A closer look at ... Ian Tibbetts

Ian and his beautiful wife, Marsha.

 Ian and Marsha Tibbetts, with their children Marteka, 
Mariah, Minelli, Marshanni, and Ian Baines Jr.

Friday,  April 15, 2005

A series in which Caymanians, who were raised on the Sister Islands and went on to achieve success in their fields, talk to Cayman Net News.

From an idyllic childhood on Cayman Brac, Ian Tibbetts has risen to one of the most important positions in one of the most important industries in the Cayman Islands. 

As Chief Operating Officer for Cable and Wireless, a position he has held since October 2004, he is responsible for all aspects of the business related to the retail operations of the Cayman Business Unit (BU). 

He describes himself as a father and husband, who is a friendly, easy going, energetic, competitive, action-oriented, resourceful and flexible individual. He loves to be challenged and has hobbies as diverse as photography, boating, flying, shooting, mechanics and computing.

The youngest of five children of Marjorie and the late Captain Keith Tibbetts, he was born in 1966 and raised in the Bight at the home where his mother still lives, attending first Creek Primary and then Cayman Brac High School. His father owned one of the first supermarkets on the Island, a gas station and shipping agency, and was one of the Sister Islands’ most famous and colourful MLAs.

“My childhood in the Brac was fantastic!” he said. “I learned most of the values that make me who I am today through being raised in the Brac. It provided a safe, healthy environment in which to observe, experiment and learn to be responsible. I was introduced to work at a very early age.” 

Mr Tibbetts spent many hours discharging shipping containers and stacking the warehouse, changing and repairing car tires, checking- out customers and operating the gas pumps at the gas station, to name a few of his chores. However, he said he was given the freedom and time to be a kid as well, and spent a lot of time cycling, exploring the Bluff, fishing (both line and spear), surfing, and a multitude of kids’ games, like marbles and spinning gigs (tops). His childhood taught him to work hard and play hard. 

“I learnt to do it right first time, and if something needed doing, to get on and do it, not to wait to be told to. I learnt to do many things as a young kid that most don’t get to do until they are in their late teens, for example, mechanical repairs, how to operate boats and cars.

“I was quite capable, and as a result allowed to operate a boat on my own from the time I was eight or nine years old. It was the norm, as a child, to operate tools, both manual and powered, that could easily cause injury if not used properly.

“One of the major differences between then and now was the discipline. You knew that if you did something wrong, you were going to be punished, possibly by any responsible adult who saw it, and definitely by your parents,” he said. 

Mr Tibbetts’ career path took an unexpected turn after he graduated from high school. Initially, he went to work at his parents’ business, KP Tibbetts Co. Ltd., where he planned to work for a year before going off to college and then return and gradually take over from his father. Instead, he joined Cable &Wireless, which had a reputation for providing excellent educational and career opportunities. 

The job with C&W took him to Grand Cayman, where he worked for one year as a Record Systems Serviceman, maintaining Telex machines, before going to England to pursue a B-TEC ND at C&W Telecommunications College for just under 2 years. On his return, he worked as a technician in all the engineering sections, with the exception of satellite and radio. 

This very diverse engineering background paved the way for the next move in October 1987, when he became the first technician to be permanently stationed on Cayman Brac in preparation for the installation of a stored program control telephone exchange.

“It was during this period that I married my wonderful wife Marsha, also from the Brac, whom I had started dating there in 1983.” 

The wedding of Marsha Ramgeet and Ian Tibbetts took place in First Baptist Church, George Town, Grand Cayman in 1989, and they have since been blessed with five beautiful children, Marteka (14), Mariah (11), Minelli (8), Marshanni (7), and the only boy in the pack, Ian Baines Jr. (BJ), aged 5. The couple lived on the Brac for two years before leaving for England for fifteen months with one-year old Marteka, so that Mr Tibbetts could further his education. 

Returning to Grand Cayman in 1992, he went to work as the Senior Technician in the PABX department, in charge of installation and maintenance of PABX systems. In 1994 he was appointed Network Operations Administrator, responsible for the operator services, number plan management, some aspects of international carrier relations and traffic management.

This role involved spending one in every five weeks in a different city in the US, representing the company at Industry Numbering Committee meetings. In this position, he completed negotiations for the assignment and oversaw the implementation of the 345 area code for the Cayman Islands.

“I was still in this role in 1996 when my wife and I experienced what, to date, has been the greatest challenge of our lives. Our six-year-old daughter, Marteka, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and had to undergo surgery followed by radiation treatment and a year of chemotherapy. This required my wife and kids to spend nine months in the US, with me traveling back and forth regularly.”

During this period, C&W underwent a major restructure, in which Mr Tibbetts was promoted to Head of Department for Government and Business, the first of a series of promotions leading to his present position.

The strongest influences in his life have been his parents, especially Captain Keith.

“My father had been involved in just about everything during his life. He was a sea captain, a ship builder, an engineer, a carpenter, a Justice of the Peace; he had been in the Merchant Marines in WWII; he was an MLA, an auditor, a business man…the list goes on and on.

“He was a wealth of information on virtually any topic and eager to share or assist, but most importantly he had excellent judgment and common sense.”

One of Mr Tibbetts’ strongest memories from childhood was an occasion in the 70’s when Captain Keith lead the people of Cayman Brac in an act of civil disobedience to protest a development plan for the Sister Islands. 

It was, said Mr Tibbetts, quite unsuitable for the two Islands at the time and, galvanized by Captain Keith, the population parked almost every vehicle on Cayman Brac on the runway. This was to prevent the Governor from landing to present this plan until agreement was reached that they would reconsider the plan, taking into account feedback from the people of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

“He had very high standards and was very much a no nonsense person. I think it would be fair to say that he respected many but feared no- one. To him his good name was critical, his word was binding. He was determined and never gave up.”

The late Captain Keith believed, “a good gentleman’s agreement is far better than a signed contract between persons without integrity”.

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