What it does: Central Finance is a financial services provider based in Sri Lanka, with over 1800 employees and 98 branches.
Financials: The company recently attained Rs 20.3 billion in income, representing a 14% growth year-on-year.
The good: Solid fresher opportunities.
The not so good: Limited vacancies.
Hiring grads with degrees in: Business and Management, Accounting and Finance, Marketing
Central Finance began as an idle joke by a good friend of founder Chandra Wijenaike. His friend, named J.A. Ghafoor, had to travel from Kandy to Colombo every time he needed to finance a car for his showroom. ‘If only there was a finance company in Kandy, I’d have more time to play billiards,’ he exclaimed.
So in 1957, Wijenaike established Kandy’s first financial services company, starting with hire purchase facilities for the transport sector. By 1969 it established itself as the first Sri Lankan company outside Colombo to become publicly listed after World War II. This gave it the freedom garner more funding and expand into other financial services, becoming the company we know today.
Central Finance has several fresher opportunities, including trainee marketing and business programs. Employees report a positive learning environment, seemingly across each sector of the business. They use eLearning software equipped with modules specific to each capacity, including customer service and product information courses. Performance outcomes are tracked to facilitate merit-based promotions. These elements make it a reasonable starting point overall for any business, finance or marketing graduates.
The only prominent issue is the cyclical nature of their traineeships and fresher jobs. While other companies in the sector offer them across disciplines all year, Central Finance may only have marketing positions available for a few months, then IT positions later, for instance. Furthermore, positions are quite limited.
The most reliable starting point is their recruitment portal. Select a vacancy from any of the dropdown menus appropriate to your educational background and provide the information required, which is usually just a CV, name and contact information.
The Central Finance culture is youthful and active. About 21.5% of their workforce is between 21 and 25 years of age. They hold annual sports carnivals, like the “Battle of the Kingdoms”, a medieval-themed sporting event. They also take part in other organisations’ events, like the FHA Sports Festival. The company even has its cricket team.
They cultivate a relaxed environment by catering to mental health through medical and wellness camps, as well as all-expenses-paid holidays for entire branches.
Their mission is to be the leading financial services provider in the industry by conducting responsible business. Their vision is to be the first choice for progressive customers.
They support these doctrines with five corporate values.
Customer centred
Unyielding integrity
Superior service
Exceptional performance
Our people are the company.
The company has taken part in several sustainability initiatives, with achievements including:
21.7k kilograms of paper recycled in the 2018-19 period alone.
13.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide prevented from entering the atmosphere.
86.9k kilowatts of solar energy produced in 2018-19 alone.
Central Finance launched an educational support programme in 2015 called ‘Sisu Athwela’. Over 180 disenfranchised students benefit from the program, allowing them to attend 162 schools around the island. The company has also contributed to improving school library facilities, providing furniture, bookshelves and other essentials. It constructed and renovated sanitary facilities in these schools, in addition to the male Ophthalmology ward of Kandy General Hospital, which they adapted to suit differently-abled patients.
They’re also responsible for several regular internal contributions. One of these is an education grant for employees who wish to pursue a university education. There’s also the Chairman’s Relief Fund, which compensates employees with whatever their health insurance policies don’t cover.