Krishan Balendra
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Non-Executive,Non-Independent Director/Chairman
Mr Balendra was appointed to the Board of Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, on 1st January 2018 and was appointed as Chairman on 1st January 2019. He is also the Chairman of John Keells Holdings PLC, the parent company of CCS. Also serving as the Director of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Hon. Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Sri Lanka, Mr Balendra has experience in the capacity of the former Chairman of Nations Trust Bank and the Colombo Stock Exchange. Having started his career at UBS Warburg, Hong Kong, in investment banking, focusing primarily on equity capital markets He joined JKH in 2002, having qualified in law at the University of London.
Gihan Cooray
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Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Mr Cooray was appointed to the Board of Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, on 1st January 2018. He also serves in the capacity of the Deputy Chairman/Group Finance Director and has overall responsibility for the finance and accounting, taxation, corporate finance and strategy, treasury, IT functions, which also includes John Keells IT, and John Keells Research. Also serving as the Chairman of Nations Trust Bank PLC, and a committee member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce; Mr Cooray holds an MBA from the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, Houston, Texas.
He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, a Certified Management Accountant of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Australia and holds a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.
Daminda Gamlath
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Executive Director
Mr Gamlath is the President of the Consumer Foods Industry Group. He joined the John Keells Group in 2002 and was the Sector Financial Controller of the IT Sector and then the Consumer Foods Industry Group. He was appointed as the Head of Beverages in 2013. Prior to JKH Group, he worked at Hayleys Group. Mr Gamlath holds a BSc. (Eng) degree from the University of Moratuwa, an MBA from the University of Colombo and is a passed finalist of the CIMA UK. He was appointed as a member of the JKH Group Operating Committee (GOC) in 2017 and member of the Group Executive Committee (GEC) in 2019.
Nelindra Fernando
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Executive Director
Presently acting as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Consumer Foods industry group, Nelindra Fernando has been with John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) since 2013.Prior to her role as CFO, Nelindra was the Sector Financial Controller at the Consumer Foods Sector. With over 20 years of experience, Nelindra previously worked at MAS Holdings for ten ( 10) years, Ernst & Young, Chartered Accountants for four [04] years and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of UK and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. She was appointed as a member of the John Keells Group Operating Committee (GOC) in 2018. Nelindra also serves as a Non Executive Director at Keells Food Products PLC board.
Muhammed Hamza
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Non-Executive, Independent Director
Appointed to the Board of Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, on 15th May 2015, Mr Hamza brings over 30 years of managerial experience in the FMCG industry to the table. During his 28 year long career with Nestle in senior marketing and General Management positions in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Indonesia and Mr Hamza has played a significant role in transforming the Nestle’s role in Sri Lankan food and beverage market’ and had been instrumental in developing strong FMCG brands such as Nestomalt and Milo, which are the flagship brands of Nestle in Sri Lanka, today.
Presently he is also the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Handicraft Board – Laksala had been serving as the CEO/Director at Atlas Axillia (Pvt) Ltd, for a period of 5 years, prior. Mr Hamza holds a B. Com degree from the University of Peradeniya, an MBA from The American University in Washington DC and a Post Graduate degree in General Management from IMD, Switzerland.
Dr.Shanthi Wilson Wijeratnam
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Non-Executive, Independent Director
Dr Wijeratnam was appointed to the Board of Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, on 17th June 2016. A graduate of the University College London with a B.Sc Hons degree in Microbiology, Dr Wijeratnam obtained her PhD from the University of Cambridge, specializing in plant pathology and post-harvest technology.
She was the Head of the Food Technology Section and subsequently Additional Director Research and Development at the ITI (Former CISIR). Dr Wijeratnam was also the country representative for IAEA supported food irradiation programmes and has been a visiting scholar at Cornell University, RIKILT, Netherlands, the University of Hawaii, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Guelph.
She has served on the Board of Directors of the Atomic Energy Agency, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the National Science Foundation and was the Chairman of the Institute of Post-Harvest Technology.
In January 2017, she was appointed to the International Advisory Board of the “Feed the Future - Horticulture Innovation Lab”, at the University of California, Davis.
Sharmini Ratwatte
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Non-Executive, Independent Director
Ms. Ratwatte was appointed to the Board of Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, on 17th June 2016. A Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, she also holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Colombo. Ms. Ratwatte holds Non-Executive Directorships in BPPL PLC, a manufacturer and exporter of household and professional cleaning products and is a Trustee of the Sunera Foundation, a non-profit organisation empowering differently abled persons using the performing arts.
She is also the Founding Trustee and Former Chairperson of the Federation of Environmental Organisations, which works to support environmental organisations operating in Sri Lanka.