Hayleys Kelani Valley Plantations shines at National Business Excellence Awards

Hayleys Group Company, Kelani Valley Plantations PLC (KVPL) made history at the recent National Business Excellence Awards 2017 as the first plantation sector company to win a record number of awards in a single year.

Kelani Valley Plantations PLC in total won eight awards and secured a spot among the top three companies of the year making history yet again as the first plantation company to earn such a distinct honour. Under ‘Criteria Awards’, the company won four Gold Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance, Excellence in Performance Management, Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility and Excellence in Local Market reach and won two Silver Awards for Excellence in Capacity Building and Excellence in Environmental Sustainability.

In addition, the company also bagged a Silver Award in the Extra Large Category and a Gold Award in the Business Sector Awards for Agriculture and Plantations. Commenting on the achievement, Managing Director of KVPL Roshan Rajadurai said: “We are honoured to be recognized with multiple awards for our performance in the last year.

“Despite challenges faced by the tea sector in Sri Lanka in the last year, Kelani Valley Plantations has managed to remain resilient and moved forward by adapting international industry best practices. We hope to keep up the same winning momentum in the New Year too and continue to set new benchmarks for the plantations sector in Sri Lanka and lead by example,” he added.

The National business excellence awards (NBEA) was pioneered by the National Chamber of Commerce as way back as 2004, at a time when there were no recognizable awards competitions in the country. Over the years, NBEA has maintained its high standard of professionalism and gained high recognition and prestige among the business community, and today has become one of the most sought after business award competitions, with the most comprehensive and stringent evaluation scheme and a symbol of ‘Excellence’ for the best of the best businesses in Sri Lanka.

Hayleys Kelani Valley Plantations (KVPL) has consistently been ranked number one among Sri Lanka’s regional plantation companies in rubber. The company manages 26 tea and rubber estates, with KVPL holding the record for the highest ever yield of 1008 kg per hectare. In addition, KVPL comprises 26 estates covering approximately 13,000 hectares in equal extents of tea and rubber, spanning three distinctive agro-climatic regions. Company’s HRM strategy extended not only for 11000 direct work force but also for entire plantation community of 58000.

Kelani Valley Plantations PLC have won a number of accolades including the National HR Excellence Awards 2016, Asia-Pacific HRM Congress Awards in 2016 and 2017, Global HR excellence Awards in 2017 and South Asian Business Excellence Awards in 2017. In addition, they were the proud ’Gold award’ winner at SLITAD People Development Award 2017.