New Brighton business boost
R15m pumped into rebuilt fuel station and retail outlet
DEMONSTRATING faith in one of Port Elizabeth’s under-developed communities, Caltex Eastern Cape Marketer (CECM)– which is chaired by Nelson Mandela Bay businessman Stephen Dondolo – has pumped R15million into a new service station and retail offering in New Brighton.
As the largest Caltex-Chevron franchiser in Africa, CECM’s latest investment into George Motors – which straddles the New Brighton residential area and Struandale industrial hub – is its biggest in the Port Elizabeth area to date.
It also reinforces the company’s growth and development strategy, with the investment expected to attract new business and employment opportunities in the immediate vicinity of the new facility.
Dondolo, who heads trailblazing Bay investment company African Pioneer Group, is not the only prominent Bay businessman involved in the New Brighton facility.
George Motors is owned by Eastern Province Rugby president Andre Rademan, who sank a further R1.5- million into establishing a 24-hour FreshStop outlet on the site.
Rademan has owned George Motors for nearly two decades. The project involved an entire relocation and complete rebuild of the nearby former George Motors facilities and, according to CECM chief executive Clive Berlyn, reflects CECM’s strategy of investing in neglected and under-serviced areas.
Dondolo said African Pioneer Group had invested in CECM specifically because of the company’s strategic focus.
“We need to show people that investing in under-developed areas makes good business sense,” he said.
“This investment is a show of faith in the community of this area,” he said, revealing that further retail development was also on the cards for the site.
The investment also brought other benefits to the New Brighton community, with roadworks undertaken at the site having improved traffic flow and access into the residential area.
Rademan said the new facility, which boasts state-of-the-art fuel pump technology and stringent environmental standards, would provide a centre of convenience and access to the surrounding community.
All staff members from the former George Motors had been accommodated at the new facility and nine new jobs had been created.
The CECM footprint now encompasses more than 100 retailers across the Eastern Cape.