Gavin Jordan takes aim at a Caribbean growth gap

ARE finance functions evolving quickly enough to support where Caribbean businesses are headed? Veteran Jamaican finance executive Gavin Jordan believes it is a question more CEOs and boards need to ask as Caribbean companies expand into new markets, pursue acquisitions, embrace artificial intelligence (AI), and navigate increasingly complex regulatory environments. While businesses are becoming larger and more sophisticated, Jordan says the finance functions supporting them are not always evolving at the same pace.

Companies that were once primarily domestic are becoming regional. Acquisitions are bringing together different systems, teams, and processes, while technology, increased regulation, and greater demands from boards and investors are adding new layers of complexity. Yet, in many organisations, the finance infrastructure at the centre of the business was designed for a smaller, simpler operation.

Jordan believes the resulting gap could eventually constrain the very growth Caribbean companies are pursuing. The effort became the operating model,” said Jordan, as he described a pattern he’s observed over his career. The signs are not always immediately visible on the balance sheet.

Instead, they may show up in finance teams working increasingly long hours, difficult month-end closes, fragmented systems, processes heavily dependent on individuals, and chief financial officers (CFOs) consumed by reactive work. Talented finance professionals can find themselves spending more time keeping the machinery running than providing the insight needed to help the organisation determine where it should go next. For Jordan, that is when a finance problem becomes a growth problem.

He sees the finance function as one of the critical platforms on which a business scales. When properly structured, it can support expansion across jurisdictions, integrate acquisitions, attract capital, manage risk, and enable better decision-making. When it is not, growth can create complexity that teams absorb through greater effort rather than structural change.

This perspective is shaped by 25 years in senior finance leadership in Jamaica, the Caribbean, and the United States. A certified public accountant, Jordan has held six CFO and finance director appointments, including divisional CFO of GraceKennedy Food…