Sierra celebrates 30 years of success
Sierra Holdings (Pvt) Ltd recently celebrated 30 years of service par excellence, hosting a grand event at the Cinnamon Grand on the 2 September attended by the crème of Business society, top officials of government institutions, Bankers, Foreign Clients and company officials. Invitees were treated to Cocktails and Canapés at the foyer followed by a dinner and the best of entertainment.
With the event being the thirty year anniversary, the concept of the pearl (which is the symbol for thirty years) and the lily (which is the flower for thirty years) was used in the décor and setting of the theme for the evening.
The opening act of the night was the awakening of the Oyster Shell revealing of the pearl within to the beat of a crescendo of drums by the Nadro drummers. The significance behind the narrative being that similar to the Oyster who labours a lifetime to produce the perfect pearl Sierra’s labours’ of three decades of skillful excellence have given rise to its pearl like perfection and success. A journey of discovery, creativity and innovation.
CEO and Director Nimal Lokuge addressing the gathering shared the 30 year journey from humble beginnings to a budding conglomerate with 34 companies under its umbrella operating in 10 sectors.
Sierra Holdings has established a strong business presence in the fields of construction engineering being its core operating sector, it later ventured into diversified fields of manufacturing, agriculture, property development, and leisure & information technology.
Lokuge also explained the interesting meaning behind the company name, “Sierra” is a word of Spanish origin which stands for chain of jagged mountains. (some tall, some short, flat, sharp). He drew parallel to the diversity of the dynamic characters that lead this company. It is each person’s unique strengths and differences in personality that contributed to our accomplishments. Like the mountains, Sierra as a company has weathered many storms and challenges but still stand tall as though protected by Mother Nature.
Sierra has emerged market leaders in its core performance sectors of engineering. Operating in all major areas of construction (telecom, water and sewerage, civil, roads and bridges, pilling and electrical engineering), Sierra has excelled in all spheres of engineering to become a fully fledged turnkey service provider for all engineering solutions. They are an ISO accredited organisation having won many accolades for their achievements and best practices in the Industry.
When Telecommunication in Sri Lanka, transited into a New Era, in the last two decades, Sierra pioneered the development playing a leading role. Sierra thanked Sri Lanka Telecom for their continuous faith in the Company. Sierra also went on to be thankful for the many opportunities to work in collaboration with international brand names which greatly helped them to enhance their knowledge base and expertise and in return helped secure many major national and international projects.
Sierra has contributed extensively, to major construction works in the country – both in public and private sectors. Sierra has also made a significant contribution towards the construction of a modernised road network in Sri Lanka.
Having emerged as the market leader with succeeding major turnkey water and sewerage projects both nationally and internationally, today Sierra has climbed the pinnacle of the Construction Industry in Sri Lanka and stands tall as a infrastructure development Company with Global reach employing over 4000 employees both here and abroad. The company ventured into manufacturing, with the intention of strengthening its supply chain through backward integration. Sierra Cables boasts of a broad product portfolio; ranging from one sq. m.m. wires to massive 600 sq. mm. cables, including arial bundle conductors. It has also extended production capacity to meet the needs of the telecommunication industry as well.
Apart from cables, they engage in the production of ready-mix concrete and Asphalt, under its manufacturing arm. Sierra is the only manufacturer of ready-mix to be accredited with the “Cleaner Production” Certification.
Sierra successfully diversified into agriculture sector through the incorporation of Amstar Fertilizers in 2002. Amstar brand had a ready acceptance in the market which resulted in the rapid growth in the sales volume yearly, now recording over Rs.3 billion in turnover.
The achievement of the business stability within in a short span of three years enabled the Agstar too successfully to diversify into seed, agro chemicals and specialty products. With nine years of excellence renowned for quality and reliability, the company is now poised to contribute further towards the enhancement of the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka. The expertise services provided by AgStar greatly benefits the farmers in boosting crop harvest
Sierra stepped into the leisure sector establishing the Luxury Boutique hotel “The Elephant Corridor”. Consisting of 24 luxury suites, this facility with its ultra-modern eco design and construction is now managed by the Willemsen Hospitality Holdings Group of Netherlands, promising its guests a new improved experience of luxury and comfort.
Boutique Resorts, Tea Leaf Giragama and Tea Leaf Ayr in Avissawella, will be the newest additions to their leisure ventures. These projects will be done through collaboration with Free Lanka Capital Holdings Plc.
Over the years Sierra has spread its wings to extend its expertise to overseas operations in India, Australia, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Qatar with plans underway for the company to expand operations to the African region. Sierra Holding successfully recorded a turnover of Rs.12.5 billion with its flagship companies, Sierra Cnstruction Engineering contributing Rs. 7.5 billion, with AgStar and Sierra Cables collectively contributing to the balance. Sierra Cables has been listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange since 2005 with Agstar and few more key companies of Sierra to follow listing in the future.
Sierra also thanked all its business partners and shareholders for sharing in their business vision. With a special mention to Browns –Ajith Devasurendra and LOLC – Ishara Nanayakkara for trusting in Sierra’s potential. Sierra recently collaborated with Browns and LOLC Groups for corporate synergies. Considerable development and growth is earmarked in all the sectors of present and Sierra is poised to make a notable progress and is bullish about its future.
Sierra Holdings Board members: Frank Irugalbandara (Chairman), Priyantha Perera,.Nimal Lokuge, Tissa Perera (Alternate Keshini Suraweera), Ajith Devasurendra, Ishara Nanayakkara, Paul Ratnayeke, Kamantha Amaresekara and Mangala Boyagoda
