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Unilever's British chairman set to retire in RP

Unilever's British chairman set to retire in RP
Thumbnail: Howard Belton

Howard Belton

Howard Belton, the outgoing chairman of consumer maker giant Unilever is a man who has fallen in love with the Philippines.

He grew up in Stratford England and has worked in some of the most cosmopolitan countries in the world, but it is here in the Philippines where he has worked for eight years that he intends to spend most of his golden years.

“I enjoy living here,” Belton said. In his book, A Voyage of Discovery, he confesses a fondness for the warmth of the Philippines, both its weather and the hospitality of its people.

As an Englishman accustomed to grey skies and rain, Belton said he found the Philippines' abundant sunlight having a beneficial effect on his emotions.

Besides hospitality and graciousness, Benton admires Filipinos' willingness to adapt to change, saying this made them ideal business colleagues.

Belton also said he and his wife have practical and emotional reasons for wanting to stay on. High taxes and cost of living in England make the Philippines an attractive option, he pointed out.

“The retirement scheme for foreigners is quite attractive,” he said. “It is far easier to get good care here,” Belton added.

The couple intends to split their time between the Philippines and England, where they have a farm in bucolic Kent.

Besides many fond memories and close friendships built during his long stay here, Belton said he still feels a duty to continue helping Unilever's corporate social responsibility programs like a feeding project for undernourished children in Baseco and Smokey Mountain and environmental rehabilitation efforts for the Pasig River, Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay.

Don't expect Benton to spend his retirement days puttering around the house. The couple has business plans and the executive joked: “My wife is making it very hard for me to retire and not to work.”

Belton also forecasts a bright future for Unilever Philippines. He sees the country to be an export hub for “innovative” laundry detergents and mayonnaise variants.

“We realized that Unilever Philippines could be a good export source. Right now, we are creating a new technology for our laundry detergent, I'm sure the Philippines will be very competent there. We also consider dressing; [mayonnaise variants] because we have a very good and modern plant here, at the same time everything would still be available locally,” he said.

He said Unilever's Philippine subsidiary has sustained its 30-percent annual growth in the last four years though the economic crunch is expected to whittle this down to 25 percent for 2006 and to 10 percent by 2007.