Business View Caribbean, July/August 2018

76 77 THE FLOWERS GROUP Frank Flowers recalls, “Our water business started back in the early 1950s, because there was no drinking water readily available here and people had to catch water in small cis- terns when it rolled off the roof and store it. The Governor’s Harbour was meant to pioneer tourism here on Seven Mile Beach. But they couldn’t get it started because of the water issue. At that time, they were building the air- port and nearby there was a fresh water pool. My Dad told Governor’s Harbour they needed two cisterns – one for the slopping and show- ering. And he had a 500 gallon tank he could use to truck potable water in for drinking. The water business kept expanding and, in the early ‘70s, Dad helped found the Cayman Water Company. They were responsible for the piping at Seven Mile Beach, and later on the government brought pipes from town. In 1974, Flowers Bottled Water was formed, and my brother, Richard, runs that division.” With growing tourism in Grand Cayman, there came a need for airport security. Dara notes, “Several international airline carriers were using the airport, so we were loading and offloading bags – all part of my grandfa- ther’s legacy. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, we started updating the concrete block making side, and expanded to a larger, purpose-built site – the most modern plant in the world for its time. In 1995, we went into a very interesting product area called insulated concrete foam (ICF) blocks and opened a foam manufactur- ing facility. That also tied into our building division, offering people a different product range option for their construction.” During that time, Clarence and his sons were quietly acquiring land in central George Town. Their first building, constructed in the late ‘80s, later became the Cricket Square Development, which now has several office complexes. The largest commercial office space in the Cayman Islands, “The Sixth,” is currently being built. It’s a beautiful, modern, energy efficient building constructed from ICF, and is expected to open in August 2018. Cricket Square is a product of Orchid De- velopment, also a Flowers company, run by Clarence Junior. Last year, The Flowers Group acquired an- other company, Air Agencies, which does full passenger and ground handling services and private charters. In total, the Group has 200 employees in its various divisions. As man- ufacturers and retailers for the construction industry, they manufacture everything locally, using locally sourced materials if available, and sell their products without distributors. “We service people from every aspect of life,” says Dara. “Whether it’s on a plane at the airport, building your first home, or a multi-million dollar development, even the water you drink, we feel a social responsibili- ty to our island and our customers. It’s a small