Board of Directors

Hector ESPITALIER-NOËL

Chairman, Non-Executive Director

(Born in 1958)
Appointed in: April 1997
Qualifications: Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Committee: Member of the Corporate Governance Committee

Professional Journey:

• CEO of ENL Limited and of the ENL Group
• Worked for Coopers and Lybrand in London
• Worked for De Chazal du Mée in Mauritius
• Chairman of New Mauritius Hotels Limited and Semaris Ltd
• Past Chairman of the Board of Rogers and Company Limited
• Past Chairman of the Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture, the Mauritius Sugar Producers Association, and the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate

Skills & Experience:

• Extensive CEO and leadership experience and skills
• Strong financial management and strategic business planning skills
• Significant experience in alliances, ventures, and partnerships
• Staunch advocate for a more open Mauritius
• Advocate for a strong public-private sector partnership for sustainable growth
• Strong proponent of private enterprise and entrepreneurship
• Strongly convinced of the multidimensional role of business

Sunil BANYMANDHUB

Non-Executive Director

(Born in 1949)
Appointed in: March 2000
Qualifications: BSc Honours First Class in Civil Engineering UMIST,UK, Master’s degree in Business Studies (London Business School), Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales
Committee: Member of the Corporate Governance Committee

Professional Journey:

• Occupied senior positions within various major companies in the private sector in Mauritius
• Majority shareholder of a transport company
• Has been involved with several private sector organisations
• Former President of the Mauritius Employers’ Federation, and Member of the Presidential Commission on Judicial Reform presided over by Lord Mackay of Clashfern, previously UK Lord Chancellor
• Currently Chairman or Board member of a number of domestic and global entities

Skills & Experience:

• Many years’ experience in financial services and senior management

Herbert COUACAUD

Non-Executive Director

(Born in 1948)
Appointed in: May 1981
Qualifications: BSc in Economics and Mathematics, University of Cape Town
Committee: Member of the Corporate Governance Committee

Professional Journey:

• Former Chief Executive Officer of New Mauritius Hotels Limited (from 1974 until his retirement in June 2015)

Skills & Experience:

Actively contributed to the development of the tourism industry in Mauritius.

Gilbert ESPITALIER-NOËL

Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director

(Born in 1964)
Appointed in: February 2013
Qualifications: Master of Business Administration, INSEAD, BSc University of Cape Town, BSc (Hons) Louisiana State University
Committee: Member of the Corporate Governance Committee

Professional Journey:

• CEO of New Mauritius Hotels Limited since 2015
• Former Executive Director of ENL Group and CEO of ENL Property Limited
• Former Operations Director of Eclosia Group
• Former President of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture, the Joint Economic Council and the Mauritius Sugar Producers Association; past Vice-President of the Mauritius Export Association

Skills & Experience:

• In-depth knowledge and extensive experience of operations in ENL’s key sectors of activity
• A people’s person, skilled at creating high-performing teams
• Strong proponent of entrepreneurship, innovation, and initiative
• Staunch advocate of, and extensive experience in, public-private partnership for economic stewardship
• Sound understanding of the business dynamics in Mauritius

Jyoti JEETUN

Independent Non-Executive Director

(Born in 1960)
Appointed in: December 2017
Qualifications: PhD in Strategy and Accounting, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, MBA, Warwick Business School and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators
Committee: Member of the Audit & Risk Committee

Professional Journey:

• Group Chief Executive Officer of the Mont Choisy Group since April 2016, leading a major transformation in real estate development in the North
• Former international consultant in private sector development and financial services
• Former academic with leading UK Business Schools (Warwick Business School, Birmingham Business School, Oxford Brookes Business School and Essex Business School)
• Occupied senior management roles with global investment banks in London (BNP Paribas, Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch)
• Past Deputy Director of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise, a Brussels-based international organisation promoting private sector enterprise development in ACP countries
• Founding Chief Executive of the Sugar Investment Trust and the founding Chairperson of the Mauritius Post and Cooperative Bank (now MauBank)
• Started her career as a public servant and went on to become the Finance Editor of Business Magazine

Skills & Experience:

• Over 25 years of executive management and boardroom credentials, mainly in the real estate development, banking, financial services and sugar sectors

Jean-Pierre MONTOCCHIO

Non-Executive Director

(Born in 1963)
Appointed in: April 2004
Qualifications: Notary
Committee: Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee

Professional Journey:

• Appointed Notary Public in Mauritius in 1990
• Contributed to the workings of the National Committee on Corporate Governance as a member of the Board of Directors’ Sub-Committee

Skills & Experience:

• Well-versed in corporate governance matters and NED experience across the private and public sectors • Extensive experience in alliances, ventures, and partnerships
• Strong proponent of fairness in business
• Staunch defendant of shareholder’s interests

Alain REY

Independent Non-Executive Director

(Born in 1959)
Appointed in: February 2017
Qualifications: Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Committee: Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee

Professional Journey:

• Worked in the financial services industry at Citibank N.A. (France)
• Past Regional Corporate Director of Barclays Bank Plc at their Mauritius branch
• Past Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Novel Denim Holdings Ltd, a Nasdaq-listed company
• Past CEO of Compagnie de Mont Choisy Limitée, a group of companies involved in agricultural and property development activities

Skills & Experience:

• Extensive experience in the formulation and appraisal of risk assessment and management systems in various industries
• Past Chairman of various Strategic and Investment Committees and possesses banking and financial competence and expertise

Louis RIVALLAND (Resigned on 3 August 2020)

Non-Executive Director

(Born in 1971)
Appointed in: March 2002
Resigned on 3rd August 2020
Qualifications: BSc. (Hons) degree in Actuarial Science and Statistics, Postgraduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation, University of Oxford and Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (UK)
Committee: Member of the Audit and Risk Committee

Professional Journey:

• Currently the Group Chief Executive of Swan General Ltd and Swan Life Ltd
• Former President of the Joint Economic Council and of the Insurers’ Association of Mauritius
• Played an active role in the development of risk management, investment, insurance and pensions in Mauritius, having chaired or served on various technical committees in these fields

Skills & Experience:

• Extensive experience in financial services and risk management

Pauline SEEYAVE

Executive Director

(Born in 1974)
Appointed in: August 2016
Qualifications: Master of Arts, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge and Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Professional Journey:

• Group Chief Financial Officer of New Mauritius Hotels Limited since 2016 • Over 20 years of working experience in the UK and Mauritius
• Extensive experience in client portfolio management in Audit and Business Assurance
• Has occupied senior executive roles in banking, finance, risk management, credit, project finance and corporate banking
• Current Non-Executive Director of Innodis Ltd
• Past Director of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Ltd, State Insurance Company of Mauritius Ltd and Club Méditerranée
Albion Resorts Ltd

Skills & Experience:

• Extensive experience in risk management, corporate finance and financial reporting

François VENIN

Executive Director

(Born in 1957)
Appointed in: July 2015

Professional Journey:

• Group Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of New Mauritius Hotels Limited since 2015
• Responsible for managing the sales and marketing strategies of the NMH Group’s 8 hotels, all overseas offices worldwide and the three tour operating companies, Beachcomber Tours in France, the UK and South Africa
• Assists in the decision-making process on new projects or ventures and manages communication platforms with optimum use of all available digital channels
• Past General Manager of Mauricia Beachcomber Resort & Spa and Canonnier Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa
• Extensive experience in managing properties overseas for Club Méditerranée

Skills & Experience:

• Strong expertise in sales, communication and marketing strategies
• Over 42 years of extensive experience in hospitality