Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1496177
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 ARPIL 2023 10 COMMERCIAL The Manoel Theatre lights up for Frank Salt Real Estate's annual general conference FRANK Salt Real Estate Group held its Annual General Con- ference at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta to celebrate the com- pany's achievements for the past financial year and to honour its best performing agents and team members. This impres- sive historic th`eatre presented a perfect ambiance for the oc- casion which was illuminated in the recognizable colours of Frank Salt Real Estate. The evening began with a laser light show that illuminated the walls and remarkable architec- ture of Europe's oldest theatre, accompanied by a stellar per- formance by musicians Simon John Vella on the electric vio- lin and GianLuca Gurriere on the saxophone. Throughout the evening, the master of ceremo- nies Ron Briffa used humour to put the audience at ease, adding delightful twists to an otherwise formal presentation. In his wel- coming address, Chairman Mr. Frank Salt spoke about the act- ing roles he played in the same theatre years ago before enter- ing the real estate business. He also thanked everyone in ad- vance for their efforts during the past year. Activity in the first quarter of 2022 was slower than anticipat- ed but thankfully sales picked up considerably during the second and third quarters which gave the company the opportunity to recover on any lost ground and meet set targets by the end of the year. An increase of over +17% in foreign sales also contributed towards this result. In addition, last year more and more ven- dors chose to appoint Frank Salt Real Estate as their sole agents, which was another key factor that led to greater success in 2022. "Our sole agency packages offer vendors additional benefits and thanks to our marketing ef- forts and hard work of our expe- rienced consultants, we manage to sell most sole agencies within the mandate period and in some cases sole agencies have been sold in less than a week". Activity in the rental market also increased last year as many foreigners chose to return to the Maltese islands and thanks to the company's top performing team of letting agents, revenue increased substantially. One of Frank Salt Real Estate's objec- tives for 2023 and beyond is to increase the size of its letting division to cope with such in- crease in demand. Home Inte- riors and Property Management Divisions also reported positive results and both divisions in- creased revenue by +9% and +25% respectively. Grahame Salt shared his per- spective on the year 2022 and the importance of the Group continuing to provide all of its property services in a pro- fessional manner. "This is the Group's brand promise and purpose. The increase in com- petition inevitably will lead to a drop in overall quality of service offered and Frank Salt Real Es- tate must continue to stand out for all the right reasons." He also shared the company's strategy for 2023. "We will keep provid- ing ongoing training and sup- port as we want to see each and every one of you perform at your best and provide the best service to our clients. We need to ex- pand our teams to cope with de- mand and recruit talented and motivated individuals who want to grow with the Group and en- joy financial success." He then went on to thank everyone for their hard work over the past few years. "Frank Salt Real Estate is only success- ful thanks to the efforts of each and every one of you. Be proud of your company and let's keep working hard together as one team." In conclusion Grahame congratulated everyone who was awarded shares in the com- pany's annual share distribution programme, a new initiative that will allow all staff members the opportunity to earn shares based on their performance and also earn dividends annually ac- cording to their shareholding. The event concluded with a stunning piano performance by local pianist Beth Farrugia, followed by the presentation of awards to the highest achievers in sales, letting, and commercial, as well as recognition for out- standing contributions by other staff members. The most pres- tigious award of the evening, the "Best Branch Award 2022", was presented to the Mellieha team. Bigbon Group entrusts Melita Business with critical connectivity BIGBON Group, which repre- sents the Spanish retail giant Inditex Group and is heavily reliant on technology for its operations, has teamed up with Melita Business to ensure con- stant and speedy connectivity at its retail outlets and offices. The Group, which manag- es popular brands Bershka, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Oysho and Massimo Dutti, now runs its entire operation using Mel- ita Business, the only nation- wide operator for 5G mobile and 1,000 Mbps internet. Bigbon CEO, Nick Spiteri Par- is, said: "Melita Business helps us run a seamless operation, we need high speed connec- tions to share the data from our shops with our people plan- ning for the next hour and the next season. We have peace of mind knowing Melita Business is there to provide us with per- sonal support if ever the need arises." Malcolm Briffa, Director of Business Services at Melita, added: "Over the past few years we've invested millions to make our networks the most power- ful in Europe, for the Bigbon Group this means they have the excellent connectivity they need to keep their business thriv- ing." The Group, which is in the process of expanding with all its brands, has also switched to using the Cloud PBX service provided by Melita Business and hosted at the Melita Data Centre, which saw it make huge savings when compared to us- ing a traditional phone system, removed the need to host and manage PBX equipment, and made it seamless for staff to op- erate from anywhere.