Two eminent industry leaders join Teejay Lanka board as independent directors

Bill McRaith and Shrihan Perera fortify top textile manufacturer’s corporate leadership

Teejay Lanka PLC has announced the appointment of two eminent apparel industry personalities, Messrs. Bill McRaith and Shrihan B. Perera as independent, non-executive directors, effective 1^st March 2024.

Recently retired after an illustrious career of more than three decades in the global apparel and retail industries, Mr Bill McRaith was, in his last appointment, Chief Supply Chain Officer at PVH Corp., the American clothing company that owns brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.

Based at the company’s New York headquarters, he oversaw PVH’s global supply chain operations and was responsible for developing the global production structure, processes, manufacturing footprint and logistics network that serviced the needs of the company’s global retail and wholesale divisions.

A native of Scotland and an Honorary Professor of Glasgow Caledonian University, Mr McRaith has also served as Senior Vice President of Global Sourcing at Wal-Mart, managing electronic, hardware, toys, and home furnishings supply chains; as Executive Vice President of Manufacturing, Sourcing and Product Development for Victoria’s Secret; and as Chief Supply Chain Officer – Intimates at Limited Brands.

He was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and currently serves on the F.I.T. International Trade & Marketing Advisory Board as well as an Industry advisor to O9 Solutions. Since his retirement from the corporate world, Mr McRaith has leveraged his manufacturing, supply chain and brand retail knowledge to support industry efforts on Climate and Environmental Impact while enabling profitable growth, preparing for future legislation.  As such, he acts as an advisor on Future-Proof Fashion.

Mr Shrihan Perera was the CEO of Teejay Lanka PLC from April 2018 to December 2019 and retired four years ago. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants/CGMA, UK., and has a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering 2^nd Class Upper Honors, from the University of Moratuwa.

He served as CEO of Brandix Apparel Solutions Limited from January 2010 to March 2018, and as National Finance Director of Unilever Sri Lanka Limited from April 2007 to December 2009.

Mr Perera currently serves as an independent director on the boards of Teejay Lanka Prints (Private) Limited, Teejay India Private Limited and Fintrex Finance Limited. He is also a consultant to and undertakes coaching assignments for Iceman Technologies Limited and Elegant Knitting International Limited.

The Teejay Group owns manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka and India, along with a state-of-the-art printing facility in Sri Lanka. An ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and OHSAS 18001:2007 compliant company and the first in the industry to develop green fabric, Teejay Lanka was also the first textile manufacturer in Sri Lanka to receive membership of the US Cotton Trust Protocol. Teejay is a public quoted company with 40 per cent public ownership and the backing of Sri Lanka’s largest apparel exporter Brandix Lanka which has a 33 per cent stake in the Company. Pacific Textiles of Hong Kong, whose key shareholder is the Tokyo Stock Exchange listed Toray Industries Inc., owns 27 per cent of Teejay Lanka.

Teejay Lanka was ranked the No 1 corporate entity among 100 public listed companies in Sri Lanka for Transparency in Corporate Reporting in the TRAC 2022 assessment carried out by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), the local arm of the international corruption watchdog. The TISL assessment was carried out on three areas crucial to fighting and preventing corruption: reporting on anti-corruption programmes, transparency in company holdings and the disclosure of key financial information in domestic operations.