Bermuda must improve customer service if it is to remain a leading business jurisdiction, according to a top banker.

Speaking at the Financial Planning Association of Bermuda's winter lunch meeting, Bank of Bermuda CEO Philip Butterfield said the bank was working internally to improve the level of customer service ? and called for the Island to do the same.

Having worked for many years overseas, Mr. Butterfield, 57 who was appointed bank CEO last month after its $1.3 billion sale to HSBC, said returning to the Island was a culture shock.

Referring to a bad experience with a company salesman, Mr. Butterfield said he was dismayed to be dealing with a sales representative who clearly did not "share the same values".

And recounting the story to friends simply elicited a "welcome back, this is Bermuda" response.

Mr. Butterfield said: "This does not have to be Bermuda. We do not have to accept this standard."

He added, that as a business jurisdiction, the Island must bear in mind that companies considering a move to Bermuda, or doing business here, do have choices.

"Pink sand and blue water does not mean we will win all of the bids. There is clearly work to be done," he said.

Admitting that his own company had "some customer service issues", Mr. Butterfield called for Bermudians to work together ? and resist being divided along political lines ? when addressing issues that faced the Island.

"An incredible degree (of partisanship) exists in this community," he said. "We must communicate as openly and transparently as possible."

He said taking sides was such a feature of the Bermudian personality that "anything from one side will be disregarded by the other".

"This is ridiculous in my opinion," he said, adding that in a community made up of about 60,000 people, taking sides could "preclude candid discourse to reach collective conclusion".