Sonia Williams

Sonia Williams and her husband John have been in the British Virgin Islands since Halloween, 1978. They currently live in Pasea Estate (where they have owned a house for the last two decades). They live in a house that has recently been extensively renovated, and which they purchased from their friends Ian and Irene Taylor. In addition they have rented in the Prospect Reef apartments and several locations in the Hodge’s Creek, Maya Cove, and Paraquita Bay areas of Tortola.

Sonia comes from the coastal town of Formby in what is now the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. Historically Formby was part of Lancashire, and dates back to at least Domesday book times. The Williams’ still own Sonia’s parents’ house in Formby and visit the area each year on holiday. They also have an apartment in Anguilla.

Sonia and John came to the BVI after John retired from the British army (see John’s “profile” on this website). They answered an advert that was soliciting managers for the Ample Hamper (which was owned by Robert and Sally Dick-Read – see their profile on this website). They were successful in their application and signed up for a year in Tortola, beginning in 1978.

After the year was up they looked for other opportunities on Tortola, and after considering several offers, went into partnership with Ian Taylor and his wife Irene in Caribbean Insurers Ltd. (founded in 1973) and Island Services BVI Ltd (in existence since 1965). (The Taylors also owned The Cockle Shop.) Sonia ran Island Services and John took over Caribbean Insurance, after a period of time (“a succession plan”) when they worked in concert with the Taylors as their mentors. As the Island Services website says,

   We are a full service office products company specializing in stationery, office furniture, corporate gifts and interior design/space planning for offices.  We are a locally owned business.  This means when you buy from us, all profits and taxes stay in the BVI to benefit you and your business. (http://www.islandservicesbvi.com/about.html)

Local ownership is important to the Williams’, and although they are now largely retired Sonia (and John) remain as Directors of their companies, and are mentoring new local owners in each operation.

As Sonia says, they “got lucky” as their ownership coincided with the spectacular growth of the Virgin Islands economy, and in particular the growth of the financial sector – which led to a demand for office furniture and supplies.  She also got an early contract to furnish the new government building.
 
Tortola has changed dramatically over the past thirty years. For Sonia, the most significant change has been in the field of communications, as this has transformed the lives of Virgin Islanders, as well as enabling changes in, for instance, the twin pillars of the economy, finance and tourism. When she arrived, Telexes were still being used. These operated in a similar way to telephone networks but were used to send text-based messages. As a medium of communication Telex was superseded first by the fax and then by email. The fax machine was growing in importance in the late 1970s when the Sonia arrived on Tortola, but the Telex survived for some time.

But in “the early days” Sonia had to send questions about potential orders by mail to the UK, wait for a reply, then send the order (along with money). This took weeks and weeks. Phones were also few and far between compared to today, and of course there were no cell phones. Nowadays the computer and its associated ‘peripherals’ reigns supreme and conducting a business is considerably easier and much faster.

Tortola is in many ways unrecognizable compare with 35 years ago. Air transportation has improved immensely (despite the recent developments which have made the process of flying much more tiring and troublesome). Unfortunately the ferry system in the Virgin Islands has not kept pace with the aeronautical developments. Other major changes include a much greater and better supply of shops. The number of and the range of goods within supermarkets has particularly changed Sonia’s life. Overall the number of businesses has increased many-fold -- a particularly good thing for an office supply company! In addition the number of vehicles has greatly increased, along with the mileage of roads, and the attendant problems of parking and traffic accidents. Over and above these developments, government has changed. It has become more complex and more bureaucratic – inevitably given the diversification and growth within the Virgin Islands. But Sonia believes that life would be much harder for entrepreneurs such as her and her husband, if they were arriving now -- to be met by the contemporary rules and regulations, forms and paperwork, regarding immigration, labour and other facets of daily life.

Overall there have been a lot of challenging developments in the Virgin Islands since 1978. In addition, the transformation of the Virgin Islands into a wealthy, modern-day, globalised country has led to vast cultural change in the islands, and there are still likely to be more adjustments in society in the future.

Sonia is pleased with what she has achieved in the BVI, both in business and in non-working hours. If she were able to do things over, she wouldn’t change anything significant. She helped make Island Services a progressive business that became involved with major international supplies at an early date – such as Steelcase, “the global leader in the office furniture industry”. She still attends some Island Services company meetings and helps out when she can. Sonia believed from the start in doing things right. In her leisure hours she helped out at the Sports Club – for instance, organizing the squash ladder.

Sonia and John were in the first group of expats who were made citizens of the BVI (after being here about ten years) and they later became belongers. They have no intention of leaving the BVI - which is their home - but are attempting to get the best of all worlds by traveling more after their retirement from business life – like many other people, mostly during the hurricane season.

First draft of September 11 2012, of interview of August 31st 2012.

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