Brandons Beach business operations likely to expand soon

by Marlon Madden

A section of one of Barbados’ prime beach locations could soon become home to a swimming academy, if all go according to the plans of businessman Robert Myers.

After acquiring the former Weisers Bar and Restaurant about five years ago and establishing Rascals of Barbados Bar and Restaurant along with a water park at the popular Brandons Beach location, Myers told Today’s BUSINESS he is set to do further investment at the location.

The UK-born businessman, who is the owner and team leader at Rascals of Barbados, said it was his intention to encourage more Barbadians to take up swimming while creating further employment opportunities.

“My wish is to give the opportunity, not tell them they have to swim, but encourage it. My ultimate dream is for most of the children to be able to swim. The more they swim, the more they are encouraged to swim. It won’t be the norm not to swim, it will be the norm to swim,” he said.

While plans for the swimming academy are in the infancy stage, Myers told Today’s BUSINESS he was hoping it will become a reality within another year.

He said he was in the process of trying to get a lease for a section of the property located adjacent to his property to set up the swimming facility for learning. There is to also be a play area and nursery for
young children.

“When we get next door, we are going to have a swimming pool and a play area second to none. I am looking to do it as soon as I get the lease.  I would like to get that done during 2023,” said Myers.

“We will be looking to some support – help and charitable donations towards the swimming academy and the rest we will do ourselves. We are going to do the swimming academy sooner rather than later with the help and support of the Government,” he said.

“When we have the play area it will be a safe play area. It will be security fenced in, there will be nursery staff there and it is an extension of what we are doing now. The parents can come here and the kids go in the park, the parents sometimes go in the park with them or they can just remain here and have a [drink],” he said.

The businessman said to date he has invested just over $5 million to create what now exists, and the planned investment into a swimming academy would be good for the economy since it would help to create new jobs.

The location, which is sometimes used by cricket and volleyball teams for training, offers a variety of activities including a water park, kayaking and paddle boarding, and is also a location for events such as Christmas parties and children’s parties, among others.

The 67-year-old Myers, who had his own near drowning experience over 20 years ago, and know friends who have children who have lost their lives that way, said he simply wanted to create added opportunities for children across the island to learn the sport, which is a pastime for many.

“People here in Barbados aren’t encouraged to swim. In fact, there is this thing that ‘the sea has no backdoors’. It has backdoors and you just have to be able to swim to them. I think it is an old saying and I don’t know where it comes from. I want everybody to learn to swim . . . We are not going to eliminate all [drowning], but if we encourage the children to swim then they can swim to safety,” he said.

In fact, Myers said he believed the time had come for Barbados to produce the next big name in swimming.

“We’ve got a black Formula 1 champion, we have a black world champion golfer, we’ve got a black sprinter, we have got no black swimmers and why not? If Barbados doesn’t produce it I would like one of the islands to do so. We want to see a black swimmer on top of the podium,” said Myers.

To date, Rascals of Barbados has created close to 30 full time jobs, and Myers told Today’s BUSINESS that this employment figure was set to double by the end of this year with the return of cruise ships.

“People are now on short hours at the moment because of the [situation]. We have got 30 employees now and we will have a further 30 . . . we open from 10 o’clock until 6 p.m. and that is six days a week. Eventually we will be opening seven days a week from maybe 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. but that will create another shift, which will double our employment,” he said.

“We missed out on the [cruise ships] this year summer and the tourism is quiet this time of year, but we are doing well . . . our main customers, first and foremost, are locals. We are the people’s bar. They come here and they are quite surprised to see that we are not cutting any corners,” said Myers.

He said since refurbishing the former Weisers location, and setting up the water park at the end of 2020, business has been good but said it has been a “long, slow and hard road” to get where he is today.

“We had certain difficulties but then we got the planning permission for the park. It was a long road –
a long, slow, hard road. In fact, I would have given up but quitters never win and winners never quit, and the biggest inspiration to me was when I spoke with the then Small Business Minister Dwight Sutherland . . . I still thank him,” recalled Myers.

He said he gave the business the name Rascals of Barbados in honour of his grandchildren and especially his triplet grandchildren, whom he said he referred to as rascals from time to time.

Additionally, Myers said the whole idea behind Rascals of Barbados is to create a place for families to spend fun times together.

marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb