Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/378361
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2014 16 Events Corinthia Hotels announces three key appointments Equinox Legal wins Finance Monthly 2014 Law Award for Commercial Law Firm of the Year 'Change and Continuity': The MHS Independence Anniversary Lectures 2014 MORE than 125 employees swam, cycled, ran, and walked their way from Gozo to San Anton Palace today. The annual triathlon is organised by HSBC Malta Foundation, togeth- er with the Bank's Sports and Social Commit- tee. For the first time in its history, the triath- lon raised funds for two charities, namely the Malta Community Chest Fund's L-Istrina and WaterAid Ghana. By the end of the triathlon, the participants cumulatively covered an estimated distance of more than 1,900km consisting of 180km of swimming, 900km cycling, 500km of run- ning, and 350km of walking. A number of participants completed the entire 70km tria- thlon challenge in a show of resolve, while one participant received applause for taking part in the Challenge from his wheelchair. In a first for the growing annual event, the triath- lon was opened to Malta's top athletes, who in turn showed strong support. The freestyle triathlon got underway with a run in Gozo, from Għarb to Ħondoq ir- Rummien, after which participants swam through the Challenge, from Gozo to Malta through Comino, and then finally cycled from Ċirkewwa to Ta' Qali National Park. The walking circuit featured a round trip from San Anton Palace to Ta' Qali National Park and back. The triathlon culminated at the President's Palace at San Anton where they were greeted by Acting President Dolores Cristina, and HSBC Malta's Chief Operating Officer Decca Fan. Ms Fan said: "The growing size and scale of the annual triathlon challenge reinvigorates the spirit of community that HSBC employees maintain and allows us to join hands together over worthy causes. By extending our support to L-Istrina and WaterAid, HSBC Malta and its employees stand united in our efforts to improve the quality of life of people, and we thank the dedication and commitment of our employees who commit to such activities vol- untarily and in their free time." The HSBC Triathlon 2014 enjoyed the gen- erous support of Medcomms Limited, Printex Limited, General Soft Drinks Co. Limited, Nicky Farrugia, Calypso Cruises, Oh Yeah Malta, Borg Brothers Removals – Siggiewi, and BPC International Limited. LEADING international hotel group, Corin- thia Hotels, has just announced the creation of a new group Commercial Director role and the appointment of a new General Manager for their flagship London property. Matthew Dixon, formerly General Manager Corinthia London, is promoted to take on a group role as Commercial Director Corinthia Hotels. He will be based in London but over- see the commercial operations for all nine hotels in London, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Malta, Russia and Africa. His appointment is part of the group's drive to strengthen its head office function, create efficiencies, drive business and develop a ro- bust platform for further portfolio expansion in 2015. Matthew has worked for Corinthia London since 2010. Prior to this he was General Man- ager of the luxury hotel and golf resort, The Grove in Hertfordshire. He has held previ- ous senior management roles at the Savoy Group, Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, The Balmoral in Edinburgh and Browns in London. Renaud Gregoire, formerly Hotel Manager Corinthia London, is promoted to General Manager Corinthia London. Having worked for the hotel since 2012 this is an exciting career development as he now takes over the running of one of the capital's leading five- star hotels. With 294 rooms, suites and Pent- houses, an international guest mix, a staff of 500 and a 24/7 operation this is the ultimate accolade for a true hotelier. Renaud was Director of Food and Beverage at The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane from 2009 to 2012. Prior to this he was Resident Manager at the Fairmont Cairo from 2008- 2009, and Director of Food and Beverage at Claridge's. Mirko Cattini will take over Renaud's former role as Hotel Manager Corinthia London. He joins from Shangri-La Singapore where he held the position of Executive Assistant Manager, Food and Beverage overseeing 280 staff and managers. Mirko has worked for Shangri-La in Cebu and Bangkok and also for Taj President in Mumbai. He started his career in 2003 as Bar Manager at the famous Berkeley Hotel London Blue Bar. For more information on Corinthia Hotel London visit corinthia.com/London MALTESE law firm Equinox Legal - Equinox Advisory Ltd's affiliated law firm - won the Commercial Law Firm of the Year Award af- ter receiving over a 100 positive reviews from clients. The award of Commercial Law Firm of the Year is given by Finance Monthly UK, a Euro- pean industry leader in recognising law firms and legal professionals, on the basis of respons- es from its corporate readership. In March 2014, Finance Monthly asked its readership to participate in a voting process and nominate their preferred law firm/s and lawyers for 2014. This year, Finance Monthly UK's readership voted Equinox Legal as the Commercial Law Firm of the Year. When asked to comment on this year's awards, Mark Palmer, Executive Editor of Fi- nance Monthl,y said: "Law firms are an integral part of the corporate landscape and the firms listed within the annual Finance Monthly Law Awards edition are at the very heart of corpo- rate life within their respective jurisdictions." Bernard Mallia, Equinox Advisory Ltd's CEO, remarked that "Equinox Legal is an in- tegral part of Equinox Advisory's broad service offering" and that he was "proud of the accom- plishments that Equinox Legal had made over the last few years." Jackie Scerri, Equinox Legal's Managing Part- ner and a Director at Equinox Advisory Ltd., highlighted that since its inception, Equinox Legal has been going from strength to strength in advising its corporate clients on a wide ar- ray of commercial matters. She added that "the winning of this award confirms Equinox Legal as the law firm of choice when it comes to com- mercial services." Each winner has demonstrated that they are at the top of their game as they continue to pro- vide first class legal services. All category winners are featured in the 2014 Awards publication which may be viewed on- line on: http://headley.co.uk/headturner/FM- LA2014 'CHANGE and Continuity' in the arts, sci- ences and technology during the course of the twentieth century in Malta is the theme chosen for a series of lectures organised by the Malta Historical Society (MHS) to mark Malta's 50th anniversary of Independence. Organized under the auspices of the Presi- dent of Malta Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, a set of three sessions will be held three consecutive months in different historic locations: 16 September at The Pal- ace, Valletta, 22 October at San Anton Palace, Attard, and 13 November at the Mediterra- nean Conference Centre, Valletta. Leading scholars will be presenting novel research material tracing twentieth-century developments within their respective field, focusing on the transitions and changes that occurred before and after 1964. The event is sponsored by The Farsons Foundation and sup- ported by the Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb. Prof. Henry Frendo will be the keynote speaker for the first ses- sion, which will be focussing also on Archives and Libraries, Art, Photography, Music and Conser- vation of art and artefacts with the respective speakers being Charles Farrugia, Michael Fenech, Dan- iel Cilia, Andrew Alamango and Joseph Schiro'. Attendance is free of charge and the audience will be invited for re- freshments after each session. For the full programme please visit: www.maltahistory.eu All the cyclists participating in this year's HSBC Staff Triathlon prior to their departure from Cirkewwa HSBC Malta staff take to the road for fundraising challenge