Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1135882
27.06.19 10 INTERVIEW 'I believe in putting passion Maria Micallef, CEO of General So Drinks, e Waterfront Hotel, Is-Suq tal- Belt, Arkadia and IELS, opens up to Business Today about being a successful woman in business MASSIMO COSTA You occupy the role of CEO for a number of companies which operate in diverse sectors – The General Soft Drinks, The Waterfront Hotel, IELS, Arkadia and Is-Suq tal-Belt. How did you start out, and how did you eventually get involved in this broad sphere of business? By profession and training, I am a chem- ist. Back in 1992, I accidentally landed myself a job at e General Soft Drinks Co. Ltd (GSD). At that point in time Mal- ta was facing an issue related to nitrates in the water table. GSD had contacted the university asking for a chemist who could help with the analysis of the water. My tutor recommended that I join GSD for the summer months, and when I com- pleted my university studies, obtaining a BSc. degree, I remained with the compa- ny. In the following year I was promoted to Quality Assurance Manager and I held that role for three years, before taking on the role of production manager. After two years I was appointed General Manager and quickly started introducing new measures to improve our business. One of the first major challenges I faced as general manager was related to Malta's accession into the European Union. One of the important issues during the negotiations period before membership had to do with the fact that, locally, soft drinks were bottled in returnable glass bottles whilst other products, such as wa- ter, were bottled in plastic bottles. is was due to an anomaly in our legislation. At the time, I formed part of a lobby group, which also involved Farsons, that had worked very hard to try and convince the EU that Malta should keep its return- able glass bottles. is is ironic consider- ing the current shift in trend against plas- tic containers. e EU, however, felt that allowing Malta to retain its returnable glass bottles would amount to a barrier to the free movement of goods, as it would be considered pro- tectionism of the local manufacturing in- dustry. erefore, the economic principle won over the environmental one at the time and we were forced to shift to plastic packaging, subject to a four-year deroga- tion period. At that junction, the Mizzi Organisation had to decide between building a new fac- tory to cater for the new requirements, or to be limited to only importing Co- ca-Cola products. Following discussions with Coca-Cola, the family was convinced to invest €28 million in a new soft drink production factory. I was given the task of overseeing the construction of the factory, and, against all odds, we managed to build it in 18 months. Coca-Cola themselves were a bit sceptical that we would manage to accomplish the task within the required timeframe, but thanks to the team I had, we completed the building on time. e fact that I successfully saw the new factory finished on time and within budget, boosted my career, and subse- quently, in 2008, my managing director asked me to assume responsibility for the whole portfolio of companies that fell un- der this remit. is is how Arkadia and e Waterfront Hotel fell under my re- sponsibility. I was also appointed execu- tive director of the IELS English language school, in which the Mizzi Organisation has a shareholding interest. When 2018 came around, I was made CEO of the entire operation. Moreover, I currently also sit on the board of First United Insurance Brokers. Which of these areas presents the most challenges? I feel that all businesses have the same knobs , so to speak. With all businesses, the starting point has to be gaining a close familiarity with their respective numbers – the operational figures. Whether its Co- ca-Cola, Arkadia or e Waterfront Hotel, you need to know your numbers and your customers. After that, you need to build a team of people who can run the business and manage those numbers. All the businesses under my remit are exciting to me. I love dynamic business models and having contact with peo- ple. Funnily enough, although chemistry brought me where I am, today I would not wish to be based in a laboratory without having contact with people. Work for me is a passion and I spend a lot of my time at work. I believe in putting passion into anything I do and I wouldn't do it if I didn't have the passion for it. Regarding which area is the most chal- lenging, I would say that every business model has its own particular challenges. Take Arkadia's business model – here we are managing a combination of food and fashion. Fashion has its cycles, and, over the years, internet shopping has also presented a challenge. e food store market is growing, but the number of players has also increased, making it very competitive. In connection with running Arkadia's commercial centre in Gozo, a challenge here is that, while we operate all year round, the summer months and the December period represent the peaks in terms of sales and getting the business model to continuously maximise its re- turns is challenging. Furthermore, the la- bour market in Gozo faces its own share of challenges. In terms of Is-Suq tal-Belt – which is our latest major project – the first year was very exciting because its business model was a first on the Maltese market. We got some things right, and others wrong, as often happens in life. What's important is to learn from the wrong decisions and to go on and improve. In the case of GSD, we constantly mon- itor every little number - it's a volumes business with extremely low margins, making it necessary to be very careful about the cost of goods, production, en- ergy usage and labour costs, and to deliver the product on time. At the moment, my biggest headache is our capability to serve all our customers in the face of the traffic issues our truck drivers face on the roads. We've tried to improve the situation by setting up a logistics hub in the north of Malta, but this isn't enough. Malta's rising population, tourism and traffic bring with it these types of challenges. But, at the end of the day, when the fi- nancials are in the positive, they are good challenges to have. Turning to e Waterfront Hotel, we last year expanded the establishment from a 116-bedroom estate to one with 164 bed- rooms, which was a challenge to get done on time. We had a record first year and such good results can sometimes be diffi- cult to maintain. Regarding the English language school, the number of students coming from Germany are down throughout the whole market. However, we are successfully at- tracting students from other markets, such as South America. One common challenge across all busi- ness models is the availability of human resources. e issue is not limited only to finding people with the right skills , but also to engage people with the passion and self-discipline to really be the best in their respective positions. In relation to this, I feel that although the economy is doing so well, employees have become somewhat spoilt for choice. I have worked hard throughout my life, and I find that trying to instil the passion I have into people is one of the biggest challenges across the board. How are you able to juggle the various duties which come with the role of being CEO for several large ventures? I consider myself to be very disciplined. I normally arrive at the office by 9am and go back home at around 10pm. But be- tween 7am and 8.30am, I'd have already gone through my emails and the business- es' figures for that particular day, which are sent to me by an assistant. I make sure to reply to all my emails dai- ly, although I receive around 300 of them each day. I have the luxury of having a driv- er, and this is allows me to utilise the time I spend travelling to answer my emails and make my phone calls. My driver is worth his weight in gold, because through him I can utilise my time in the best way possi- ble when I'm at work. Having a very supportive partner and good staff around me in my office also goes a long way towards helping me per- form my duties. As an aside, I should remark that the re- ality in Malta is that if you want to grow professionally, at my level, you have to go sideways not upwards. Getting involved in other businesses has kept me remain motivated. The elimination of plastic waste is one of the most topical subjects when it comes to safeguarding the environment. What is GSD doing to help address the problem of the waste created by the disposal of single use plastics, such as of the type used to bottle soft drinks and mineral water? is is a topic which is very close to my heart. And single-use plastic isn't the only issue here – waste needs to be tackled ho-