The Tribune

The Milo Butler Group of Companies and its third-generation managing director are continuing to eye expansion opportunities as he celebrates his first year in charge.

Damian Butler has guided the company through two retail store openings, expanded his management team by five, and added two new brands to Milo Butler's wholesale grocery distribution business since taking over as chief executive and managing director on May 1, 2017.

The group's former director of liquor operations, Damian Butler replaced his brother, Franklyn, when the latter became its chairman. Their grandfather, Sir Milo B Butler, the first Bahamian Governor-General, started the business in 1963 selling grocery items throughout The Bahamas.

Today, Milo Butler Group Of Companies operates a wholesale distribution arm, retail outlets that include Milo Butler Mart on Baillou Hill Road and the Flying Dutchman liquor stores, along with a growing portfolio of real estate and investment holdings.

"We started by filling key roles within the organisation to meet our immediate and long-term plans for growth and expansion. We are well underway with plans to continue the growth in our liquor division, the Flying Dutchman," Damian Butler explained.

He joined Milo Butler in 2003 as information technology (IT) manager, working to incorporate new technology into its operations - from the retail POS (point of sale) systems to billing. In 2015, he spearheaded the rebranding and expansion of the Flying Dutchman into new locations. The brand now operates liquor stores on Baillou Hill Road, Cable Beach, Carmichael Road and Prince Charles Drive, with another outlet set to come on stream by August 2018.

"On the retail grocery end, we have also implemented new operational and marketing strategies to improve the efficiency and performance at Milo Butler Mart on Baillou Hill Road," said Damian Butler. "We rebranded the store and changed the name from Butler's Bargain Mart to Milo Butler Mart, with a greater focus on grocery sales, customer rewards and improving product selection to meet the demands of the market."

Under his leadership, the company closed its home goods store located upstairs from Milo Butler Mart. "While our retail grocery store on Baillou Hill Road continues to perform well, the foot traffic and sales at the home goods outlet on the second floor continued to decline and so this month we followed through on the decision to close Milo Butler Home Essentials," Damian Butler added.

The company's Board of Directors and management team are still seeking new opportunities to grow operations. Milo Butler Distributors recently acquired the rights to exclusively distribute Blue Ribbon Rice and Ronzoni Pasta in the market. It currently distributes 50 brands, including Juice Bowl, Five Roses, Twinings, Roma, Right Guard and its own private label, Super B canned foods.

"We have significant potential in terms of growth and new opportunities for our businesses," said Damian Butler. "In the near future, we plan to expand our current distribution facilities by 5,000 square feet to improve the overall efficiency. We are also in the process of upgrading our operating systems to allow us to live up to our promise of delivering dependability, innovation and quality guaranteed to our clients."

Mr Butler heads a 110-strong workforce spread between New Providence and Grand Bahama. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and electronics from the University of the West Indies, and also serves on the Board of Directors at Milo B Butler & Sons Investments and Sandy Port Development Company.