The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Sir Jack Hayward would only have sold his family’s 50 per cent Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) stake to someone who could match his deep “passion and love” for the island, Tribune Business was told yesterday.

Kevin Seymour, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president, described the deceased GBPA co-chair as “a nation builder in the truest sense”, whose devotion to Freeport and its development never faltered.

Expressing his and the Chamber’s condolences on Sir Jack’s passing yesterday to the Hayward family, and his fellow owners and management at the GBPA, Mr Seymour said profit was not necessarily the motivating factor in his attachment to the Bahamas’ second city.

“In my last meeting with him late last year, he certainly still had a passion and love for Grand Bahama,” Mr Seymour told Tribune Business.

“He shared a story with me regarding his soccer team in the UK, and how some years ago he was minded to sell it. His reason for selling the soccer team was not how much consideration he got from the sale; the key was he found someone as passionate for the team as he was.

“The following day, the new investor spent £30 million on the team.”

The soccer team in question is Sky Bet Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves), who Sir Jack acquired in 1990. The sports pages in multiple UK newspapers paid fulsome tribute to him yesterday, reporting that he saved the team from possible extinction.

Sir Jack was also credited for making Wolves the club it is today, leaving behind a lasting legacy. He eventually sold the team for just £10 to current owner Steven Morgan in 2007, despite having pumped an estimated £60 million into Wolves during his 17 years in charge.

“He viewed Grand Bahama in a similar light,” Mr Seymour told Tribune Business. “If he [Sir Jack] got around to thinking about selling his interest in Grand Bahama, it would have to be to someone as equally passionate about the development of Grand Bahama as he was.”

Mr Seymour added that such persons were “few and far between, unfortunately”.

Placing Sir Jack alongside his former GBPA co-chair, the late Edward St George, the Chamber of Commerce chief added: “The kind of adjective that comes to mind when speaking of Sir Jack and the late Edward St George is nation builders.

“They have certainly made significant contributions to the island of Grand Bahama, and certainly the business community and the Chamber of Commerce is very grateful for their contribution.”

Mr Seymour also included Sir Jack’s father, the late Sir Charles Hayward, in the “nation builder” category.

Similar sentiments were expressed yesterday by Prime Minister Perry Christie, who said in a statement: “Just before embarking on what was to be his last cruise, Sir Jack and his equity partner in the GBPA, Lady Henrietta St. George, had joined me in an important conference call to discuss the way forward for Freeport.

“I was struck at the time by how optimistic and enthusiastic Sir Jack still was about the prospects for the expansion of tourism and industrial development in Freeport, this despite the increasing frailty of his own health and his greatly advanced years. He remained a true believer in Freeport to the very end of his days, and had been looking forward to its continued revitalisation.”

Sir Jack’s health deteriorated while on a cruise. He was taken off the ship in Mexico, and airlifted to Fort Lauderdale for medical care, where he died aged 91. He had been ill for several months.