ADVERTORIAL

‘Time keepers to the nation’:

Wimaladharma Group marks 75 years

Charumini DE SILVA

Wimaladharma Group the leader in chronometers, watches and clocks are celebrating their 75th anniversary today. Wimaladharma Group also known as ‘Time keepers to the Nation’ has earned the reputation of being almost a household name with their excellent services and dedication to serve the people of Sri Lanka.

W Aryadasa Wimaladharma

The group’s founder and Chairman Weliwitigoda Aryadasa Wimaladharma was born on April 5, 1913 in Galle. He had his primary education at Dangedera Jayawardena Maha Vidyalaya, Galle and secondary education at Mahinda College Galle. Hailing from a family of entrepreneurs he was the son of Sadiris Wimaladharma who was gifted a Buick car by the then British colonial rulers of Sri Lanka.

Marked by courage and determination Aryadasa Wimaladharma came to Colombo after the sudden demise of his father and started his business at First Cross Street, Colombo with importation and distribution of watches and clocks on February 12, 1936. The business did very well soon with the entrepreneurship skills of the founder and two years later the first branch of the business was opened in Kandy in 1938. The Kandy branch was opened by the then Health Minister Georoge E de Silva and his wife.

In 1938/39 the founder Chairman Aryadasa Wimaladharma toured India to make contacts with Indian businessmen. One year later in 1940 the second branch of the business was opened at Trincomalee Street, Kandy.

The business flourished under the leadership of the founder Chairman and a new showroom Wimbros Palace with much space and facilities was opened, by a former Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in 1958. In 1961 when the silver jubilee was celebrated by the founder Chairman he also started the Wimaladharma Watch and Clock Factory at Ratmalana on Old Airport Road, to assemble clocks and watches.

The group Chairman said he was grateful to the then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and her Ministers Maithripala Senanayake and T B Illangaratne who had supported the project of the establishment into a new area.

The founder Chairman next toured Germany and entered into an agreement with a German company and established the Wimaladharma Watch and Clock Industries Ltd. It was opened by the then Industries Minister Maithripala Senanayake. It was the pioneer in local watch manufactory using local raw material.

In 1971 a modern showroom was opened at Main Street, Colombo. It was opened by the then Local Government Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa. In the same decade the business was diversified to manufacturing educational material like mathematical instrument boxes for schoolchildren and wooden toys for export.

Asoka Wimaladharma

It was the best period of the group with the financial and productivity development achieved at a very high level.

The golden jubilee year in 1986 was marked with religious observances and gifts of clothing and food were distributed among the inmates of the Mallika Home for senior citizens and children. National Security Minister Lalith Athulathmudali was the chief guest at the occasion. During the same decade a new super showroom was opened at Liberty Plaza Shopping Complex, Colombo and another such showroom at Majestic City.

During the tenure of presidency of the late Ranasinghe Premadasa the group also provided clocks and services to clock towers and continued its’ social responsibility work of assisting society and Buddhist places of worship, continuously and also assisted educational services of schools in the country including the founder Chairman’s alma mater Mahinda College, Galle.

In February 04, 1994 the then President D B Wijetunga awarded the national honour Deshabandu on the founder Chairman W Aryadasa Wimaladharma. Today the company is celebrating its 75th anniversary and is headed by the founder’s son Asoka Wimaladharma who is performing his father’s duties courageously and continuously as the Managing Director.

Amana Takaful awarded ISO system certification

Amana Takaful was recently awarded the ISO 9001:2008 certification for both its General and Life Takaful businesses as part of its endeavor to continuously provide higher service standards to its discerning customers.

ISO 9001:2008 is a system certification that the company hopes will improve its quality management through continual improvement.

DMV Lead Auditor Kulasingham Vivekananthan handing over the ISO 9001:2008 certification to General Manager Zaid Aboobucker, Risk Manager Abdullah Aboobucker, Project Consultant Prabath Samarasinghe, Amana Takaful Life GM and CEO Reyaz Jeffrey and Amana Global General Manager Fawas Farook look on.

Amana Takaful Operations and Medical Takaful General Manager Zaid Aboobucker highlighted the importance of being ISO certified adding that it was a team effort that made it possible which will also be the secret of its continuation. “We embarked on obtaining the ISO certification as part of our continuing efforts to improve our service delivery. It is our belief that this will provide us a good platform through which we can develop better service standards for the future,” he said.

ISO 9001:2008 certification is awarded to companies that meet with the highest Quality Management Standards stipulated by the International Standards Organisation. The Accreditation Auditors, Det Norske Veritas (DNV, Netherlands), assessed Amana Takaful’s overall operations covering General Takaful, Medical Takaful and Life Takaful.

A customer centric approach was the key focus for assessing quality management to ensure that service is provided to the best of standards in terms of customer satisfaction and speedy service.

The ISO standards are based on eight Quality Management Principles, which are aligned with the philosophy and objectives of most quality award programs. These principles are customer focus, leadership, involvement of people, a process approach, a systems approach to management, continual improvement, a factual approach to decision making, and mutually beneficial supplier relationships.

Amana Takaful PLC is the Sri Lankan pioneer and flag bearer of the Takaful way of insurance that redefines how insurance is carried out.

Leasing package for Viva

Hatton National Bank (HNB) and Unimo Enterprises Limited, joined to promote the latest range of Perodua vehicles.

The Viva Elite is a facelift of the Viva which is offered at a special price with many additional benefits.

Through this initiative, potential customers of Viva vehicles will get an attractive tailor-made leasing package from HNB Leasing through its network of 205 Customer Centres in the country.

In addition to this a free life insurance cover of Rs 1.2 million and a HNB Credit Card free of joining fee is offered.

The Perodua brand was first launched in the Sri Lankan market in 2004, and since then the Perodua range of vehicles has become popular among Sri Lankan motorists especially for its performance, fuel efficiency and low maintenance cost.

The Perodua range of cars are assembled in Malaysia by Perodua Sales using Japanese components to ensure superior quality and craftsmanship.

NDB Bank Chairman P M Nagahawatte, opening the Pettah branch. NDB Bank Chief Executive Officer Russell de Mel and the Pettah branch Manager S Shivakumar look on.

NDB Bank opens in Pettah

NDB Bank added yet another branch to its widely expanding network with the recent opening of its Pettah branch. The Bank took measures to offer convenience and easy access to the business community and diverse customer base in Pettah by offering its products and services at No. 202, Main Street, Pettah. Through the opening up of the Pettah branch, NDB Bank will provide a range of financial services to the business community in the area, backed by its expertise in commercial banking and SME financing services. The banks many SME financing facilities including short term working capital loans, supplier and distributer financing and long term funding will be beneficial for the business community in Pettah, thereby enabling them to grow their businesses with NDB Bank. Customers will have access to the bank’s range of retail banking services, such as current and savings accounts, children’s savings accounts, NRFC and RFC accounts, fixed deposits, housing loans, education loans, personal loans, leasing facilities, credit and debit cards, pawning services and Western Union money transfer services as well.