Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/341807
39 maltatoday, Sunday, 6 July 2014 The Institute of English Language Studies (IELS), which runs two schools in Malta, another one in Gozo and a three-star hotel, invested €3 million over the past two years to upgrade its main school in Sliema and the Day's Inn Hotel to maintain the high stand- ards it is renowned for to benefit students, employees and continuous growth over the coming years. The refurbished main school in Sliema was inaugurated by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who was accompanied by Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis, and was welcomed by the shareholders, directors and staff of IELS. IELS was founded almost 30 years ago as a joint venture between FTI Group and Mizzi Organisation. FTI Group is a leading player in the travel industry in Germany and in other countries in Europe, bringing to Malta over 75,000 passengers yearly and selling services in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and UK, among others. FTI employs close to 5,000 employees worldwide, of which 370 are employed in Malta. IELS also forms part of LAL Language Centres, a prestigious international group of language schools having a portfolio of schools in the UK, US and South Africa. As one of the first English language schools and among the largest in Malta, since 1985 IELS has contributed to the development of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) industry locally and introduced various new academic programmes over the years. IELS has always stayed at the forefront of contemporary English Language Teaching methodologies with an effective academic ethos based on sound language learning and acquisition principles. It is also the only lan- guage school on the island that offers both Cambridge Celta and Delta courses leading to internationally recognised, high quality teaching qualifications. IELS employs a dedicated and professional leisure and welfare team which organises various cultural and social activities and ensures that the safety and wellbeing of the students is always a high priority. In all, IELS employs over 150 members of staff. What makes IELS different from the rest is its quality assurance in education. The school also has an excellent reputation for providing a high quality range of services and personal attention to customers. The fresh design provides spacious recrea- tional areas, which are bright, safe and func- tional. The facilities have been upgraded and offer students fast free wireless connectivity throughout, access to an online self-study portal, as well as interactive state-of-the-art teaching equipment to enable students to learn more effectively. In addition, the impact on the environment has been a vital consideration throughout the project to ensure that the new infrastruc- ture is substantially more efficient, helping reduce the facilities' carbon footprint. The three IELS schools in Malta and Gozo consist of over 150 classrooms which can ac- commodate over 1,500 students of all ages daily. The facilities are open all year round. With the increasing growth of online busi- ness, over the past year IELS has also invest- ed in the development of a new innovative website, www.ielsmalta.com, to continue increasing its online presence. The IELS website enables students to search and book English courses, accommodation services and flights directly. With new management on board since 2009, IELS business increased by over 40% and it is expecting further growth in the coming year. A marketing campaign designed by a Maltese advertising agency has gone viral on the internet, picking up applause for its outstanding crea- tivity from some of the world's ma- jor online newspapers and blogs. The campaign, which highlighted the quality of McDonald's food products, was created by TBWA\ ANG of Sliema Road Gzira and was launched in April. The campaign, called '100% Real 2014' centered around a traditional Maltese veg- etable hawker's truck dressed in the McDonald's livery which went round the island's major open air markets displaying the high qual- ity vegetables used by McDonald's in their products, namely potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and onions. McDonald's representatives were at hand to distribute leaflets and explain how and why McDonald's guarantee the quality of their food products. First to be impressed by the crea- tivity of the campaign was a French magazine called Creapills which specialises in publishing outstand- ing marketing and advertising cam- paigns from around the world. Then The Huffington Post, a US online newspaper with 25 million readers, stepped in with a major sto- ry saying the Mediterranean island nation of Malta is one of the Mc- Donald's Corp's smallest markets. "Its franchisee operates ten stores for a population that comes up to less than half a million on an island only 122 square miles small. But that small size made it a perfect place for McDonald's and its agency TBWA\ ANG to mount one of the most crea- tive initiatives in the chain's prod- uct-quality campaign." McDonald's may not bring the Quality Truck to other markets, the Post suggested, 'but it could use the "100% Real" tagline used on the truck and in-store on tray liners pro- moting food quality. The campaign went immediately viral and featured on blogs in Italy, France and acrosss the United States with internationally renowned mar- keting gurus adding their compli- ments. "We are chuffed to see our effort recognised internationally. Its quite an achievement especially when one reads some of the comments made by one's peers," remarked Ivan Fil- letti, CEO at TBWA\ANG "We work very hard to ensure the consistent quality of our food and are very statisified with the feedback we received both internationally and locally from our customers who saw our "100% Real" campaign," said Laura Jasenaite, Group Marketing Director at Premier Capital which operates the McDonalds'restaurants in Malta, Greece and the Baltics. GO, Malta's leading communications pro- vider, has renewed its support to Fondazzjo- ni Wirt Artna, the Malta Heritage Trust. As a result, GO will remain the exclusive com- munications partner of Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, providing various communications services. These will help the organisation in its operations and enhance the experience of visitors at the many historical sites it man- ages. During a visit to the Malta at War Mu- seum in Vittoriosa, GO's CEO Yiannos Michaelides, said, "Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, with its dedicated professional staff and ar- my of volunteers, works tirelessly to preserve some of Malta's most important historic sites and buildings. "To be sustainable, the Foundation needs to attract visitors to its sites and GO is more than happy to provide technology and com- munications services which make the visitor experience that much better." Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna administers prop- erties which cover 7,000 years of Maltese history dating from pre-history to the 20th century. In addition to the Malta at War Mu- seum, these include a 17th century coastal tower at Xghajra, the Lascaris War Rooms in Valletta, Notre Dame Gate in Vittoriosa, St Thomas Tower in Marsascala, Madliena Tower in Pembroke, Fort Rinella in Kalkara and the Saluting Battery in Valletta, among others. Mario Farrugia, Executive Chairman at Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna said, "GO have been partners with Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna for five years. In that time they have made a real contribution to helping us provide our visi- tors with the best experience possible. "Creating an interactive experience is not always easy at the sites we manage but thanks to GO's expertise we have made great strides forward. "This new agreement will help us take the visitor experience we offer to a new level, something which is really crucial to ensur- ing the viability of our organisation and, ul- timately, the preservation of some of Malta's most important historic locations." More information on Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna can be found at www.wirtartna.org. In March, deposits belonging to residents of Malta and held with resident Monetary Financial Institu- tions (MFIs) expanded by €171.8 million, or 1.7%, re- versing the previous month's decline. Consequently, the annual growth rate rose slightly to 11.0%, from 10.9% in February. Deposit growth was almost entirely driven by the overnight category, which expanded by €232.1 mil- lion, or 4.0%, mainly because of higher balances belonging to households and non-financial corpora- tions (NFCs). As a result, overnight deposits continued growing at double-digit annual rates, with the growth rate rising to 16.2% in March from 14.4% in February. At the same time, deposits redeemable at a notice of up to three months edged up by €0.3 million, or 0.3%. On the other hand, deposits with an agreed matu- rity of up to two years contracted by €60.6 million, or 1.5%, mostly because of lower NFCs' deposits. Con- sequently, the annual growth rate of these deposits slowed down to 4.1%, from 6.3% a month earlier. In March, credit granted by resident MFIs to Mal- tese residents rose by €73.1 million, or 0.6%, on the back of higher credit granted to both general gov- ernment and other residents. Nonetheless, the an- nual growth rate fell to 0.9% in March, from 1.3% in February. Credit to general government rose by €24.3 mil- lion, or 0.9%, as banks increased their holdings of Treasury bills and Malta Government Stocks. However, given that this increase was smaller than that registered twelve months earlier, the annual growth rate slowed down to 7.1% from 8.0% in the previous month. On the other hand, credit to other residents, consisting mainly of private sector borrowers, ex- panded by €48.8 million, or 0.6%, partly due to the half-yearly addition of interest to borrowers' loan accounts. Loans granted to households continued on their upward trend mainly reflecting an increase in lend- ing for house purchases. In the case of private NFCs, the rise in credit extended was mainly directed at the wholesale & retail trade sector and the accommodation & food service activities sector. Despite the March increase in lending to the oth- er residents category, the annual rate of change de- clined to -0.8% from -0.5% in the previous month. Net foreign assets belonging to resident MFIs contracted by €12.9 million, or 0.2%, in March as an increase in foreign liabilities outweighed a rise in foreign claims. The former stemmed mainly from an increase in non-residents' deposits held with resident banks, while the latter mainly reflected a rise in holdings of foreign securities. As a result, net foreign assets contracted by 30.0% in the year to March, following a 29.4% drop in the twelve months to February. These large movements in net foreign assets largely reflected the transac- tions of international banks operating from Malta. Further economic and monetary information can be obtained from the website of the Central Bank of Malta www.centralbankmalta.org IELS language school invests €3 million to improve its facilities Maltese marketing campaign goes viral on the Web Central Bank of Malta issues commentary on monetary developments in March 2014 Events GO renews support for Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna Mario Farrugia, Executive Chairman at Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna (left) receiving the sponsorship from Yiannos Michaelides, CEO at GO.