’s achievements, Mr. Bryan’s achievements and certainly of CCB’s achievements. Without the achievements of these individuals, and those of institutions like CCB and NBA, Anguilla would be a far way off from where it is today in terms of the empowerment of our people.”

Mr. Banks added that both institutions still had a lot to accomplish in banking. On behalf of NBA he offered best wishes to CCB, its new Managing Director, Mrs Benjamin, and her staff as well as Mr. Richardson and Mr. Bryan both of whom, having retired, are still around as resource persons.

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