Beekman Group: Where Family, Legacy and Business Grow Together
- Chelsa Brand
- 23 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Chelsea Brand
There is something immediately distinctive about walking into the Beekman Group’s headquarters in Port Shepstone. Perhaps it is the warmth of the welcome, the sense of history that surrounds the business, or simply the way John, Cindy, Wayne and Neville Beekman speak about the Group with a shared sense of pride. Whatever it is, it quickly becomes clear that the Beekman Group is more than a family-owned business in the traditional sense – it is a business built around family.
That connection between people and business has been recognised repeatedly at the KZN Top Business Awards. The Group has won Top Family Business in 2022, Renewable Efficiency – Green Initiatives in 2023, Employee Wellness in 2024 and 2025, and most recently KZN’s Top Brand in 2026.
Being named KZN’s Top Brand at the 2026 KZN Top Business Awards is perhaps the clearest public expression yet of the trust the Beekman name has built over more than five decades.
Presented at the Durban ICC on 16 July 2026, the award is particularly significant because Top Brand is a people’s-choice category. It recognises not simply what a company says about itself, but the strength of the relationship it has built with the people who know and experience the brand.
For a company whose story is fundamentally about relationships, the recognition is especially fitting.
A legacy built on partnership
Our visit to the Group provided an opportunity to sit down with four of the people at the centre of that story: Managing Director, John Beekman and Executive Directors Cindy Allan, Wayne Beekman and Neville Beekman.
The Beekman story stretches back more than five decades. In 1970, brothers John and the late Bram Beekman established Beekman Group Painters. After selling the business in 1980, the brothers moved to Durban and entered the vacation ownership industry, laying the foundations for what would become the Beekman Group.
Their first development was at Banana Beach on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, setting the stage for the Group’s formal launch in 1981 and its subsequent expansion into vacation ownership, resort development, property management and tourism.
The launch of The Holiday Club in 1993 marked another significant milestone, introducing a flexible, points-based approach to holiday ownership.
Today, the business has evolved considerably from those early beginnings. The Group describes itself as a leading South African player in property development and management and the leisure sector, with more than 80,000 members and just under 40 resorts across multiple countries.
Yet, despite this growth and diversification, the Group has remained firmly connected to its origins.
The family behind the business
What stood out during our conversation was the cohesion between the four family members. Each brings a different area of expertise and perspective to the business, yet there is a clear commonality in the way they view the Group, its values and its future.
John, a founding partner who has been fundamental to the business since 1970, remains actively involved, providing advice and guidance as the second generation continues to lead the organisation.
Neville joined the Group in 1994 and has played a significant role in resort development, sales, reservations and new business development. He has been instrumental in the acquisition and development of more than 13 mixed-use resorts and hotels, while also being involved in the establishment of the Ultiqa Group in Australia.
Neville is also the face of the latest Business Sense publication – an appropriate choice for a leader whose career has been closely linked to the development and growth of the Group and the broader KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. His presence on the cover reflects more than individual achievement. It represents a family business that has remained deeply connected to the region from which it grew.
Wayne joined the business in 2000 after completing a BCom degree in Marketing and Business Economics. His work has included growing the Group’s marketing, customer experience and IT divisions, helping the organisation remain agile as technology and consumer expectations have evolved.
Cindy joined the Beekman Group in 1996 and has built almost three decades of experience across the leisure and property development industries. As executive director, she heads the Group’s Financial Administration and Human Resources divisions, bringing a methodical approach to the systems and processes that underpin the company’s continued growth.
And yet, sitting around a table with John, Cindy, Wayne and Neville, it is not the scale of the business that dominates the conversation. It is the people.
There is a genuine warmth in the way they interact, an evident respect between generations and a shared understanding that the business they are building belongs not only to one generation, but also to those who will follow. Together, they represent a model of multi-generational leadership that balances the knowledge and experience of the past with a willingness to adapt to what comes next.
A legacy still being written
More than 50 years after John and Bram Beekman began their journey, the Beekman Group continues to evolve while retaining the values that shaped its foundations.
In an era when longevity in business is increasingly difficult to achieve, the Beekman Group offers a compelling reminder that legacy is not about standing still. It is about building something strong enough for the next generation to carry forward – together.
