Brandix felicitates employee adjudged Commonwealth Young Person of the Year

A young female executive employed at Brandix, who won global recognition for herself and her country through her community work, has been felicitated by her company as an inspiration to her peers and co-workers across the Group.

Krystle Reid, a Senior Executive ‘ Projects at Brandix Lingerie, was presented with a memento in appreciation and recognition of being adjudged ‘Commonwealth Young Person of the Year 2017’ at the Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work, on her return to work from the awards presentation in London recently.

The Commonwealth Young Person of the Year award recognises the work done by Krystle through the ‘Enable Lanka Foundation’ which she co-founded with her friend Janitha Rukmal to help persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka to break stereotypes and stigma to secure employment and become self-sufficient in all aspects of civilian life and entitlements as citizens of Sri Lanka.

Krystle Reid and the Enable Lanka Foundation team helped to launch the ‘Enabled Elections’ initiative, which was the first ever campaign in Sri Lanka aimed at encouraging participation of persons with disabilities in the electoral process and one of the largest civil rights campaigns for the political and electoral rights of persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka organized by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).

“Inspiration is at the core of everything we do and believe in at Brandix, and we encourage our associates to always strive to inspire others,” said Rajiv Malalasekera, CEO of Brandix Lingerie who presented Ms Reid with this felicitation plaque. “Krystle’s selfless commitment in founding and furthering the reach of the Enable Lanka Foundation is an inspiration not just for all of us at Brandix, but for young people around the world. We hope this token of our appreciation will encourage her to continue her work in the community, and Brandix will support her in sustainably expanding the objectives of the Enable Lanka Foundation.”

The Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work, an initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s youth programme, celebrates outstanding young adults aged under 30 who are leading initiatives ranging from poverty alleviation to peace-building. This year’s winners, drawn from over 200 entries, were recognised for spearheading projects that will contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals ‘ a set of 17 global targets that governments have committed to achieve by 2030.

Brandix helps 5,700 children with gifts of stationery and school bags

More than 5,700 children received gifts of stationery, other school requisites and a school bag each for the new school year under a new employee welfare initiative launched by Brandix, Sri Lanka’s top ranked exporter.

The ‘Ran Daru Thilina’ programme benefitted children from the nursery age to Grade 5, with each child receiving a pack containing items needed for his or her academic year.

The generous gesture encompassed the children of 4,969 Brandix associates employed at 24 manufacturing locations in Sri Lanka. Brandix also has a scholarship scheme titled ‘Ran Daru Scholarships’ under which financial assistance is extended to Grade 5 children of associates.

“Our associates are the life blood of the enterprise, and the wellbeing of their families is a fundamental consideration in all employee-related engagements at Brandix,” said Anusha Alles, Head of CSR and Corporate Communications of the Brandix Group. “The cost of buying stationery and other supplies for school-going children can be a burden on many families. We are happy to be able to help alleviate that burden for a significant number.”

Among the items in each pack were exercise books, drawing books, colouring pencils, standard pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, bottles of glue and rulers. The packs of younger children also included modelling clay, scissors and crayons.

The beneficiary families are scattered across the country, in areas as far flung as Batticaloa, Giritale, Polonnaruwa, Nivithigala, Koggala, Rambukkana, Kahawatte and Pannala to name a few.

A similar programme has also been implemented by Brandix Apparel India, which is located within the Brandix India Apparel City in Andhra Pradesh.

Brandix partners world’s biggest squash championship for 4th year

— Continues its role as Official Apparel Solutions Partner of J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York —

The Brandix Group returned to the global sporting stage last week when Sri Lanka’s top exporter partnered with the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York for the fourth consecutive year as a Bronze Sponsor and Official Apparel Solutions Partner of the world’s largest spectator squash event. As part of its sponsorship of this Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series event, Brandix presented custom-designed and branded players’ shirts to the players in the Men’s and Women’s draws.

The 2017 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions (ToC) celebrated its 20th year of presenting the world’s best squash players in competition at Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall on a specially-constructed four-walled glass court. With 64-player women’s and men’s main draws, and 32 player qualifying draws to determine the eight main draw qualifying spots, the ToC featured 128 of the world’s top-ranking squash players competing in front of sell-out crowds throughout tournament week.

The Tournament of Champions traces its distinguished international squash lineage back to 1930 when it was first staged as the “U.S. Professional.” In the late 70s it became the World Professional Squash Championships and then the Tournament of Champions in 1993. The list of titleholders is a veritable “who’s who” of squash through the years. The tournament has been played in 17 different cities, but is now closely identified with its majestic Grand Central Terminal venue where it was first presented in 1995.

Brandix Athleisure & Brandix Fast Fashion win 2017 Mercury Trophy Volleyball championships

Competitive volleyball of the highest order was witnessed when the Men’s and Women’s finals of the Brandix ‘Rasadiya Kusalanaya’ (Mercury Trophy) tournament, the largest competition of its kind conducted by a single corporate entity in Sri Lanka  were worked out at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium recently.

In a repeat of last year’s Men’s final, Teejay Lanka PLC, Avissawella met Brandix Athleisure, Polonnaruwa, but could not retain the trophy, succumbing 25  20, 22  25, 15 17 to last year’s losing finalist.

In the Women’s final, Brandix Fast Fashion 2, Mirigama overcame a spirited Brandix Fast Fashion, Minuwangoda 24  26, 25  14, 25  21 to retain the trophy its team won in 2016.

In all, more than 350 players representing 17 Men’s teams and 12 Women’s teams competed in the preliminary rounds of the annual tournament’s seventh edition, demonstrating the depth of the Brandix Group’s commitment to the national sport.

Conducted for the non-executive employees (or associates, as they are referred to at Brandix), the Brandix Rasadiya Kusalanaya tournament is considered a significant contributor to the popularisation of volleyball and the development of players from rural areas while promoting employee interaction and team spirit within the Group.

For their individual performances in this year’s Men’s final, Suresh Kumara and Amila Ishan of Brandix Athleisure, Polonnaruwa were adjudged Best Setter and Best Player respectively, while Haritha Fernando of Teejay Lanka PLC was declared Best Attacker. Among the women players in the final, Dilhani Gunasena and Oshini Chapa of Brandix Fast Fashion 2, Mirigama received the awards for Best Setter and Best Player respectively, while Harshani Kodithuwakku of Brandix Fast Fashion, Minuwangoda was awarded Best Attacker.

‘Volleyball is the adopted sport of Brandix, and has helped the Group win many mercantile sector tournaments, while at the same time stimulating employee bonding and competitive skills, said Colonel Sujith Jayasekara, Senior General Manager Group Human Resources of Brandix. ;The quality of volleyball played improves each year, and we are happy to see that this tournament is contributing to build a pool of players for mercantile as well as national tournaments. It also helps build character, versatility and leadership skills among our associates.’

Brandix wins its third Gold at National HCM Awards

— Also takes Special Awards for excellence in ‘Talent Management’ and ‘Learning & Development’ —

Brandix won Gold and two special awards for Human Resource Management at the 2015-16 National Human Capital Management (HCM) Awards gala at the Cinnamon Grand hotel on 31 March 2017, once again demonstrating the Group’s commitment to its people.

Presented bi-annually by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and the Association of Human Resource Professionals (AHRP), the awards (formerly known as the National HRM Awards) are Sri Lanka’s pinnacle accolades in the field of HR, and recognise public and private sector organisations that have demonstrated innovative and inspiring HR practices. SHRM is the largest professional HR Association in the world and has a membership in 174 countries.

Besides being one of four overall Gold winners, Brandix was also awarded the Special Awards for excellence in ‘Talent Management’ and ‘Learning & Development’ among the nine category awards that recognise the best standards and HR practices in Sri Lanka. This was the third consecutive occasion that the Group won the Gold award. Brandix was the only apparel sector organisation among the top four corporate entities honoured and was also the only enterprise that won Gold as a Group.

‘Our people are the lifeblood of the enterprise, and inspiring them to reach their full potential for their personal development and the achievement of the company’s goals as ‘One Brandix’ is a top priority for all of us, the Group’s Chief People Officer Ishan Dantanarayana said: ‘We are therefore delighted to be judged according to the stringent audits specified by SHRM for these awards and to have continuously won Gold awards over the years.’

He said Brandix had chosen, as in past years, to be evaluated as a Group, requiring the HR practices of all the companies in the Group to be audited for the award, making it more challenging than having just the holding company’s HR practices assessed.

In September last year, the Brandix Group was declared the sole winner for HR Excellence in South Asia (excluding India), at the 2016 HR Awards of SHRM held in New Delhi. The award in the international category was the only one awarded to the whole of South Asia and recognised organisations outside India that have successfully designed and implemented excellent people management practices and systems in human resources.

Brandix HR practices were also highlighted in the past with a cover story in the SHRM global magazine which is read by nearly 250,000 HR professionals in 174 countries – a first for any Asian company. Further recognition came to Brandix when the HR practices of the Group were highlighted in the book ‘Work Rules’ by Laszlo Block, Senior Vice President, Google Inc. USA.

Brandix pays homage to inspiration at spectacular employee awards gala

Tributes to inspiring workplace performances took centre stage recently when apparel sector employees from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh came together in Colombo to be honoured by their employer Brandix at a spectacular awards presentation.

The annual Brandix Rasadiya Mangalya (Mercury Festival) at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium and telecast live on PEO TV, saw Sri Lanka’s top exporter recognising 27 employees from Sri Lanka and 10 from overseas locations as Employees of the Year (EOYs) and eight others  five from Sri Lanka and three from overseas  as Supervisors of the Year (SOYs), for their contributions to the Group’s progress in 2016.

Each Employee of the Year and Supervisor of the Year received a handsome trophy of appreciation as well as a company-sponsored study tour to China, India or Bangladesh, and in Sri Lanka for those attached to the Group’s overseas plants.

The Group also rewarded mechanical excellence with Rs 2 million in cash prizes to three individual mechanics and their respective mechanic teams that won the first three places in the annual Brandix ‘Mech Challenge’ a group-wide competition in mechanical proficiency.

Another element, at the seventh edition of the Rasadiya Mangalya, was the ‘Rasadiya Hiru’ (Mercury Sun) awards for best HR-related key performance indicators such as attendance and productivity, won by Brandix Fast Fashion – 2, Mirigama, Brandix Fast Fashion – 2, Avissawella and Brandix Fast Fashion – 1, Avissawella.

Welcoming approximately 5,000 Brandix associates, executives and senior management to the ceremony, Brandix Chief People Officer Ishan Dantanarayana said the Rasadiya Mangalya represents the Group’s philosophy of inclusive growth across business units in three countries as one family united in its commitment to ‘inspired solutions.’The Rasadiya Mangalya is probably the single largest employee recognition event conducted by any enterprise in Sri Lanka and demonstrates Brandix’s appreciation the skills, talents, potential and passion of its nearly 50,000 associates, Mr Dantanarayana said.

Earlier in the day, the Brandix Rasadiya Mangalya saw the working out of the finals of the annual Brandix ‘Rasadiya Kusalanaya’ Volleyball tournament for non-executive staff. The evening was set aside for the colourful finals of three talent competitions that promote and recognise the non-work-related talents of Brandix associates in Sri Lanka’s the Rasadiya Gee Tharuwa (Singing Star), the Rasadiya Narthana Tharu (Dancing Stars) and for the first time, the Rasadiya Nivedana Tharu (Announcing Star).

Brandix employees storm the stage at scintillating talent show

A celebration of talent on an extraordinary scale filled the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium to capacity recently when employees of Brandix witnessed the crowning of the best singers, dancers and announcers among themselves at the grand finale of the Group’s annual talent competition.

A dazzling exhibition of aesthetic skills on the scale of some of the most popular local reality television talent shows demonstrated the depth of non-work-related talent stirred and nurtured by Brandix as part of the Group’s ‘Rasadiya Mangalya’ (Mercury Festival) to inspire associates to be the best they can be in multiple aspects.

Conducted by Brandix every year across the Group’s factories in Sri Lanka, the three competitions saw the four finalists from 250 that competed in the preliminary rounds of the ‘Rasadiya Gee Tharuwa’ (Singing Star) competition, six troupes of dancers shortlisted from the 18 teams that participated in the preliminary rounds of the ‘Rasadiya Narthana Tharu’ (Dancing Stars) contest and the three finalists selected from 60 that vied for the ‘Rasadiya Nivedana Tharu’ (Announcing Star) prize performing on stage before panels of celebrity judges.

At the end of an evening of high quality entertainment watched by 5,000 Brandix associates, the coveted title of Brandix ‘Rasadiya Gee Tharuwa’ for 2017 was won by Sanjeewa Pushpakumara of Brandix Casualwear, Ratmalana, with Nimesh Chathuranga of Brandix Casualwear, Seeduwa, Sanath Indika of Brandix Essentials, Koggala and Ishara Sewwandi of Brandix Fast Fashion, Welisara taking second, third and fourth place respectively.

The Brandix ‘Rasadiya Narthana Tharu’ title was won by the dance troupe of Brandix Fast Fashion, Avissawella, followed by Brandix Casualwear, Rideegama, Brandix Essentials, Koggala and Brandix Lingerie, Wathupitiwala.

The Brandix Rasadiya Nivedana Tharu  a new competition introduced this year  was won by H. G. Ajith Priyantha of Brandix Athleisure, Polonnaruwa, with Samith Rangana Fernando of Brandix Casualwear, Ratmalana and G. P. Eranga Premakumara of Teejay Lanka PLC, Avissawella, being adjudged first and second runners-up respectively.

As in previous years, the finals of the three competitions were judged by professional artistes of repute. The judges for the Brandix Rasadiya Gee Tharuwa final were Nirosha Virajini, Keerthi Pasqual and Chandrasena Hettiarachchi; the judges for the Narthana Tharu final Rajini Selvanayagam, Pradeepa Ariyawansa and Channa Wijewardana and for the Nivedana Tharu, Harendra Jayalal, Kusum Peiris and Rajini Raj Mohan.

Brandix ranked Sri Lanka’s most valuable Export Brand for 3rd successive year

Brandix has been ranked Sri Lanka’s most valuable export brand for the third consecutive year in the just-released 2017 Brand Finance rankings of the country’s leading brands.

Already rated the country’s top exporter across all sectors, Brandix leads a group of highly respected export brands in apparel, IT, tea, manufacturing, processed foods, services and printing, in this year’s Brand Finance ranking.

According to Brand Finance, the attributes measured for the rankings included a brand’s corporate vision, reputation and image; leadership and people; degree of innovation and quality consciousness.

“The scale or size of the exporter plays a key role in being included in our listing, as it is based on the perceptions of survey respondents who are middle to senior managers in business,” Brand Finance said in its segment titled ‘Strongest Export Brands’.

Last year, Brandix was declared the country’s largest exporter overall by the Export Development Board (EDB) for 2014 and 2015, thereby confirming the Group’s position as Sri Lanka’s top exporter across all industries for the past four years. In all, the Group has won 25 Presidential Export Awards to date.

The pioneer of the concept of ‘total solutions’ in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and a preferred supplier to some of the top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix is also a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice.


Brandix is country’s largest corporate blood donor for 7th year

Employees of the Brandix Group donated 4,090 units of blood in 2016-17, reaffirming the Group’s status as the largest corporate blood donor in Sri Lanka for the seventh successive year.

The highest annual volume donated by the Group to the National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) to date, the blood was collected at 27 manufacturing locations in Sri Lanka over several months. With this latest donation, the cumulative figure for blood donations by employees of Brandix over the past 10 years reached 24,513 units.

“The civic consciousness of our associates is an inspiration and a great example, ” said Colonel Sujith Jayasekara, Senior General Manager Group Human Resources of Brandix. “They understand that a sustained and consistent supply of blood to the NBTS is a national priority and willingly donate every year.”

In appreciation of the Group’s enduring commitment to the cause of blood donation, the National Blood Transfusion Service recently presented Brandix with a special plaque for being the largest corporate blood donor in the country during the last 12 months.

Among the highest contributing locations to the Brandix blood donation campaign in the concluded year were Brandix Lingerie Wathupitiwala with 448 units followed by Brandix Essentials Koggala with 356 units and Brandix Athleisure Polonnaruwa with 333 units. Seventeen of the 27 locations covered by the collection campaign donated more than 100 units each.

According to the NBTS, donations of this scale over a significant time period are necessary to meet the organisation’s requirements. By being geographically widespread, the Brandix campaign increases supplies of blood in many areas, including those that do not usually receive donations of significant volume compared with areas like Colombo. Brandix’s blood donation campaigns are also significant as they are conducted on weekdays instead of the general norm of weekends. This is particularly helpful in sustaining blood platelets, which have a lifespan of five days, for use during the course of the week.

Brandix named Sri Lanka’s exporter of the year for 5th successive year

Wins 5 Presidential Export Awards in respect of 2016 contribution to nation’s economy

The Brandix Group has topped Sri Lanka’s ranking of exporters for the fifth consecutive year in 2016 to be declared the country’s Exporter of the Year by the Export Development Board (EDB) at a ceremony presided over by President Maithripala Sirisena today.

The coveted top award across all categories of exports was among five Presidential Export Awards presented to the Group at this high-profile event to recognise contributions by export companies to the national economy.

Besides the Sri Lankan Exporter of the Year award, Brandix received the awards for Highest Employment Provider in the Export Industry; Highest Net Foreign Exchange Earner in the Export Industry; the sectoral award for Highest Foreign Exchange Earner in the Apparel Sector and the award for Excellence in Sustainable Development, in a reaffirmation of the depth and scale of the Group’s involvement in the export sector.

With this latest set of Presidential Export Awards, the Brandix Group took its tally of accolades from this annual event to 30.

“Our commitment to the ideal of being a provider of inspired solutions to global apparel brands drives everything we do,” Brandix CEO Ashroff Omar said commenting on the awards won by the Group. “With our approach of consistently adding value to our offering, we are happy to help in keeping Sri Lanka’s apparel industry competitive in the global arena.”

At the Presidential Export Awards last year in respect of 2014 and 2015, the Group won 11 awards including the Exporter of the Year awards for both years and the awards for Highest Net Foreign Exchange Earner in 2014 and 2015, Highest Foreign Exchange Earner in the Apparel Sector in those two years, Highest Employment Provider in the Export Industry in 2014 and 2015 and the Highest Value Added Exporter in the Apparel Sector in 2015. The Group also won the award for Excellence in Sustainable Development and the award for Highest Contributor from the Regions to the Export Supply Chain, both in respect of 2014.

Brandix has also been ranked Sri Lanka’s most valuable export brand in Brand Finance’s ranking of the country’s leading brands in 2015, 2016 and 2017.