A young talented gentleman named John Roche opened a shop on Olcott Mawatha, Pettah in 1963, with nothing but a wealth of experience earned during his years at Maurice Roche Limited, a well-known electrical white-goods distributor at the time.
Initially John Roche had a dream and possessed the determination to bring that dream to life and that is how Rotax Limited was born.
A fledgling company with modest assets, Rotax Limited was compelled to endure periods of significant hardship; one such instance was during the period of terror, which resulted in the destruction of the company’s premises and inventory. However, with steadfast resolve, purpose and patience, Rotax Limited rebuilt itself. Under the guidance of John Roche’s son, current Chairman J.D.B.S. Roche, the company evolved to become the successful, visionary business it is today; needless to say, Rotax Limited is incredibly proud to celebrate its 60th year in operation.
Rising from the ashes
“Rotax Limited functioned at the premises in Olcott Mawatha for almost 20 years, until the civil riots forced a physical relocation to the residence of J.D.B.S. Roche at Ridgeway Place,” stated J.D.B.S Roche. He further acknowledged the dedication and perseverance of the entire team at the time, which culminated in the re-establishment of the company almost three years later on Galle Road, where it proudly stands today.
Founder and Chairman – The late John Roche
The company which started with just 15 employees, has now grown up to over 250 employees. It is quite stable, as to have overseas wings operating for the company, handled by our MD, Shane Roche, from Canada, as well.
Rotax is currently involved in five key business areas – trading, tendering and supply, engineering and projects, automation and system integration, engineering support services and manufacturing.
“We currently have over 45 agencies classified under six main SBU divisions and a stock of over 5,000 SKU’s, quite a large array of products of electrical industrial equipment. Add to that, we have a strong customer base of over 1,200” Roche further noted.
A firm grab of market
“As the company we keep growing, in the late ‘90’s, we took a step forward and commenced calling tendering to the government utilities. With my elder son, Shane Roche joined the company in 2004, we were confident to move further by engaging in turnkey contracts,” the Chairman said. “Having witnessed the success of the company, we took to the distributions in diverse fields varying from health care, hospitality, constructions, pharmaceuticals, refinery and airport. The most recent addition to our scope is the re-exporting which we have found to be quite productive.”
Accounted to their new ventures, Rotax Limited saw a steadfast growth during 2008-2009, this was during the period where my second son, Sheran Roche also joined the company and handles our tendering business.”
Continuing the growth
Speaking of the company’s current situation, the Chairman said; “We have newly added related services apart from trading, including electrical automation, instrumentation and renewable energy products. We synonymously have established a mechanical division.”
“Moreover, Rotax is currently working with our associate companies that engage in switch board building, power factor correction, lightning protection and some other engineering services as well. “We have a logistics centre and a switchboard factory too, which was recently completed, in Wattala.”
“Iit is with heartfelt gratitude that we acknowledge our bankers including Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc, Hatton National Bank Plc, NDB Bank Plc and Seylan Bank Plc for the unstinted support extended during the most challenging periods with the required facilities, guidance and empathy,” stated the Chairman. “We have grown from strength to strength and still continue to grow with our never ceasing hard work,” said Roche. “We had bads times during the pandemic as well. Nonetheless, thanks to the dedication and hard work of everyone at Rotax Limited, we soon overcame the difficulties.”