Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1313317
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 NOVEMBER 2020 10 COMMERCIAL Nominations open for EY's Malta Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 Award THE nominations for EY's Malta Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 award are now open. Entering its fourth year, the award pro- motes entrepreneurship across the Maltese Islands and empow- ers entrepreneurs to grow and showcase their businesses both locally and globally. Depending on the situation with COVID-19, the eventual winners may head to Monaco in June 2021 to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award, an event that brings together nation- al winners from more than 60 countries. Previous partici- pants and winners have includ- ed trail-blazing entrepreneurs from a wide range of enterpris- es such as Amazon, Cirque du Soleil and LinkedIn. Past Malta winners include Alfred Pisani from Corinthia Group, Angelo Xuereb from AX Holdings Ltd, and David Darmanin of Hot- jar Ltd. When asked about the award, the 2019 winner David Darmanin said: "As entrepre- neurs our job is to congratulate and lift up others, so it is great to have your own accomplish- ments celebrated amongst your peers for one special evening." The EY Rising Star award is also presented to an entrepre- neur whose business is still rel- atively new but is already show- ing great potential. The winner of this award shall also COVID permitting attend the event in Monaco in June. Past winners include David Vella from Al- taro Software, Shane Hunter from AquaBioTech Group, and Ben Remfrey from Praedium Consulting Malta Ltd. The latest EY Rising Star, Ben Remfrey, spoke about winning the award: "The first emotion was humbling. Competing with so many like-minded peo- ple who have worked on their businesses and brought them to such a high standard is fan- tastic - but to actually win an award is amazing." Ronald Attard, EY Malta Country Managing Partner, said: "We've witnessed some really outstanding local en- trepreneurs standing up to be counted over the past year as a result of the pandemic. We expect many more challenges to come our way in the months ahead, but even amidst the uncertainty we want to once again celebrate the country's most successful entrepreneurs and their impact on the econo- my and our community. With- out a doubt so many of these business leaders put their peo- ple's safety first and even went above and beyond with brave socially responsible actions. Even though there will be just one winner, all local nominees should celebrate their success and ability to inspire others, especially through crisis." Harald Rösch, Melita Ltd. CEO, said: "Melita is once again sponsoring the EY Mal- ta Entrepreneur of the Year award which in a few short years has fast become Malta's premier business accolade. As a key enabler in Malta's econ- omy, providing unrivalled con- nectivity and data services to businesses operating here and internationally, Melita will continue to invest in, and sup- port, initiatives which reward and empower the Maltese busi- ness community. I very much look forward to meeting all the nominees and hearing their in- spiring stories." The award is judged by an in- dependent panel made up of key figures from the business community. To be eligible, nominees must be Maltese or have been operating a company based in Malta for at least two years. Anyone, including em- ployees, company advisers and financiers, can nominate an entrepreneur, with the latter's consent. Entrepreneurs may also directly nominate them- selves. The awards are spon- sored by Melita Ltd. and held in conjunction with the Malta Chamber of Commerce, En- terprise and Industry, and the Malta Chamber of SME's. For more information and to submit a nomination: www. e y . c o m / e n _ m t / e y - e n t r e p r e - neur-of-the-year-malta-2021 2019 EY Malta Entrepreneur of the Year David Darmanin with Ron Attard, EY Malta Managing Partner Beyond the Moon sponsor ambassador raises €15,000 for children's charity THE unrelenting hard work of Sponsor Ambassador Mari- sa Xuereb was instrumental in raising the sum of €15,000 dur- ing 2019 for Beyond the Moon. This Belgian charity offers fam- ilies with a sick child hope for better times and more enjoyable moments, thanks to the family holidays it organises. Corinthia Palace first began its fund-raising efforts for Be- yond the Moon back in 2005, and in the fifteen years since has collaborated and contrib- uted greatly to this cause, of- fering myriad Maltese families the opportunity for a wonder- ful holiday with their sick chil- dren. The €15,000 was raised from a number of events organ- ised under the guidance of Ms Xuereb. These included a Mother's Day Fair held in May 2019 at the MFCC in Ta' Qali; an Extravaganza Night/Charity Auction in November 2019 at Corinthia Palace, and at The Perfect Christmas Gift Fair al- so held in November 2019 at Montekristo Estates. "Locally, we have had to shelve all our fundraising events due to the restrictions introduced. In view of the fluctuating num- ber of positive cases which may be adversely impacted with the winter months ahead, we felt that is not advisable to organise our popular annual fundrais- ing Perfect Christmas Fair in a public setting," she says. Any shops or stallholders in- terested in obtaining further information, about participat- ing The Perfect Christmas Gift Fair - Online Webshop can email Ms Xuereb on btm.mari- sa@gmail.com. The webshop can be found on www.theper- fectgiftfair.com. For more information about Beyond the Moon visit https:// www.beyondthemoon.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/be- yondthemoon.org.