Seychelles Breweries Ltd (SBL) Finance Manager, Mr Regis Hoareau, left Seychelles recently to take up the post of Finance Director in the Uganda Breweries.

Mr Hoareau, who has been working with SBL for the past 21 years, is the first Seychellois at SBL to be appointed to the post of director in an overseas' Guinness-Diageo-owned brewery.

His appointment, which is for a two-year period, took effect on January 13.

The 55-year-old manager, who was an active member on SBL's executive board as the company secretary, is also the general manager of SBL Carbon Dioxide Manufacturers Ltd, (CO2) company joint venture and a popular face amongst SBL's shareholders.

Mr Hoareau joined SBL in July 1981 as an accountant and was appointed as the chief accountant in 1982. He also worked in Cameroon for three months in 1998 for Guinness and has numerous experiences of the African market.

The Uganda Breweries is based in Kampala and produces mainly beer and spirit. The company is one of the largest producers of beer amongst the East African breweries, with a yield of 600,000 hecto litres of beer per year, compared with 75,000 hecto litres produced by SBL. It employs 220 workers, almost the same number as SBL.

Speaking to the press last Friday, Mr Hoareau described his new post as challenging and a honour for the company.

"The Uganda Breweries is quite big compared to us here which means there will be a lot of work to do. It will be very challenging since there is fierce competition going on there with the South Africa Breweries and I will not only be counting the cash, but also involved in field work and in the promotion of the products," he said.

Mr Hoareau, who had already visited and spent two weeks in Uganda, said the country was beautiful and he was sure that he would settle down well.

The managing director of SBL, Mr Andrew Richardson, described Mr Hoareau as a very influential manager whose advice and judgement he had grown to appreciate.

Mr Hoareau's appointment, he said, formed part of Guinness' policy to move people with ability within the African and Indian Ocean regions to give them extra experiences. Mr Hoareau's experience in Uganda, Mr Richardson said, could further benefit the company with fresh ideas when he comes back.

Besides Mr Hoareau, two other SBL employees are also currently on overseas assignments. Mr Aubrey Lucas is on a two-year assignment with Diageo in Britain, while Mr Ratnan Lesperance has been assigned with the Mauritius Breweries for a period of 18 months.

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