A household name in Zimbabwe, and indeed one of the country’s flagship corporations, Meikles Limited employs over 6,000 people across a number of businesses. The company owns and runs the landmark 5-star Meikles Hotel in Harare’s business district as well as the emblematic and recently renovated Victoria Falls Hotel and the Cape Grace Hotel on Cape Town’s famous Victoria & Albert waterfront.
Meikles Limited is, however, not just a hallmark of quality in the hospitality industry. The company also operates Zimbabwe’s premier retail outlets. Its network of TM Supermarkets now comprises 52 stores. The iconic Meikles department stores, present in Zimbabwe’s three main cities, are direct descendants of the trading business set up in Fort Victoria by the three Meikle brothers John, Stewart, and Thomas who arrived from Scotland in the late 1800s.
More recently, Meikles Limited has diversified its operations into wholesale (Meikles Mega Market) and mining. With Tanganda Tea the company is also Zimbabwe’s largest grower, packer, and distributor of tea and tea products.
Meikles Limited remarkable trajectory to the very apex of private business in Zimbabwe is in large part due to the company’s long-standing adherence to strict standards of corporate governance. Meikles is one of only a handful of Zimbabwean businesses able to raise funds from international investors.
The company is currently considering to source up to $25m overseas to finance the expansion of its mining operations in Matabeleland. Last year, Meikles Centar Mining paid $10m for a 51% stake in DGL Investments, a subsidiary of Duration Gold Limited, with two producing assets. The company now mulls additional investments in the area as the first steps in a process that should see Meikles Centar Mining becoming a major player in the sector.
It offers living proof that an uncompromising stance on corporate governance ultimately pays off and, indeed, enables a company such as Meikles Limited to successfully operate in an environment not always overly friendly to private business.