Bank of Bermuda CEO Philip Butterfield has labelled the planning system “colonial” after the mammoth fight to redevelop the Trimingham’s site.

And he has asked his architects to recommend changes for a total overhaul of the system which he said reminded him of being back at school.

The final go ahead was given for HSBC/Bank of Bermuda to build a six-storey office block on the former Trimingham’s department store site on Front Street in November.

As a result the historic Trimingham’s store, which has been a Hamilton landmark for more than 150 years, will be demolished and replaced by a building tiered upwards and backwards from Front Street and stretching back to Reid Street.

After a string of controversial and unsuccessful applications to put a taller building on the site, bank bosses took off a storey from the previous seven-storey idea, tweaked the design and resubmitted the plans in August which was finally given the nod.

Mr. Butterfield said: “From the outset if someone had correctly predicted how long it would have taken to go through this planning process I would have done something different.

“I have been befuddled by this entire planning exercise.

“In any other jurisdiction on this planet, if a business enterprise were to step up and say we are going to spend $100 million to build a brand new facility anyone on the planning approval process would have been falling over themselves to make this happen. That has not been the experience the Bank of Bermuda has had.

“I have just found this extraordinarily puzzling. We did have what we felt was a very democratic process.”

He said the Bank had invited every stakeholder in the process, including the planning professionals, to a design show.

“And we went into this process without a pre-conceived idea.

“We came out of it with an approach which was endorsed and shared by everybody and yet when it got to the planning stage it was abandoned by people who had previously expressed a commitment.

“I find that an unacceptable way to do business. I believe the planning process in Bermuda needs systemic reform.

“I am so adamant about this that I have asked our architects to give me a set of recommendations that can be provided to the planning department for their consideration.

“But I have not found this experience to be welcoming or supportive. It has been an arduous exercise. And it is not collaborative.”

Mr. Butterfield said there was never any opportunity for the Bank to advocate its perspective. “It was like being back at school — do the tests, we’ll grade it and tell you how well you are doing.

“I find that to have vestiges of colonialism that I find offensive.

“This notion of Bermuda having to seek the advice of some inspector who doesn’t live amongst us to tell us whether or not that which we propose to do is acceptable I find so un-twenty-first century that I believe the system is in need of immediate reform.

“But we have our permit. We will move in at last.”

Asked why the Bank of Bermuda needed office space in such a prime spot overlooking the water he said: “The reality is we didn’t choose the Trimingham’s site — the Trimingham site became available because the Trimingham’s business was a failure.

“Their inability to repay the Bank resulted in our acquisition of the property.

“We had an opportunity to take advantage of and we chose to do so. One of the things I would certainly be an advocate for is more collaborative planning as to what this community would like to its principle city to look like. There is no cohesive point of view that exists today — it’s the loudest voice or the voice of the day.

“I would rather see us spend time thinking about what do we want this waterfront to look like? I believe over time the profile of the waterfront will change.

“The proof of the matter had there been another entrepreneur wanting to take over the site I would have been perfectly willing to effect a sale but no-one stepped forward.

“To me it was confirmation that the profile of retailing in Bermuda had forever changed and that which former businesses like Smith’s and Trimingham’s were doing had seen its day.”

He said retailers who have been successful had done exceptionally well within a niche. “They had kept their antennae fairly sharp as to the needs and buying habits of their clients. And those are the retailers who will always succeed.”

Asked about other vulnerable aspects of the economy he said: “I don’t have a crystal ball of areas which are vulnerable but we need to be thinking about areas for collaboration to improve the offering that is Bermuda — whether it is hospitality, health care or retailing.

“Going it alone isn’t going to be a successful long-term alternative — but carefully selecting who we would partner with is probably a better recipe for success.”