The lights of many beacons guided 15 year old Aziz Hadeed as he left Syria in search of his brother, who had gone before him to Brazil.
THE JOURNEY TO ‘BRAZIL’
He boarded a ship to this faraway land, but his money took him only as far as Marseilles in the South of France. Lost and alone, he met a cobbler on the dock and asked if he could carry his box in exchange for enough money to buy food. This kind man began teaching young Aziz the trade, and in the next year and a half not only did he become a fine young cobbler, but he also gained a reputation as the best shoeshine boy in all of Marseilles. His service was second to none.
Aziz diligently saved enough money to continue his journey. This time it took him as far as Grenada in the West Indies. Thinking he had arrived in Brazil, he sought out the tiny Arab population to find his brother. They advised him to travel to Trinidad where there was a bigger Syrian community living there. He hitched a ride on a local Schooner and, after a violently seasick journey, Aziz arrived on the docks of Port of Spain, Trinidad as a penniless teenager.
WHAT THE PEDDLER BECAME
He soon met with the “Sabga” family who were and still are, a prominent Syrian family in Trinidad, who agreed to give him cloth to sell o n their behalf. So he became a peddler & merchant and travelled all around Trinidad with bundles of cloth doing what he did best offering great service.
Many of his Customers became his friends because he was always personable and respectful. He started offering credit to those who couldn’t afford to buy shirts and pants, or even khaki pants for their children to go to school. He would go back the following week to collect, thus giving them a chance to put the money aside. They expected him at a certain time and he never disappointed he was always punctual.
Gerald Hadeed
In the years that followed Aziz became a hugely respected businessman in Trinidad and Tobago, and in 1972 he founded the Caribbean Insurance CompanyLimited (CICL). He knew all of his customers personally and considered many of them to be his friends.
Raymond Harford, Manager at what was then, Barclays Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, said that Aziz was the only person to whom he would give credit based solely on his word. Such was his reputation as a truthful and honest businessman. Mr. Harford knew that if Aziz Hadeed made a promise, he would keep it.
Service above all; punctuality; truthfulness and honesty; and if you make a promise, keep it. Mr Hadeed ingrained these principles onto his son, Gerald.
BEACON WAS BORN ON A PROMISE
Upon that foundation Gerald Hadeed took the reins at CICL in 1996 and rebranded as The Beacon Insurance Company Limited.
Gerry learned from his Dad that Insurance is about being true to your word, so he coined the Company motto: “Insurance is a promise to pay. At Beacon we keep our promises.”
BUILT ON SERVICE
Beacon Insurance has grown from a respectable TT$35 million in Premiums in 1996 to become the fifth largest Insurance Company in Trinidad. Gross assets in 2016 exceeded TT$551 million, with Premiums surpassing the TT$381 million benchmark.
The Company now have Branches in Tobago, Barbados, Grenada, and St Lucia, and are represented by Agencies in St Vincent & The Grenadines, St Kitts & Nevis, and Dominica.
STILL A FAMILY
What’s different about Beacon Insurance, is that growth has not taken away the family atmosphere. Gerry’s door is always open to his 200+ employees, and you can see a friendly and caring attitude everywhere, it’s in the DNA of the Company culture.
It is for this reason that generations of families have been directly insuring with Beacon Insurance for over 45 years. Some of their clients Grandparents began insuring with Aziz in the 1970’s and today, third generations from the same family are still insuring with Beacon.
Beacon Insurance still pride themselves on their founders philosophy – a promise to pay legitimate claims quickly.
What do coffee and hurricanes have in common?
Gerry Hadeed, son of Aziz, and presently CEO of Beacon Insurance, illustrates the promise with a story about coffee: “When a customer is paying their premium it’s like if they’re getting to smell the wonderfully reassuring aroma of good coffee, but it’s not until they have a legitimate claim do they actually get to taste the coffee. It’s our duty to help our Customer taste how delicious the coffee is when they’ve suffered a setback.”
This commitment can also be seen during times of Hurricane season or Earthquakes. Beacon Insurance always has Adjustors with laptops and cheque books on standby in Trinidad and who are ready at a moments notice to travel up the islands to settle legitimate claims throughout the region, and help their customers get back on their feet after a disaster.
SERVICE ABOVE ALL…
Gerry Hadeed believes that punctuality, truthfulness, honesty and keeping your promises are core principles of not only a successful insurance company, but ultimately of a successful human being.
OUR GRENADA GEM
The Grenada branch of Beacon has been one of the great success stories of the company. Located on the Maurice Bishop Highway, the St. George’s branch of Beacon operates under the stewardship of Ms. Molly Roberts, a previous noble honouree of Grenada’s “Woman in Business”.
Molly Roberts
Molly joined Beacon back when it was known as Caribbean Insurance and has stayed with the company through its rebrand to The Beacon Insurance Company Limited in 1996 and then to Beacon in 2011. She remains with the company to this day citing that “being part of an effective team is the most gratifying thing about my position.”
When asked about why the public should choose Beacon above other insurers, Ms. Roberts echoed the earlier sentiments expressed through generations of Hadeeds by saying that “At Beacon we strive to be ethical, reliable and honest with all of our customers. We are big on keeping our words and promises so that our customers have come to rely on us, not just from a professional point of view but from a gut feeling.”
The Grenada branch of Beacon has been active in the communities in which they operate, sponsoring open-air Movie nights for their customers and families, in an effort to bring neighbors together for some old-fashioned downtime. They’ve also partnered with GRENCODA and the Rotary Club to assist with ongoing improvement programs in schools and the Ministry of Tourism in maintaining the The Kirani James Boulevard in St. Georges. The company believes in giving back and helping to build the lives of individuals and communities and their work in Grenada and throughout the region speaks for itself.
Beacon offers all lines of General insurance and offers very competitive Group health plans for both large and small businesses. They’re a company that is serious about their business, serious about their customers and serious about their markets, which is why in the last 10 years they’ve grown to be one of the top 5 insurance companies in the region.