already shaken things up at the closely held liquor empire.

Since the former Washington lawyer became president and chief executive officer in March he has brought all the senior executives to Bermuda, making it the company's operational headquarters. He is also making an aggressive push to expand the company.

"I'm not a lawyer anymore, I'm a rum salesman,'' Mr. Reid said during an interview.

Bermuda has been the legal domicile for the company's holding company, Bacardi Ltd., which was registered here in 1992. But the company has had a presence in Bermuda since 1965 when it set up Bacardi International Ltd. as an operating subsidiary to co-ordinate product distribution among Bacardi's 40 factories worldwide.

Previously the company did not have a centralised management group. Bacardi's operations were co-ordinated by the regional offices in Miami, Mexico City, Amsterdam and Hong Kong. Manuel Jorge Cutillas, Mr. Reid's predecessor, ran the company from his base in Nassau.

When Mr. Reid, 49, took over he decided to bring the global responsibilities under one roof. Bacardi originally chose Bermuda as its legal domicile because of the tax benefits.

"Since many of the shareholders are non-US based, the big motivation for the holding company was a favourable tax climate,'' Mr. Reid said. "Since my taking the job we have made it an operational global headquarters in addition to its legal status. It was the natural place for bringing people under one roof to run the company. There are other places that we could have had as headquarters, but that would have eroded the tax benefits that we had. It's the first time we have had centralised global operations. It was done for the efficiency, synergies and cross-fertilisation of ideas that would occur from having everyone with global responsibility under one roof. We can also deal with problems that arise more quickly because we have the necessary expertise and authority here.'' Now the Bacardi building on Pitts Bay Rd. is bulging at the seams with the additional staff -- including 15 senior executives -- needed to run the company's worldwide operations. So much so that some of the 90 staff are in rented space at the Belvedere Building nearby. The company plans on building a 7,500 square foot extension to the front of the Bacardi building to accommodate them and any more staff it needs for its global expansion.

Bacardi manufactures and markets the world's number one selling brand of spirit, Bacardi Rum. The company was founded 1862 by Don Facundo Bacardi in Cuba. The family fled Cuba soon after most of the company's assets were confiscated in 1960 by Fidel Castro's government.

Now in its sixth generation of ownership, the family remains scattered around the world but has kept a tight control on the company.

Mr. Reid doesn't see the reason for the fuss commentators made when his appointment was announced. There was much speculation that the Bacardi board made the appointment as a prelude to taking the company public. Mr. Reid emphatically denies this.

"There is absolutely no possibility of any of that,'' he said. "I was brought on to operate the business, to bring new ideas on all fronts and increase shareholder value. My mandate when I retire is to deliver this company to my successor and to the next generation of the family as much more valuable than it is today.'' A key factor in the decision to appoint Mr. Reid has been the Bacardi's family desire to expand the company into new markets. Liquor sales, and profits, have levelled out in the established markets. While Bacardi has managed to maintain its market share as the number one brand of rum, the overall liquor market is contracting due to demographics. The baby boom generation is aging, and as they age people tend to drink less.

"The Bacardi board was searching for the right person in a very difficult period for the distilled spirits industry,'' he said. "We have been able to maintain over the past few years our overall case volume against a contracting distilled spirits market. We have been flat in terms of performance up until this past year which has been an achievement. Last year we had we had significant increase in the sale of Bacardi and non-Bacardi products. We had the first increase in Martini volume in 20 years. There has been three percent growth in both Bacardi and Martini products which is quite good.'' Rum accounts for about 60 percent of Bacardi's estimated $2.5 billion in worldwide sales. The other 40 percent is earned from products -- mainly vermouth -- Bacardi acquired when it bought Martini & Rossi in 1993. The $2 billion acquisition doubled Bacardi's size and boosted it into the fifth largest distilled spirits company in the world.

Mr. Reid, who was outside attorney and investment adviser for Bacardi, was instrumental in the Martini acquisition. He also helped sort out family infighting and assisted in the creation of the holding company in Bermuda.

"One of my first real matters of substance as a lawyer with Bacardi was in the late 80's and really solving the problem of infighting and reaching a settlement,'' he said. "That was all in the context of forming a holding company and coming here. That was six years ago. At this point there is absolutely no infighting at all.'' It is this long term relationship with the company that led to his appointment.

"Mr. Cutillas referred to me as an insider outsider -- someone who could bring fresh ideas but not one was foreign completely to the things that had made Bacardi into what it is today,'' he said. "I presented a major strategic plan and that was unanimously endorsed by the board. The board is made up of all constituencies of the family, including those who were on the outside ten years ago and were brought in as a result of the settlement. So there is more solidarity in our ownership today than at any point in recent memory. I try to support and foster that. To me every director is equal, every shareholder is equal. I think that helps as a glue -- my objectivity. All I want is to grow the company and make more money for them.'' That plan includes an aggressive push into the developing markets such as Eastern Europe, China, Hong Kong and India. Bacardi has already established a production site in India through a joint venture.

"We're in a growth mode,'' Mr. Reid said. "We think there is going to be a period of opportunity over the next few years. The real home run is in the emerging markets where we hope to grow.'' He also sees opportunity in the recent announcement by Guinness Plc and Grand Metropolitan Plc of a planned merger. The merger will create the largest liquor company in the world, with bands like J&B and Johnnie Walker scotch, Baileys Irish Cream and Tanqueray gin.

Mr. Reid believes that for anti-trust reasons some of the brands may have to be sold. Bacardi wants to step in and acquire them -- and any other prospects it comes across.

"We are going to be proactive in trying to acquire more brands over the next year that will be spawned by this merger,'' he said. "The advent of the merger has caused many companies that are somewhat smaller than Bacardi to feel that they should evaluate their own critical mass and to seek alliances of combinations of one sort or another. We have the critical mass. We would be natural allies with some of these smaller companies. Because we are a family company we are somewhat easier to deal with than other companies. We might have a competitive advantage.'' Key to the plan was the reorganisation of the company -- started during Mr.

Cutillas' reign. Assets that were not directly related to Bacardi's core business of liquor production and sales have been sold off.

"Starting with the Martini acquisition we adopted a corporate strategy of focussing on our core business of producing and marketing alcoholic beverages,'' Mr. Reid said. "We had a big bill to pay on Martini. That's from a financial perspective, From a marketing perspective my predecessors and I believe we are better off focusing on core business. We have pretty much concluded the sale of all of our investments and all of our assets that were not directly related to alcoholic beverages. About ten percent of our assets were in non-core businesses. We sold two Coca-Cola franchises in Puerto Rico and Nassau. We had a big hotel in Florida which we sold. We had a lot of assets in Europe through our acquisition of Martini. We acquired a watch company, a bank, and a lot of conference and reception halls. We had a major investment in Trinidad which we sold. We freed up our money in non-core business really to have money to pay for these brands we would like to buy, to focus our attention, and then focus financial resources on what we know how to do.'' The approach is already beginning to pay dividends. The company has had increases in all categories of its products. The results are on target with the company's budget projections.

''If we are able to continue on budget for next two quarters this year there will be a very big increase in terms of sales in all product categories around the year,'' he said.

Locally Bermudians can expect to see more promotion of Bacardi's products on the Island. Mr. Reid believes the company has been missing out on a chance to introduce tourists to its drinks.

"I would like our products to have a greater presence here in Bermuda so that when tourists come they will recognise that Bermuda is the global home of Bacardi,'' he said. "Our product is associated in the Caribbean with fun and the vacation. The opportunity is here in Bermuda to do the same thing.'' Mr. Reid is a graduate of Yale University. He received his degree from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School.