Aitken Spence Hotels has celebrated the exceptional skills and creativity of its Food & Beverage professionals through the inaugural Aitken Spence Spirit of Excellence Challenge, powered by Periceyl, DCSL (Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC) and DBL (DCSL Breweries Lanka Ltd.).
The competition brought together talented bartenders from across the Aitken Spence Hotels portfolio, including Heritance Hotels and Resorts, providing a platform to showcase their mixology skills, technical capabilities and creativity in developing innovative products with commercial potential.
Participants were assessed across several key areas, including technical expertise, creativity, presentation, storytelling, salesmanship, taste and balance. Beyond recognising individual talent, the competition aimed to enhance product knowledge, strengthen mixology capabilities and inspire participants to create distinctive signature beverages, with the possibility of introducing winning recipes across the Group’s hotel portfolio.
The initiative reflects Aitken Spence Hotels’ ongoing commitment to investing in its workforce, developing specialised professional skills and creating opportunities for employees to showcase their talents. It also reinforces the Group’s focus on fostering innovation and maintaining high standards of service and guest experiences across its hospitality operations.
Aitken Spence Hotels also expressed its appreciation to Periceyl, DCSL and DBL for powering the competition and contributing to the continued development of bartending talent across the Group.
Surge Drives Retail Innovation with Its Next-Generation Surge Cloud Platform
Surge Global Founder and CEO Bhanuka Harischandra has introduced Surge Cloud to Sri Lanka’s apparel industry at SLABA Fashion Forward 2026, showcasing an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform designed to transform retail operations by bringing retail management, e-commerce, human resources and payments together within a single system.
The launch comes at a time when consumer demand for online shopping continues to grow, while many businesses face challenges in delivering seamless digital retail experiences. According to ODI Global’s 2026 survey of 953 Sri Lankan exporters and importers, 70% of exporters sell their products online, yet 90% continue to receive payments through bank transfers. Meanwhile, data from SLASSCOM and Daraz (2023) indicates that 72% of online orders are paid for through cash on delivery.
Surge Cloud addresses these challenges by integrating essential business functions, including accounting, invoicing, tax and VAT management, reconciliation, inventory, purchasing, point-of-sale operations, online store management, HR and payroll. Its unified inventory system synchronises stock levels across physical outlets and online stores, helping businesses maintain accurate inventory records and avoid overselling.
The wider platform processes more than 750,000 transactions valued at over 6.5 billion monthly through Payable's merchant network. Businesses can also get started within weeks, compared with the typical four-to-12-month implementation period associated with traditional ERP projects. Surge is currently offering free setup, with onboarding support included.
Integrated payment capabilities are another key component of the platform. More than 40,000 merchants already use Surge's payment solutions, while card transactions processed through the platform are growing by 35% annually. An upcoming Click to Pay feature will allow customers to complete purchases using their mobile numbers rather than entering card details. Surge reports that this payment solution can deliver up to 30% higher checkout conversion rates.
Aitken Spence Hotels Celebrates Bartending Excellence at Spirit of Excellence Challenge
