Michael Espeut,General Manager, Morritt's TortugaUp Front
From Engineer to Resort GeneralManager:
Michael Espeut continues to climb
Michael Espeut,General Manager, Morritt's Tortuga
In 1993, a service call to Morritt's TortugaClub, brought Michael Espeut -- at the time the owner and managerof his own air conditioning business --
to the East End Resort.
"I saw the place, beautiful and sereneand fell in love with it," he recounted to Cayman Net Newsin a recent interview.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Michael applied for a job as Chief Engineer, and got it. Today,he is the General Manager of the 177-unit resort.
"A lot of hard work," has taken him from from air conditioningengineer to resort general manager, Michael said.
"It takes a lot of dedication and love for the industry.It's not so much a hard transition because while you're a chiefengineer, you're involved in management of people. I was workingvery closely with the general manager at the time, things werepassed on to me and I picked up on certain areas as I went along.I'm a very fast learner," he says.
Relaxing at home, wearing a constant smile and a quiet demeanour,Michael recalled his career's learning curve.
"I started off in the air conditioning industry with CaymanAir Conditioning," he said. "Then I went to Mike's Icefor four years. I left and went to work for the Hyatt, and waspart of the opening team, somewhere around 1986 or 1987. I wasthere for about a year, being trained to eventually become thedirector of engineering."
But, as he remembered it, the opportunity arose to start an airconditioning business with a partner, which he did for a yearor two, before the business was dissolved. He then started hisown company - Tropic Air Conditioning, which he was operatingin 1993, when the service call from Morritt's came.
His engineering training - from local courses, on-the-job sessionsand at General Electric's training plant in Kentucky, USA -- certainlyprepared him for one of the main demands of the job - dealingwith people.
"I'm not a bully manager who pushes people around,"Michael said of his management style at the resort. " I tendto give people a chance. There are managers that will take theirstaff and play them against each other and bully them into doingthings that they are not normally supposed to do. That's not mystyle. I take each manager and treat him/her on an individualbasis."
It is how, he says, he has been able to "get a lot out ofmy staff," who, in turn have taken that style as a modelfor dealing with those under their charge.
"Right now at the resort, we have a very happy staff - ofmany nationalities - Indians, Canadians, Caymanians, Jamaicans,English, Irish, Hondurans, Polish, New Zealand, Italians and Filipinos,"Michael said.
Morritts Tortuga employs 140 persons plus a construction crewof 24 men, for the resort's current expansion project - Morritt'sGrand Tortuga -- which it is undertaking, along with a local contractor.
'The Grand', as Michael lovingly terms it, will have108 self-containedone and two-bedroom, well-appointed penthouses, and is scheduledto be opened in May.
All of this falls under the general manager's ambit and Michaelnoted that it doesn't stop there. "We have acquired the propertynext to the Grand and are now working...to expand it; we are alsothinking of putting up a shopping plaza," he said.
If anything, Michael, who became General Manager in February 2000during a period of "unsettledness, getting to the edge ofchaos," seems undaunted by the challenge of it all.
He recalled that prior to his appointment to the top spot, hewas promoted from Chief Engineer to Assistant General Manager."I was put in the position to advance my knowledge and trainingto eventually take over," he said. But the then General Managerleft. "In a matter of one month, I went from Chief Engineerto General Manager," Michael recalled. In addition sincelast December's resignation of the resort's Chief Exceutive Officer,he has assumed those responsibilities, as well.
"I took the reins and settled things down. I do have knowledgeof financial matters, so that helps," he says modestly, addingthat from all accounts, including that of Mr. David Morritt towhom he reports directly, he's "doing a good job."
By any measure, Morritt's Tortuga -- which operates on a time-sharebasis, as well as rents and exchanges accommodation -- is alsodoing well.
According to Michael, last year occupancy was on average 88 percent.Two weeks ago it was running at 96 percent and projections forfirst half of the year are looking good. He noted that alreadythere are bookings for 'The Grand', which opens in May.
Ninety percent of the resort's visitors are from the United States,a direct result of its marketing there, although all sales aregenerated locally.
He noted that some 75-80 percent of owners prefer the serenityand the quiet, relaxing atmosphere of East End, compared to SevenMile Beach. "The other 20 percent want to go shopping, and95 percent of guests rent cars," Michael observed.
In addition, "a reasonable number" of Caymanians retreatthere and there are "a few who own timeshare units."
Workers commute to the East End resort, even from George Town,Michael says, and they are facilitated with a bus service runby the resort.
Mike sees further development in East End, as a result of Morritt'sgrounding in the district. "A lot of people who live in theEastern Districts would like to see something happening there."It's going to happen," he asserted.
"With the growth that we are experiencing the time shareindustry, I see a demand for shops and housing. The bigger marketwe create, there are of course job opportunities and people willbe looking for someplace to settle nearby. We have staff who havedone that already."
Morritt's, he said, will continue to be involved in the community,and to support such projects as the Easter Monday community partyand football in the district.
Looking ahead, Michael spoke of a push to get more Caymaniansinvolved in the resort, particularly in the sales department.
The father of one pre-teen and two teenaged daughters has someadvice for young Caymanians. "Focus on a goal of where youwant to be and work hard at it," he counseled.
"It pays off in the long run."
And Michael Espeut, General Manager of Morritt's Tortuga, is proofpositive of that.