GENEROSITY has been a quality in abundance over the past fortnight as people have striven to help each other to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Fabian.

Volunteers have lent their time, energy and skills to come to the aid of friends, family and even complete strangers.

And businesses - the odd price gouger aside - have also joined the island-wide team effort, working extra hours, shipping in extra supplies and offering discounts, to accelerate progress on the road back to normalcy.

The Pembroke Paint Company emerged as one of those businesses this week as it ran an advertisement in The Royal Gazette, offering to give away paint to any homeowner who had suffered damage from the hurricane.

Monday's ad prompted some to get down to the company warehouse in Bakery Lane for start of business at 7.30 a.m. to take full advantage.

Part-owner of the family business David Swift said the free paint did not last long. By Monday afternoon, around 90 per cent of the 500 gallons being given away had been snapped up.

"It was the idea of my father, John Swift, who founded the company," Mr. Swift said. "Some of this paint had been ordered by people and they never picked it up. Some of it was mis-tinted, that it was a shade too dark or light. And it some cases it was from a line of paint that had been finished.

"We thought it would be a nice way to help folks out at this time. Everybody's pulling together and there's been some great work done by the Regiment, Belco and Works & Engineering.

"Normally with that sort of paint, we use it for charities or give it to schools or to Masterworks for summer camps."

The Pembroke Paint Company was founded by John Swift and his wife Susan back in 1987 - incidentally, shortly after Hurricane Emily ravaged the island.

It has now been built up into one of the biggest paint suppliers on the island, with a computer database holding the details of around 15,000 customers.

"My parents started the company together and I helped out in various ways, including the software part of it," Mr. Swift said. "Now my father spends more time travelling and playing golf - he's earned a break."

The company has eight full-time staff and is seeking a ninth employee.

Mr. Swift believes that the company plays a leading role in maintaining one of the characteristics that makes Bermuda unique - the bright colours of its buildings.

"We don't sell paint, we sell colours," Mr. Swift said. "The colours of our houses are part of what Bermuda is and it's great being part of that. I don't think there is anywhere in the world that has colours like ours, except perhaps Charleston and some of the islands, though they tend to use deeper shades, ours are more pastel. Virtually all the paint that goes out of here has to be mixed."

Computerised paint-mixing technology, brought in two years ago at a cost of around $35,000, has helped them to ensure that they get the shades just right.

The equipment allows the user to key in the name of a shade and the machine then dispenses the correct amount of the different coloured paints required for the correct blend.

The measures are extremely precise and they need to be. A fraction too much of one of the constituent colours and the shade is mis-tinted and the paint goes to waste.

"This technology has added tremendously to productivity," Mr. Swift said. "With this computersied system, one person can mix a lot of paint in a short time.

"Before, when we used hand-operated measuring equipment and we would be hunting for different cans of paint and going through paperwork, it would take about half a day to mix the same amount one person could now mix in half an hour."

There are thousands of possible blends and not all have names. But the company staff have named colours that have proved popular, such as Conyers green, Max Re blue and Pepto Bismol pink.

Details of the constituents of every mix are kept with the name of the customer who ordered it on the company database, so that if the client should need some more in the future, there is a quick reference to precisely what they need.

Post-hurricane business has been slow, but Mr. Swift expected it to pick up soon.

"There are so many people who are still involved in the cleaning-up effort and they're not doing their normal jobs," Mr. Swift said.

"A lot of tradesmen have dropped everything to help family and friends repair damaged roofs. When things settle down, I'm sure there are homes that have been damaged that will need some paint. One thing that is selling well right now is Pro-Seal (a whitewash mix used on roofs)."

MR. Swift has spotted what is apparently something of a Bermudian tradition - to paint the house at Christmas. Hence, late December is normally the busiest time of year for the Pembroke Paint Company.

"Everybody wants to have the place looking spick and span for Santa Claus," Mr. Swift said. "I've seen people come in here and buy ten gallons of paint on Christmas Eve.

"I tell them, 'There's no way you're going to get that lot painted by tomorrow'. And they say, 'If I don't get it on the house, I won't get any turkey'.

"The best part of this business is the people that you meet. There are contractors you see all the time and you get to know them and find out about their families. You see people from all walks and from different professions, from all parts of the island.

"You end up meeting a very interesting cross-section of the community that I wouldn't have had the chance to meet if I was doing an office job."

The Pembroke Paint Company sells everything you might need to be able to paint anything, including ladders, scaffolding, brushes and rollers.

But they do not go as far as actually painting themselves. And there is a good reason for that.

"Many of our customers are contractors and there is no use in competing with your customers," Mr. Swift said.