Sarva Ameresekere appointed Group Chairman of George Steuarts & Co. Ltd.

Sarva Ameresekere has been appointed the Group Chairman of George Steuart & Co. Ltd (GS&Co), Sri Lanka’s oldest company established in 1835.

The appointment comes as Dilith Jayaweera resigned from the Group Chairmanship and all directorates he held within the Group in January, as Jayaweera’s entrepreneurial journey shifts focus to creating a national level political impact, the company said in a media release.

Mr. Jayaweera together with his partners Ms. Varuni Amunugama Fernando and Mr. Ameresekere acquired GS&Co in 2011. Buoyed by the post-war sentiment of the time, the investment saw GS&Co enter a sustained trajectory of expansion and growth. “Today, GS&Co stands as a testament to the power of belief and entrepreneurship in staying competitive and relevant, after 189 years in business. The group’s diversified sectors include tea exports, healthcare, travel, leisure, financial services, FMCG and industrial solutions,” the statement said.

The Board of GS&Co has been strengthened with the appointment of three independent directors - Devaka Cooray, Dimantha Seneviratne and Dr. Dinesh Palipana, who have joined the board.

Mr. Cooray is a finance and assurance expert with a distinguished career at Ernst & Young, while veteran banker Mr. Seneviratne recently retired as CEO of NDB Bank. Dr. Palipana, is a doctor, lawyer, researcher, senior lecturer in medicine and an equality advocate based in Australia.

The Board’s composition now represents a wide variety of stakeholder interests and expertise, with visionaries and shareholders Varuni Amunugama Fernando and Sarva Ameresekere, stalwarts of GS&Co and industry leaders Dai Pathmanathan and Eran Ranasinghe, while Manoj Pilimatalawwe brings information technology to the fore at Board-level.