Calvin Ayre opens ‘most impressive building on the island’ deemed a modern green facility

The impressive five-story, Canada Place located in St. John’s, Antigua, is not only home to the Ayre Group’s various pioneering technological companies but serves as a beacon of inspiration for its employees and Antigua on a whole. Dubbed “The Greenest Multi-complex in the Caribbean,” Canada Place is a highly sought-after office facility, capable of housing several companies and up to 600 persons. As the Ayre Group navigates this COVID-19 new normal, with gradual resumption of work from office, building occupants found it easy to return to this environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art facility. This article serves as a fitting throwback to the building’s official opening in 2019. The article was written by Latrishka Thomas and published in the Antiguan Observer on November 25, 2019.

“This is now easily the most impressive building on the island, hands down. There is no other office complex on the island that could actually challenge Canada Place,” Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Friday of the newly opened Canada Place.

Business mogul Calvin Ayre on Friday, opened his global headquarters, which he said “shall be home for various pioneering technologies that, it is hoped, will make a significant impact on the economy of Antigua & Barbuda.

“In this regard, we have been steadily increasing our employment of Antiguan and Barbudan nationals and expect that our employment levels should approach 600 during 2020.”

The five-storey building, which is located close to Woods Malls, is a modern green facility.

Local media relations representative for the Calvin Ayre Group, Anika Potter, described one of the major features in Canada Place as being “our solar farm which is actually our car-park for our employees so they have covered parking and that I believe, transmits over 500 kilowatts of energy, so technically our building should be able to function solely on the solar farm, on solar energy”.

She said another key feature is “the fifth floor which is our employee lounge. It houses our indoor cafeteria, our outside eating area, a games room, our library for our staff to just be able to relax and just unwind.”

The media representative also revealed that there are many other amenities within the complex that promote energy efficiency.

“The building in and of itself is massive and when I say massive, I don’t necessarily just mean in size. I mean in all of the amenities, all of our kitchenettes are equipped with coffee machines and bottle less water coolers. 

“So, what we’ve done, instead of just using the regular water cooler with a bottle we do filtered water through a UV system and that is what our employees use to drink so we don’t deal with water bottles. We are trying to have the building be able to operate on its own as well as minimizing our carbon footprint,” she continued.

And, according to Ayre, “greater reliance on renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, will redound to the benefit of humanity. I, therefore, fully endorse the government’s policy of seeking to transition from the use of fossil fuels to green energy. This magnificent complex is a symbol of this commitment to a pollution-free Antigua.”

In addition, the building, a “US $40 million investment into the Antiguan economy,” is equipped with a day care and gym which Ayre said is meant to ensure that all of the employees feel appreciated.

“We tried to create an environment where basically the employees feel valued. And I think in the presentation I made earlier (Friday evening) one of the statements that I made was about the fact that, unlike just about every other building I’ve seen in my life, the executive suites aren’t on the top floor.”

Prime Minister Browne, in addressing attendees during Friday’s opening ceremony, praised Ayre saying that “unlike other exploiters we have a true partner in Calvin Ayre who is conjointly with the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda to ensure the advancement of this beautiful twin island state”.

Calvin Ayre is a Canadian entrepreneur based in Antigua and Barbuda who founded the Ayre Group and Bodog entertainment brand and also manages other business entities on the island.

In 2000, Ayre launched online gambling company, Bodog, the success of which made him a billionaire and in Ayre’s speech on Friday he credited the success to “small but solid steps” saying that “the initial step taken by me in 2006 when I started business operations in Antigua has had several giant steps added to bring us to where we are today”.

Ayre Group pioneers ‘social distancing’ policy to combat COVID-19

There is no doubt that the onslaught of the novel Coronavirus pandemic gravely disrupted how businesses operate. In this article, we take a look at how the Ayre Group implemented their Work-From-Home policy, as a solution to the high level of lay-offs that some companies faced. Orville Williams of the Antigua Observer tells the story originally published on March 18, 2020.

More than 100 employees of the Ayre Group have been told to work from home as the company – headed by the Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre – implements strategies to fend off the coronavirus.

The firm – headquartered at Canada Place in Woods – is taking the lead in the private sector, by enforcing a group-wide social-distancing, work-from-home policy, amid COVID-19’s global spread.

The coronavirus had had a significant socio-economic impact worldwide since its inception and has escalated drastically, affecting both the public and private sector. In severe cases across the world, employees have been placed on unpaid, leave had their contracts suspended and even been laid off, as businesses struggle to cope with the impact of the virus.

The Ayre Group, however, is striving to both adhere to international health regulations and support its staff during the crisis. In a media release yesterday, the group explained that the policy will allow employees to work remotely – given their duties enable them to do so – in “protecting the health and well-being of the employees operating in the building”.

The company’s media relations specialist, Jamilla Kirwan, explained how the decision was made.

“We have the capabilities, within our group, to work from home. I know that not many companies have that kind of option and so, I’m sure that many people are trying to figure out how they’re going to manage staffing, children being home and that sort of thing.

“A lot of our work, obviously, is electronic. You know, we’re on emails (and) if we need a meeting, we do video-conferencing and so, we’re basically just encouraging anyone who has that kind of capability to do the same,” she explained.

Kirwan said the company had had a “coronavirus-free” bill of health among the employees and was actively practicing social distancing to keep it that way.”

“We have not had any cases of anyone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, however, we feel that one of the ways we could help to mitigate the spread of the virus is to teach people how to do social distancing.”

“With our over-100 employees, we thought this would be the best way to assist with the social side of things – having our people stay home, stay with their families and limit the amount of people coming into their homes,” she said.

Additionally, the group announced that one of its subsidiaries – the Bodog Beach Club – will be temporarily closed until further notice, also to regulate the spread of the virus.

This temporary closure will not affect staff financially, however, as “all employees within the Ayre Group, including: Bodog Beach Club, Calvin Air Helicopters and the Calvin Ayre Foundation, will continue to be paid during the period of social-distancing.”

Calvin Ayre feels insulted by All Inclusive Resorts

In the following article, Special Economic Envoy to Antigua and Barbuda, Ambassador Calvin Ayre discusses plans for his upcoming wellness resort retreat and the exceptional experience it will offer. This article, that appeared on the Antigua Newsroom online portal, was published on June 15, 2020.

Billionaire Antiguan businessman Calvin Ayre says he is opposed to the “all inclusive” model of tourism in Antigua & Barbuda.

Ayre was at the time speaking about his US$ 100 million investment in a wellness resort retreat at Valley Church Beach which he says will not be all inclusive because he disagrees with that model.

“It will have everything and more but it absolutely won’t be all inclusive,” Ayre told a radio interview alongside Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Saturday.

“I am fundamentally against all inclusives at every level, I think they are horrible experiences and I think they are bad for Antigua,” Ayre said.

He added, “I find them insulting as an Antiguan when I try to go use one of them and they say no to me.”

Speaking of his own resort the businessman said, “what I would like to do there is create a wellness community…the idea would be to bring people in here and introduce them to Antigua and have a fully functioning wellness retreat resort.”

He said once completed it will be the best in the Caribbean.

“The way I am anticipating doing it is going to be much more extreme on the medical wellness side of it more than anything that’s in the region. It will be unique in the whole region,” Ayre the Chairman of the Ayre Group said.

Apart from the resort the billionaire says he wants to bring other investments into Antigua & Barbuda in the future.

“Unfortunately, some of my plans are immature so I can’t get into them right now but I do want to be part of creating some of the solutions to make the problems from the pandemic,” he said.

Ayre said COVID-19 has given Antigua & Barbuda and opportunity to diversify the economy.

“I think on the tourism side the low-end tourism is not going to come back all that quickly and this is an opportunity to reset Antigua with no risk because the risk is upon us already by the pandemic.”

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says he accepts the recommendation to diversify not only tourism but other sectors.

“And that is something our government is actively pursuing.”