Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/927417
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 17 THE past year was an eventful one for Britannia Tours with the travel company celebrating 35 years in business culminat- ing with the winning of two awards. Britannia was recently award- ed the prestigious 'Top Travel Agent Award' by Air Malta and the 'Service With a Smile Award' by the Malta Competitive and Consumer Affairs Authority. "Significantly, this year's Top Travel Agent Award is the sixth consecutive time we have won it – an ambitious award won by an ambitious team," said Noel Far- rugia, managing director of the company. "The product development team, headed by my son Kris, have managed to keep many cli- ents (old and new) interested in our products by offering them new ideas to new destinations together with the established ones. Hats off to them for being so creative in producing all this," Farrugia recalled the early days when the first groups were or- ganised to visit Catania aboard the MV Għawdex. The company moved forward quickly and had their first tour to Rome on a coach holiday from Catania, followed by their first charter flights to Lourdes. Soon, Britannia conquered Europe and other continents, establishing themselves as one of the major tour operators on the island and in the Mediter- ranean. "After 35 years, we are not stopping here. We are now go- ing overseas and expanding our travel connections abroad, par- ticularly in Slovenia," Farrugia said. "All this would not have been possible if it were not for Eric Pace Bonello, the founder of Britannia Service Ltd, who be- lieved in me and Linda Bonello." One of the most successful destinations for Britannia has certainly been Slovenia. In fact, for their recent anniversary cel- ebrations, Brittania had the hon- our of hosting Eva Strauss Pod- logar, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Development and Technology of Slovenia. "When we had our first charter flight to Slovenia 10 years ago, I remember we had spoken for the first time at the World Trav- el Market in London and Mrs Strauss Podlogar listened to us and believed in us as well. "We are now discussing the opportunity of increasing char- ter flights to Ljubljana and Mari- bor. We are also in discussion to open up our offices in Slovenia," he said. "Credit must certainly be given to Mateja Golja who has been instrumental for our success as well as Tamara Saijovic. We have a long way to go and many plans in store for 2018." Events Heritage Financial Services Group rebrands as Estera Britannia Tours celebrate 35th anniversary in style ESTERA, a leading global provider of fiduciary and ad- ministration services, today completed its rebrand of the Heritage Financial Services Group following the com- pletion of its acquisition in November 2017. Commenting on the re- brand, Estera, CEO, Farah Ballands: "We are delighted to be welcoming the team to Estera under one name to- day. This is an exciting time for the Estera group as we have launched in two new jurisdictions, the UK and Malta, while also signifi- cantly increasing our pres- ence in Guernsey." She continued: "The new team has also added consid- erable weight to our funds offering, which is a strategic focus for our group, while also boosting our existing services in the corporate and trust markets." Estera is a leading global provider of fiduciary and ad- ministration services. Established for over 25 years, Estera provides cor- porate, trust, fund and ac- counting services to clients across the world. It has 500 highly qualified profession- als across 12 jurisdictions: Bermuda, BVI, Cayman, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, the Sey- chelles and the UK. Estera collaborates with clients and their advisers to deliver smart, considered and most of all practical so- lutions, whether in a single location or across multiple jurisdictions. Our commer- cial focus, attention to detail and responsiveness coupled with a resolute commitment to the delivery of service excellence, is what sets us apart. From left: Paul Sies, chief commercial officer Air Malta, Konrad Mizzi, Minister Of Tourism, Noel Farrugia, managing director, Britannia Services Ltd with the Top Travel Agent Award and Joseph Galea, acting chief executive officer at Air Malta THROUGHOUT the 49 years that Frank Salt Real Estate has been operating in the real es- tate market in Malta and Gozo, it has always seemed to attract staff that are joined by fam- ily members who work in the company. Being a business dealing with families that are mainly look- ing for a family home, the idea of families helping families seems to be a good one. Over the years the company has employed brothers and sisters, fathers and children, mothers and sons, and they even have two mothers-in-law! With the company growing and the staff contingent ap- proaching 200 people, family members abound. The trend is continuing, when a letting agent from the Gozo office started dating a sales agent from the Mellieha office. Both from Gozo, but working on different islands. Recently they went on a holiday to Paris, and a very romantic proposal of marriage was made with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Soon the company will con- tinue the family trend with a handsome husband and wife. Proudly, this will be the second married pair in our team! Frank Salt Real estate, a large happy family company, work- ing together to help other fami- lies, is an ideal situation, in an ideal world. Further information about the services offered by Frank Salt Real Estate Ltd may be viewed at www.franksalt.com.mt Frank Salt Real Estate – the family company Estera CEO Farah Ballands Katya Scicluna and Pawlu Portelli