Serv-Wel developing business park with BPO centre
Published:Tuesday | January 24, 2017 | 12:00 AMSteven Jackson
The family-owned Serv-Wel Jamaica Group, known more for its stoves and furniture, plans to develop a business park that includes a call centre and supporting services, in the vicinity of its head office at Ashenheim Road in Kingston.
The development is to be finalised by July 2017, according to listings posted on at least two realtors' websites, Coldwell Banker Jamaica and Century 21 Jamaica.
President of Serv-Wel, Frances Hadeed Awn, said her late father and founder of Serv-Wel, Ray Hadeed, conceptualised the business park before his passing. He died in 2007.
"It is something that my father wanted to do for years; it was something he planned to do even up to his passing," she said of the 148,000 square foot complex.
Hadeed declined to state the cost of the development. She expects construction to be completed by July, and if not, she said it would certainly be ready by year end.
The business park, called 'Serv-Wel Info Tech City' offers includes 140,000 square feet of space for business process outsourcing or BPO operations, while the rest of the space is to be split among day-care, a convenience store or pharmacy, a document centre, a bill-payment centre, a bank, a cafe or deli, and other businesses.
The plan includes renting out the complex for US$233,000 a month.
LOW-KEY
Serv-Wel has remained fairly low-key in recent years. It was founded in 1950 by Ray Hadeed, and architectural drawings of 'Info-Tech City' suggest that one of the complexes in the park will bear his name.
The park itself will be sited adjacent to the Tinsen Pen Aerodome in Kingston's industrial belt.
Jamaica's BPO sector is currently one of the more reliable markets for new jobs as its existing players expand. The sector comprises some three dozen companies, with more slated to come on stream in the medium term, according to information from the state-run investment promotion agency.