Marks & Spencer, is that the company's most important feature has remained the same -- its commitment to Bermuda and her retail industry. According to David Hamshere, president of The English Sports Shop (TESS) Limited, through which Archie Brown and Marks & Spencer are run, that has always been the philosophy behind his company. "As a group, TESS holdings has acquired over the last two years, the business of Ceciles, which has three branch shops, and purchased the business of Archie Brown out of receivership,'' said Mr. Hamshere. "As a company, we have revamped, at great expanse, the Archie Brown business. We believe, that by creating a Levi's stand-alone department on the third floor of the Archie Brown building, with the addition of Nautica on the ground floor, and with the expansion of Marks & Spencer, we have positioned ourselves for a strong future in retail in Bermuda. "Our intent with our investment, in acquiring and revamping these businesses, is obviously to achieve economies of scale with our existing business already running. Our aim is to take the businesses we've acquired and gear them up to become a very important piece of our business. And we think, that what this does in the business of retail, which has been very tough, is show a vote of confidence in what we believe the future of Bermuda will be -- more retail-friendly to the public by way of better selection, better service and better pricing.'' To best meet TESS Limited's aim of public service, Mr. Hamshere said that the group studied recent retail trends to best determine what factors were most important to shoppers. "We found that what they wanted was everyday low prices, good value and a wide selection of merchandise with an ample supply of that merchandise,'' he explained, "and it's that kind of philosophy that's going to turn Bermuda around. Bermuda is a competitor on the world stage and we continue to work with the Minister of Finance in making recommendations and suggestions with regard to the duty structure in Bermuda which places us at a disadvantage to the shopping malls of North America. "We believe there should be a more equitable way of Government collecting tax revenue other than automatically falling back on taxes. We know that the Finance Minister has commissioned an inquiry into the way Bermuda collects its revenue and he has been responsive and we believe that he understands the situation.'' With retail so closely entwined with the tourism industry, Mr. Hamshere said it was important that his industry and those who work in it are as closely aligned with the needs of the Island's visitors as possible. "There's a lot of work being done in these areas through the efforts of the monitor group currently here and those of the Minister of Tourism. We believe that if we can retune Bermuda, we will have Bermudians feeling better about their lot in life. It's an economic fact, it's a social fact, it's a reality fact. Every part of Bermuda, every Bermudian, is involved in the tourist business. We are all a vital part of the visitor experience and we have to make sure that every Bermudian is fully aware that we are all in this together -- everyone from the CEO of a reinsurance company, to the person that serves in a store to every other person that lives in Bermuda and has some involvement in making sure visitors to the Island have a good experience.'' PHOTO Archie Brown, located on Front Street in Hamilton President of The English Sports Shop (TESS) Ltd., David Hamshere MINI SUPPLEMENT SUP