-two sisters tell their story

By Jeune Bailey Van Keric
CLAUDETTE Allen and her sister Ann Seepaul fulfilled their dream when they recently opened the doors to their new multimillion-dollar culinary and wine business in the township of New Amsterdam, Berbice.

This new venture came after years of selling pastries at the roadside and having to later pay high rentals when they decided to expand their business.

The sisters are also the owners of the two-storey timber and concrete edifice which houses the business. It is located along Republic Road between St. John and Pope Streets. The spacious hall on the upper flat can be rented for events such as seminars and weddings, while the lower flat houses the Zilliana’s Water Restaurant and the Wattsan Wine Bar.

Construction of the building commenced on March 19, 2019.

Standing and observing the symbolic cutting of the ribbon by a five-year-old customer and Mayor of New Amsterdam, Winifred Heywood, the sisters beamed with pride.
It was Anna who was quick to recall that the edifice was a vision which was realised.

“It was during an Empretec (Guyana) Business seminar in 2014 that the question was asked, ‘Where do you see yourself in 10 years?’ Responding , I said ‘I will own my own building with 10 tables and chairs.’ Today, seven years later , that vision has materialised,’ she said.

The journey was a long one. Bringing the dream to realisation involved facing numerous challenges, problems, obstacles and resistance.

In 1999, their brother Courtney had gone to the United States of America on vacation. He baked and iced cakes and his customers were unaware that he was away. As the orders kept coming in as normal, the sisters decided that they needed to fulfil those orders. So, they baked cakes and asked a family friend, Mrs. Vincent, to make the iced roses. That was the beginning of Wattsan Catering .

Due to the increasing demand by customers, the sisters attended cake-decoration classes at the University of Guyana’s Institute of Distance and Continuing Education, where they mastered the craft od icing cakes and more particularly, to make roses. They subsequently attended the Carnegie School of Home Economics in Georgetown, in their quest to improve the quality of their products.

During the earlier years of the business, the sisters befriended Elise Bailey and were given their first “big” order by her, who, at that time was conducting a Municipal Governance Management Programme . That order boosted their business tremendously , and it resulted in the hiring of their first employee, Candace Wallace.

Anna, the younger of the two siblings, ably assisted by her son Royston, sold brightly coloured cakes and pastries in a glass case at the junction of Main Street and Lad Lane. The short crust and flaky pastries were “hot” on the market and were quickly sold out.

The business grew and soon enough the sisters, in 2010, took the opportunity to rent two units, which housed their restaurant and bar, at the Bristol Mall.

Claudette laid the foundation for the business. She provided the business name “Wattsann,” which was derived from her then surname and part of Anna’s name. The combination has brought much success over the years.

They experienced a lot of adversity, including criticism, high rentals, and a legal battle, but the sisters persevered through the “storms” and survived. Anna manages the restaurant, while Claudette focuses her energy on the bar.

Over the years, the siblings have employed scores of skilled and unskilled individuals and have made financial donations to groups and well-deserving individuals, locally and nationally .