G.C. Wickremasinghe calls it a day at Aitken Spence after 60 year stint

Veteran Director G.C. Wickremasinghe has resigned from the Board of Aitken Spence and Company PLC having served the organisation since 1972.

Aitken Spence announced yesterday that Independent Non-Executive Director Wickremasinghe has tendered his resignation effective 30 November. He was the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination Committee and also a member of the Audit Committee and Related Party Transactions Review Committee. He was holding 7.3 million shares in Aitken Spence as of now.

Wickremasinghe was first appointed to the Spence Board in April 1972.

His career at Aitken Spence spans over 60 years including serving as a Main Board Director of Aitken Spence PLC since 1972 and as its Chairman in 1996/97.

After completing his education at Royal College Colombo, Wickremasinghe joined Aitken Spence Plantations in 1954 and remained for 11 years as a professional planter. Whilst there, he was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship to study Management and Industrial Relations at the then British Ministry of Labour and National Service in the UK.

He was transferred to the head office in 1965 and having successfully managed the estates department, his responsibilities were expanded to include the management of the Insurance department and Lloyd’s Agency. In 1972, he established the GSA operations for Singapore Airlines.

He also spearheaded the construction of the Triton Hotel, now Heritance Ahungalla, working closely with the renowned architect, Geoffrey Bawa. He conceived and implemented the conversion of the iconic Tea Factory Hotel, one of the most successful hotels in the Group.