“We grew up in a three-room chattel house in Bank Hall. I was eight or nine years old before moving into a small wall house.”The 41-year-old businessman was appointed chairman of the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) on April 3. He was chairman of the Child Care Board under the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration and later served as deputy chairman of Barbados Conference Services Limited under the present administration.
Yet when Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy invited him to be BTA chairman, he said he was “surprised”. Others within tourism circles also seemed to have been surprised, considering that Elcock does not have the kind of tourism background they thought would have been necessary for anyone filling the post.
But Elcock countered: “In terms of what the naysayers have said, I guess I too have gotten accustomed to seeing tourism being run by one group of people and one set of people speaking on behalf of the industry . . .
“It did not seem as if medium-sized businesses like ours that have been relatively successful in our marketplace were invited to be a part of it. It seemed as if those that were in it controlled it and they controlled who entered it.“I have never said no to any minister in any government that has asked me to serve,” he stressed.
He pointed out: “I have come from a family business which, by any definition, has been successful. I have been a large part of growing that business and taking it to another level with my brother, with my dad and the other partners that work with us.”
The family business of which Elcock speaks is Everson Elcock & Co. Ltd., which is currently celebrating 50 years of operation and of which he is a director. A major division of that business is Exclusive Lighting & Electrical Supplies Ltd. The company was the idea of Elcock’s brother Antonio, another director in the larger firm, and an idea which Elcock developed into a major business.
“I have always felt that our leaders have given us a tremendous platform upon which to build our own personal brand,” says Elcock.“I have been educated in Barbados. I went to Dorothy Smale’s Preparatory School, the Lodge School and then Pace University, New York City, where I graduated with a degree in accounting with a major in public accounting.”
After graduation, he went to work with one of the world’s largest accounting firms, Arthur Andersen, spending eight years in New York.
Responding to his brother’s idea, Elcock came home in January, 1995 to start Exclusive Lighting and went on to join his father’s business as director of finance. After all, this was the business that grew from humble beginnings when Elcock would observe his father setting out from home in a pick-up truck every day, though he was not sure exactly what dad was going out to do.
“My earliest memory of my involvement was going to Baptist House, a place my father had on Constitution Road [St Michael], playing with the red electrical tape, making cricket balls, playing with my brother,” he recalled.“When I think back about it, that was his [father’s] way of immersing us in the business. It created an awareness and I understood that what he did was what put our food on the table.”
In his early teens and while a student of Lodge School, Elcock accompanied his father as he traversed Barbados, calling at homes under construction, offering his electrical building supplies for sale. While dad tried to sell to homeowners, it was Adrian who carried the price sheet and quoted prices. Later, during his regular visits home on holidays from university studies, he did accounting-related chores in the family business.
Proud Barbadian
Elcock boasts of being “a proud Barbadian who believes in the capacity of our country and the capacity of our people to deliver”.
While devoted to his work, he is “a committed family man” to his wife Ann and daughter Sanaa. “Our family traditions and structures are very important to us,” he pointed out. “We sit every Sunday as a family, have lunch with my parents and my brother and his family. Teamwork is part of our family tradition.”
He is also an avowed Christian brought up in the Anglican Church and worships regularly at St George’s Parish Church.
Loyal friend
Elcock declares his loyalty to friends: “I believe in friendships. I am an extremely loyal friend. I am going to stick with you through thick and thin. “I am going to tell you when I think you are wrong and I hope my true friends tell me when they think I am going in the wrong direction.”
He has thrown himself headlong into his new job, clear in his vision of what he wants to achieve. “Am I attacking this job with passion?” he asked. “One hundred and fifty per cent. Am I going to succeed? You sure bet I will. I have that confidence and I know I will. I have a team that will support me.”