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3 NEWS 3.6.2021 THE franchise owners of Debenhams UK in Malta will close down its stores as the parent company of the British retail fashion store enters liquidation. United Finance plc, whose sister company United Department Stores holds the fran- chise for the Debenhams brand for Malta, said the winding up of the UK company has resulted in the withdrawal of the franchise internationally. Debenhams UK announced in 2020 it was ceasing its operations and going into liqui- dation, wiith the last stores in the UK clos- ing on 15 May 2021. Although the Debenhams stores in Malta have been operated independently from the UK under a franchise agreement, operations are nonetheless intrinsically tied to the UK Company for the granting of the franchise as well as the supply of merchandise. United Finance p.l.c. said that notwith- standing the significant challenges it has faced during 2020 and 2021, it had sufficient financial resources to meet all of its obliga- tions when they fall due. In 2020, United Finance expected its rev- enues to drop by 42.5% to €7.43 million largely due to the significant disruptions to its fashion retail division (-43.5% to €4.98 million) and automative operations (-43.7% to €1.76 million) brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its financial analysis summaru expected a loss for the year of €800,000 million com- pared to a net profit of €810,000 million in the 2019 financial year. e company in 2014 €8.5 million 5.3% unsecured bonds, maturing in 2023. Debenhams Malta stores to shut down after UK company went into liquidation FROM PAGE 1 On Monday, Malta launched its own COVID-19 vaccine certificate, making it easier for Maltese residents to travel to countries that have started to ease re- strictions on travel with the onset of the certificates. In Malta, people who receive their second dose of the vaccine will be able to register online but the certificate will only be issued after 14 days have lapsed from the date of the second dose. Seven other EU member states have already embraced the EU's technical system responsible for the verification of the security features contained in the QR codes of all EU Digital COVID cer- tificates. Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germa- ny, Greece, Croatia and Poland have connected to the gateway and started issuing COVID-19 travel certificates to their residents at the end of May. But Malta's delay in recognising other countries' certificates could see tourists choose other destinations that would make their arrival and stay simpler, de- void of any testing or stringent controls on people who have been fully vaccinat- ed against COVID-19. Bartolo confirmed that talks with oth- er contries were still underway in a bid to reach bilateral agreements that would see both countries recognise each oth- er's vaccination certificates. ose talks were being led by the for- eign ministry, Bartolo said. "But even without the agreements, I am informed that tourist operators in Malta are cautiously optimistic about the coming months," he said. "Everyone acknowledges that we must all remain cautious and responsible, even after re-opening our doors to tourists.' Bartolo said that the operators, like the authorities themselves, were look- ing forward to a gradual and sustaina- ble increase in tourist numbers over the coming weeks and months. As a country, he warned, Malta could definitely not afford to lose control of the pandemic and risk having to rein- troduce restrictions after working so diligently to roll out its vaccination pro- gramme. "is is not a numbers game and we want to ensure that it never will be again," Bartolo said. "It is obvious that as a country we need to rethink our tourism product and offering and we will be focusing on finding a sustainable balance between quality and quantity." Bartolo insisted quality should be- come Malta's new standard in the tour- ism sector. He said that was also the focus of the Malta Tourism Strategy launched for consultation with industry stakeholders in January. e 10-year strategy will be based on three fundamental pillars: Recover, Re- think and Revitalise. UK travel green list As to Malta's chances of being includ- ed in the UK's travel green list when this is updated today or tomorrow, Bartolo would not hazard a prediction. "What I can tell you is that even before the UK first published its list some three weeks ago, we have been working hard with the foreign ministry and the health ministry, as well as others, to promote Malta as a safe and attractive destina- tion," he said. He said that, irrespective of whether Malta makes it into the UK's green list, it was apparent that Malta needed to re- assess and diversify its tourist base. "e UK is an important source of tourism but it is not the only one," Bar- tolo said. "We are now focusing strongly not only on other traditionally strong mar- kets - like Germany, France, Spain and Italy - but also on emerging strong mar- kets like Holland which is growing ex- ponentially." 'Beyond UK travel green list, Malta must diversify its tourist base'

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