26 BCBUSINESS NOVEMBER 2016
a decade away, she has no
formal succession plan
but instead calls regu-
lar family meetings to
discuss the business
and other mat ters.
THE PATTISON
GROUP
The succession plans of
no other B.C. company are
speculated upon as frequently
as the Pattison Group's, both because
it's so big, with 41,000 employees and
2015 revenues of $9.1 billion, and because
founder and sole owner Jimmy Pattison
(above) is now 88. Well, that
speculation can keep right
on growing because Pat-
tison still isn't revealing
details of a plan that
he put in place some
four decades ago and
updates every year. Son
Jimmy Jr. is currently
head of one of the group's
divisions but isn't regarded
as a likely successor. Instead,
most point to one-time NDP
premier Glen Clark, who's
been with Pat tison since
2 0 0 0 and is currently
president of the company,
and Dave Cobb, who was
second in command at Van-
couver's Olympics
and briefly CEO
of BC Hydro before
joining Pat tison in
2012. Neither should
be measuring Jimmy's
corner office, however.
Maureen Chant , his
secretary of 53
years, says he's
as busy and
energetic as ever.
H.Y. LOUIE
Another private com-
pany that engenders its
share of speculation, H.Y.
Louie–which operates retail
chains including London Drugs
and IGA–is currently headed by a mere
septuagenarian, Brandt Louie (below
left), who's 73. Son Greg (a trained radi-
ologist) oversees the company's health
clinic business, Highroads, while Stuart
(a lawyer) provides counsel to all of H.Y.
Louie's divisional heads. When asked
by BCBusiness in 2015 if he saw a time
when he would transfer respon-
sibility for H.Y. Louie to one
or both of his sons, Brandt
responded: "I think so…
I guess I can never com-
pletely withdraw from
at least being part of the
business, but probably
within the next three to
five years, they'll be able to
take on the role I play now."
ODLUM BROWN
Debra Hewson (above) has been presi-
dent and CEO of the investment manage-
ment firm for almost a decade (and COO
for seven years before that), but she's
only in her 50s and shows no indication
of being ready to leave a position in which
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