December 2016 | Business View Caribbean

122 123 Roadtown Wholesale Trading Ltd. ROADTOWNWHOLESALE SUPPLYING THE NECESSITIES Before establishing Roadtown Wholesale distribution in 1961, Peter Haycraft, formerly a sailor from England, owned a modest mom-and– pop store, providing groceries to the resident population of Road Town, Tortola, the capital city of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). In 1963, his company purchased its first cargo vessel, the M.V. Kilros, in order to get products to Virgin Gorda, Tortola’s sister island–groceries were actually sold right off the boat. “There wasn’t much de- velopment, at all, on the islands,” says the com- pany’s current Managing Director, Simon Potter. “We started a very small grocery store and the company continued to grow and grow.” Indeed, over the last half-century, Haycraft’s wholesale company, Roadtown Wholesale Trad- ing Ltd. and its chain of retail outlets, Riteway Food Markets (RTW), established in 1977, have grown considerably. The company built its first warehouse in 1970, and converted it to a Cash- and-Carry outlet in 1985 to meet the demands There wasn’t much de- velopment, at all, on the islands. We started a very small grocery store and the company contin- ued to grow and grow. SIMON POTTER MANAGING DIRECTOR