KC principal adds RUBiS deal to career accomplishments

As the most recent service station operator for the recently reopened Old Harbour Road location, Dave Myrie has always had a passion for service excellence. This passion, he says, developed over the years thanks to his holding a number of positions within the service industry. These included Principal of Wolmer’s Boys School, Group General Manager of Tastee Limited, executive positions at H&L Rapid True Value and Grace Kennedy and most recently, Principal of Kingston College – a position he has held for the last eight years.

Myrie explained that he has always been interested in achieving his business goals outside of education; one of which was operating a service station. He said: “Becoming a service station operator was always a goal I had from my days of growing up in England and seeing the success that the service station operators there enjoyed increased my desire to enter that industry even after moving to Jamaica to become a Principal at Wolmer’s Boys’ School. This opportunity was two and a half years in the making and my wife and I are excited that we have made this goal a reality – albeit in the middle of a global pandemic.” 

While his transition from educator to service station operator may seem unusual to some, the Kingston College headmaster believes in planning for future success. “Although teaching and being in education is my passion, I believe that it is important to make plans for future sustainability and becoming a service station operator supports that vision I have for myself and my family.”

When asked about his vision for his service station, Myrie was clear that he would not try to compete only on price but on service excellence. Said the all-boy school principal: “I am aware that there are a number of competing operators in the area who may compete primarily with price as their main focus.  I am aiming for top class service as my main competitive advantage, supported of course by competitive pricing, and an ultra-modern convenience store with a wide range of offerings. This is not a petrol station; it is a service station. Service excellence will be our differentiator.”

RUBiS Retail Manager Wayne Wright is happy to have a dealer such as Myrie as the newest member of the RUBiS family of operators, sating: “We are always happy to help Jamaicans achieve their business goals. We happily support local entrepreneurship and employment while maintaining world class service delivery standards and management systems.”

RUBiS has been consistently renovating a number of its service stations across the island in an effort to enhance customer experience and service delivery. Most notably, the installation of state-of-the-art automatic tank gauging (ATG) systems and the latest technology in fuel storage tanks will see RUBiS customers benefiting from faster service, environmental protection, no service station downtime and retailers benefiting from the prevention of fuel losses. In addition, a large quantity of RUBiS stores will be upgraded to Ultra Shops so that customers can access even more products and services.  Further renovations will be done on an ongoing basis as the company aims to modernize all of its service stations to match first world standards.

Myrie hopes to be able to provide value added services for his customers in order to keep them coming back to his service station. “I am looking at including products and services at the Old Harbour Road operation that are not offered anywhere else in the area. I believe it is important to keep a close dialogue with customers to understand their needs and to meet those needs every time. People will come back if they are treated well and we are striving for that. We will operate as a family and we want to maintain that throughout whilst giving customers an unforgettable experience.”