• NAD: RG Media award ‘in best interests of airport’

• Concerns raised if winner met tender qualifications

• This, and Bahamian ownership query, fully rebutted

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Nassau airport’s top executive yesterday rejected concerns that the selection of its new advertising partner could run afoul of both the multi-million dollar contract’s bid requirements and the National Investment Policy.

Vernice Walkine, Nassau Airport Development Company’s (NAD) president and chief executive, in written replies to Tribune Business questions said it had conducted “extensive due diligence” before selecting RG Media (Bahamas) as Lynden Pindling International Airport’s (LPIA) new advertising concession operator with effect from January 1, 2023.

She added that the move was “in the best interests of the airport”, affirming it was NAD’s “preference to work with Bahamians first” and that it adheres to a National Investment Policy that stipulates all advertising, marketing and public relations (PR) activity is supposed to be exclusively reserved for companies 100 percent owned by locals.

Ms Walkine responded after Tribune Business received concerns, backed by documents and other evidence, which raised concerns over RG Media (Bahamas) selection. A search of The Bahamas’ companies registry revealed that the firm was only incorporated on May 30, 2022 - just five months ago, and only two months after the LPIA advertising concession tender was launched to potential bidders on March 24 this year.

RG Media (Bahamas) 100 percent owner and president, as confirmed by Ms Walkine, is Shane Garner, John Bull’s financial controller. All this raised questions over whether the company qualified to bid, as the original Request for Proposal (RFP) stipulated that the “minimum qualifications” to participate were “five to ten years’ experience in the operation of an advertising programme that includes generating high volume display advertising sales and revenue at airports”.

The winning bidder also appears to be affiliated with RG Media, a UK-headquartered company bearing the same name, and which is a subsidiary of Roadgrip - a firm that has previously performed runway surfacing and paving at LPIA and other airports throughout The Bahamas.

This has sparked concerns that a foreign company is taking over LPIA’s lucrative advertising contract when the National Investment Policy stipulates that the sector is reserved for Bahamian-owned businesses only, along with questions over whether a quasi-government agency such as NAD is adhering to the Davis administration’s pledge to put Bahamians first. 

Fears have also been voiced that foreign salesmen will be replacing Bahamians in jobs locals can perform, but all these allegations have been shot down by both NAD and the winning bidder. Ms Walkine said it was “not unusual” for bidders to form corporate entities to bid on a specific contract, and said RG Media (Bahamas) is “readying” to hire more Bahamians than the previous advertising contract holder.

Tribune Business understands that at least one rival bidder is mulling a Judicial Review challenge to the advertising contract award. But Mr Garner, when contacted by Tribune Business, vehemently denied that RG Media (Bahamas) was a subsidiary or affiliate of the UK company bearing the same name. And he also rejected allegations that he was “fronting” for the UK firm, saying: “I own the company RG Media (Bahamas).

“We’re just going through everything right now, trying to assess everything. We’re trying to develop a new advertising platform to offer better opportunities for vendors.... You don’t get everything in place until you get the contract, and then you do what you need to do.”

Mr Garner also denied there were any plans to bring in a foreign salesforce at the expense of Bahamian jobs, adding of RG Media (Bahamas) plans to build a workforce: “That’s all being worked out right now. We’re talking to people. That’s where we are. We’ve got a couple of people we’re interviewing at the moment. I can’t name them.”

Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said advertising provides a lucrative multi-million dollar annual revenue stream for NAD estimated at between $3.6m to $4.2m per year. It supplements the income that LPIA’s operator receives from its core aeronautical revenue streams, including the passenger facility charge plus the likes of airport landing fees and gate fees.

With more than 3.9m passengers passing through LPIA per year prior to the COVID pandemic, advertisers effectively have a captive audience to whom they can promote their products and services. This makes electronic, billboard and other spots at The Bahamas’ main aviation gateway extremely valuable, with the advertising concession operator responsible for production and installation of marketing materials, and revenues split between itself and NAD.

Ms Walkine described the relationship between Mr Garner and RG Media (Bahamas), and RG Media LLC, as a “consulting agreement” whereby the latter will be providing its expertise to assist with building out the Bahamian company’s operation and training its staff. Tribune Business has seen screenshots from social media showing that Mr Garner and Roadgrip’s managing director, Nick Morley, both graduated from Berkhamsted College in the UK in 1995.

The consulting agreement was confirmed by Gilbert Aguiles, the US-based executive leading RG Media LLC’s Bahamian support efforts. He told Tribune Business that the winning bidder will make “a significant capital investment” of $1.5m in setting up and enhancing LPIA’s advertising offering, with the effort possibly impacting up to “two dozen” jobs depending on sales performance.

“Mr Shane Garner owns it,” Mr Aguiles said. “I’m just brought in as a consultant to assist in building out the programme, and helping establish a presence for Mr Garner in The Bahamas. I was brought in as a consultant to help Mr Garner win the tender, and we are assisting in hiring a local sales presence, co-ordinating with local contractors and assisting with the establishment of the graphic houses that will help in a production capacity.”

Mr Aguiles, who gave the impression he is very much the managing and organising mind behind RG Media (Bahamas), branded suggestions that foreign advertising salesmen will replace Bahamians as “completely false” and said he was fully aware of the National Investment Policy’s stipulations reserving the sector for Bahamian ownership only.

“We are coming in to assist in hiring of a sales force,” he added. “We’ll be consulting on that, and showing them how to sell. We will provide them with some outside agencies. If there are agencies interested in being in The Bahamas we will facilitate that relationship and phone calls. As far as bringing in a foreign force, no.

“That would be illegal. We know Bahamian law strictly states advertising, PR and marketing efforts have to be 100 percent fully-owned by a Bahamian firm. We are just there to assist, we are just there to consult and help them build the company.... We are just there to provide guidance for Mr Garner. We were contracted to help win the bid and to help with the build-out.”

Mr Aguiles has worked for Clear Channel’s airport advertising divisions and affiliates, and it is likely his experience helped RG Media (Bahamas) meet the LPIA bid requirements. He described RG Media (Bahamas) creation as a four-phase build-out, with the first two completed in 2023 and the final spread over 2024 and 2025.

“There’s going to be a significant capital investment of approximately $1.5m that’s going to be rolled out within three years,” Mr Aguiles told Tribune Business. “What our company is going to be doing is assisting in the design of that, and local contractors will be installing the assets. All we’re doing is providing the expertise we have and helping out Mr Garner. That’s really our role. It’s to get them up and running on their own, and then we could extend on an as needed basis.”

Ms Walkine, in her response to Tribune Business questions, said NAD was more than justified in selecting RG Media (Bahamas) to replace Bahamas Airport Advertising, headed by John Bethel, who have held the LPIA tender for ten years.

Disclosing that five bids were ultimately received from “all Bahamian partnerships”, she said: “Prior to COVID-19, NAD determined to place the airport advertising contract out to tender at expiration as we wanted to explore options to improve the airport’s advertising services. 

“We were not happy with the standard of advertising presentation within key areas of the airport among other concerns, and sought a world class presentation for advertisers in keeping with LPIA and other similar airports. We duly advised our advertising partner in this regard.

“Notwithstanding, Bahamas Airport Advertising requested a ten-year extension to their contract and, given the advent of the pandemic, we determined to offer a two-year extension only which allowed time for businesses to recover from the pandemic prior to NAD going out to RFP,” Ms Walkine continued.  

“Bahamas Airport Advertisin determined that they did not wish to have a two-year extension, and their preference was to take a chance and participate in the RFP with the hopes of gaining a new ten-year contract for the airport. As such, the RFP commenced on March 24, 2022, and we received wide interest that culminated into five proposals being made to NAD on June 30, 2022, the closing date of the RFP.”

Explaining why NAD decided to go with RG Media, Ms Walkine added: “A number of factors decided the award in favor of RG Media (Bahamas). This included their financial offer; plans to improve the airport advertising experience and their clear ability to do so; their alignment with RG Media via a consulting agreement that brought considerable expertise to the company; their proposed capital investment in the airport to provide a full upgrade of all advertising assets and financial guarantees.

“In this regard, they are a 100 percent Bahamian-owned company well-positioned to deliver the level of advertising expertise and revenue NAD sought for the airport. Further, the company was selected given their determination and experience in developing strong employee teams and business partnerships to support the programme. 

“At this time, RG Media (Bahamas) is readying to commence the hiring process and is preparing to work with businesses to provide the production and installation of advertising at home. This was important to NAD as our current contractor has just a very small team of three or four persons in Nassau who worked with us.  We are extremely pleased with what RG Media will be able to extend to us over the course of their agreement with NAD.”

Summing up, Ms Walkine said: “As with all contracts, not only does NAD follow the National Investment Policy but our preference is to work with Bahamians first. Further, we have completed extensive due diligence to ensure that RG Media (Bahamas) is able to meet and guarantee every obligation it has made to NAD given the importance of advertising to the airport....

“We recognise that it is sometimes difficult for proponents to accept a decision made. This is most unfortunate, but we have clearly moved forward in the best interests of the airport having done the considerable work required to select the best proponent.”