Global drinks giant Bacardi threw a party last night for the Island to celebrate the firm’s 50 years in Bermuda.

Hundreds gathered at the iconic company HQ on Pitts Bay Road as the firm, still family owned, marked the occasion and looked to the future. Carlos Bosch, 87, a Bacardi family member, helped to found the firm in its new home in Bermuda in 1965.

Mr Bosch, who retired in 1975, said: “We got the authorisation — but I had to convince my father. It took two years to convince him.

“Somehow or other, the small team we had gelled and it just worked.” The company has grown from just five people to 65 staff and the Mies van der Rohe-inspired headquarters has become a Bermuda landmark.

Bacardi International president and CEO, Jacques Tortoroli, told the crowds on the lawn outside the HQ last night: “Bermuda is our worldwide headquarters — it’s where our senior leadership is and it’s where it makes its decisions.

“Having said that, we realise we are guests here, as we are in 40 countries around the world in which we operate.

“As guests in countries, we recognise we have a big social responsibility, which we take very seriously.”

Mr Tortoroli pointed to the firm’s commitment to green initiatives and investments in training, mentoring and charity work as examples of the firm’s attachment to the Island.

Premier Michael Dunkley — who was serenaded with a surprise rendition of Happy Birthday — added: “We are blessed to have the Bacardi family in Bermuda for 50 years and we’re blessed to have them for at least the next 50 years as well.

“These are the type of relationships we need to continue to foster and build.

“These are the relationships which will carry Bermuda through the good times and some of the humps we have to get over.”

Bacardi, founded in Cuba in 1862, was forced out of its homeland after the revolution of 1959 propelled Fidel Castro and a hardline Communist regime to power.

The firm finally settled on Bermuda as its global HQ in 1965, setting up in its present building a few years later.

Family member Adolfo Danguillecourt said: “It’s such an honour for me to be celebrating this milestone for our company.” He said of the revolution that led to the company leaving Cuba: “These times were very tough for us as individuals and as a company.

“Yet we found a beautiful Island home here in Bermuda and a place we could re-establish and expand our business.

“Closest to our hearts are the people of Bermuda, who welcomed us with such warmth.” Eduardo Cutillas, one of the original family members to come to Bermuda, worked for the firm for 34 years, arriving in 1966.

He said: “I’m very happy we’re here and we’re staying here — I’m not going back to Cuba, my family.”