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Preparing for a new phase of growth and development, Serendib Flour Mills recently appointed Kevin O’Leary as the company’s new CEO.

This year the company also bid farewell to its former CEO, Sathak Abdul Kadar who led the management of Serendib Flour Mills for 15 years, and will now take up a new position at the company. O’Leary has over 25 years of experience and brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the areas of finance, sales, operations and marketing. Dynamic, passionate and high-spirited, O’Leary is eager to get involved with all aspects of the business and apply his diverse expertise to help take Serendib Flour Mills to even greater heights.   
 

"‘‘We also have to continuously re-invest in our people and provide our employees and suppliers with greater job security and stability, I want to focus on developing our people and giving them wider exposure"

O’Leary began his career at Unilever’s Best Foods in London as a National Account Manager in 1988. After nine years, he joined Dairy Crest as a Commercial Director and was eventually recruited by the French-owned group Lactalis as Group Sales Director in 2002. During his 12-year tenure in a number of management roles, the company went from generating GPB 20 million in sales to GBP 200 million.

After his tenure as Group Sales Director at Lactalis, he then took on a new challenge as the company’s Group Operations Director, and thereafter he was made a Business Unit Director and had full responsibility for one of the company’s UK Divisions. During his time at Lactalis, O’Leary was a member of the Board of Directors and successfully managed the company’s resources and assets to ensure maximum results. Having gained extensive exposure in a cross-section of management roles and having worked in many challenging markets, he brings with him 25 years’ worth of knowledge, insights and valuable experience in the consumer foods industry.

Commenting on his new appointment, he stated, “Serendib Flour Mills has many employees with a great depth of talent and knowledge. I hope that the experience I bring from different markets will help to strengthen and add value to our existing business. All the ideas, answers and resources are already here, working together as a cohesive team will enable us to take Serendib Flour Mills forward.”  

Having spent his first few weeks in Sri Lanka meeting customers, O’Leary stated, “The ‘7 Star’ range of wheat flour that Serendib produces is an extremely fast moving product and it is important that our customers benefit from exceptional quality and service. What I’ve seen in the field has been enlightening, and I look forward to working with our team to further strengthen our customer relationships. All the customers I met had positive things to say about the ‘7 Star’ product range, which was very reassuring. It is important that we are listening carefully to what our customers are saying as constant customer feedback is crucial to us. It helps us to fine-tune our offering and continuously deliver excellence to keep our customers content whilst facilitating their business growth.”
As part of his future plans, O’Leary also wants to concentrate on building the ‘7 Star’ and Serendib Flour Mills brands, both of which are strong local brands that play a pivotal role in nourishing the nation. He is also adamant to invest in people, who are the lifeline of any organization. Commenting on this, he stated, “We also have to continuously re-invest in our people and provide our employees and suppliers with greater job security and stability, I want to focus on developing our people and giving them wider exposure. I want to pull our employees out of their comfort zones and get them involved in different aspects of the business.”   

Kevin O’Leary has taken over from former CEO Sathak Abdul Kadar, who successfully handled the management of Serendib Flour Mills and during his tenure, was responsible for achieving significant business growth.  

Serendib Flour Mills is one of the leading flour mills in Sri Lanka and is a  subsidiary of Al Ghurair Foods (AGF), Dubai The company’s ‘7 Star’ brand of flour has been nourishing the nation for seven years and embodies purity, innovation, quality, freshness, expertise, service and trust. Serendib Flour Mills is committed to becoming the number one producer of wheat flour in Sri Lanka and the preferred flour supplier in international markets.