Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/487054
Events 29 maltatoday, Sunday, 29 March 2015 HSBC Malta hon- oured six employees and also a team who typified the values and culture of excel- lence of the Bank during this year's annual staff gather- ing. The HSBC Malta Staff Townhall 2015 is one of the major initiatives within the Bank's internal com- munications pro- gramme. The employee excel- lence awards celebrate individuals and teams who live the HSBC val- ues and demonstrate excellence in providing exemplary services to the Bank and its customers. Nearly 100 staff, managers, and teams were nominated in this year's seven categories. The win- ners of the excellence awards were: Joe Cachia for the Depend- able Award 2015, Bernard Grima for the Connected Award 2015, Charlene Camilleri Zarb for Out- standing New Recruit Award 2015, Brian Cilia for Open & Inclusive Award 2015, Mark Spiteri for Customer First Award 2015, and Daniela Cassar and Maureen Mi- callef for the Social Responsibility Award 2015. The Helicanus Project team won the Team Award 2015. The mem- bers of the winning team were Marie Kristie Galea, Ray Schem- bri, Elaine Scerri De Giorgio, An- dre Cutajar, Graziella Dimech, Naomi Bugeja, Audrey Aquilina, Mariella Fitzerald, Joseph Farru- gia, and Joseph Sammut. HSBC Malta CEO Mark Watkin- son thanked the winners and the nominees, "Congratulations on getting the awards and thank you for going the extra mile. It makes a huge difference." He also shared his vision on the challenges and opportunities for the Bank and the staff in 2015. The Bank 's executive committee members, comprised of the heads of business divisions, provided fur- ther insight into last year's perform- ance, and their respective business area's objectives for 2015. The event culminated with each member of the audience receiving a pair of 3D glasses to peek at the HS- BC's futuristic new office designs. 2014 was the best year ever for Frank Salt Real Estate, with an increase in sales revenue by 48%. This was reported during the com- pany's annual general conference, held earlier this month at the Cor- inthia St Georges Bay Hotel. All results for the year exceeded the targets set for the year, and 2015 is expected to be just as good a year. In the opening statement, com- pany chairman Frank Salt thanks all members of the Frank Salt Real Estate team for making this a record year for the company. Sales turnover saw an increase of 38%, a success story throughout the 14 sales and letting branches of the company. The value of property sold also increased, and notwithstanding the increase in sales in the first time buyer market thanks to the government exemption on stamp duties, the company also expanded in other markets, including second time buyers, and the investment market, with an increase of 45% and 65% respectively over the pre- vious year. Another area that the company invested heavily in in 2014 was the permanent residency and citizen- ship market. Efforts paid off, as sales to these clients increased by 80%. 47% of the sales concluded in 2014 by Frank Salt Real Estate were to foreign buyers. This goes to show the substantial market share that the company has within the foreign market, thanks to its efforts to pro- mote Malta overseas and online. 2014 has also been a record year for Frank Salt Real Estate's letting division, which saw an increase in revenue of 30% and 26% increase in number of leases. One of the main objectives for 2015 is for the company to attract quality properties for sale and to let. With the current demand level, the company already offers a good selection of properties however it is looking at registering even more, offering its clients, as vast a choice as possible. During the Annual General Con- ference, it was announced that Rita Schembri will take on the role as the new Commercial Property Manager, in line with the com- pany's strategy to expand its com- mercial property division. Sliema branch was announced as Frank Salt Real Estate's Best Branch for 2014, whilst John Middleton from the St Paul's Bay branch and Edward Aquilina from the Sliema Letting branch were awarded as Best Sales and Letting consultants respectively. Given that 2014 has been a record year in sales, one may feel that it will be difficult to reach the same level of performance as that of last year. We are confident that this will not be the case." said Manag- ing Director Joseph Lupi whilst addressing the audience. "Indica- tions are showing that buyer con- fidence is still very high and should remain so throughout the year. Other than the first time buyer's scheme, which will no longer be available after June, this year, the other factors should still be posi- tive determining factors in this year's market performance. We ex- pect that the second buyer market, as well as 'buy to let' market, local and foreign will continue to grow this year." "The same can be said for the foreign market, which this year is expected to see an increase in MIIP (citizenship) clients and oth- ers seeking to take up permanent residency in Malta. Beginning today and continuing throughout 2015, this will become the hallmark of the Pepsi Challenge as Pepsi unleashes its biggest socially- led, content driven initiative ever with a variety of global and local challeng- es designed to galvanize consumers around the world to defy convention, make every moment, big or small, epic, and truly "Live for Now." Issued on Pepsi social and digital channels and via renowned ambas- sadors from around the world, #Pep- siChallenge will incite consumers to take on different challenges for amaz- ing life experiences and rewards. Imbued with the cultural stand- ing that has become its trademark, the 2015 content-driven, socially-led Pepsi Challenge will bring out-of- this-world films, once-in-a-lifetime music events, unique sports experi- ences and a global movement that will light up entire communities. "Pepsi Challenge is an iconic piece of our brand equity and in many ways established our can-do attitude and spirit," said Kristin Patrick, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo Global Beverage Brands. "When we talked to consumers around the globe about what chal- lenge meant to them today, they resoundingly said that it entailed challenging convention and dar- ing to do something differently. We used that sentiment as our inspira- tion to expand beyond just taste and re-imagine the Pepsi Challenge for new generations, creating this cross- pollination of experiences, events, community and social advocacy, de- signed to ignite a mindset that chal- lenges the status quo, our fans and ourselves." The 2015 Pepsi Challenge Global challenges will be unveiled across areas of pop culture that con- sumers are passionate about – tech- nology, music, sports and design – and are accessible by visiting www. PepsiChallenge.com and Pepsi social channels around the world. Among the global challenges: • Technology: An unprec- edented, inaugural brand collabora- tion with UrtheCast, which is pro- viding the world's first full-color Ultra High-Definition video camera in space. Featuring out-of-this-world footage captured by UrtheCast's HD video camera and its medium-reso- lution camera onboard the Interna- tional Space Station (ISS), Pepsi will challenge live production conven- tions with the first ever, epic film ad- venture shot from space. • Music: A can't miss experi- ence at Rock In Rio Brazil, the biggest music festival in the world that for 30 years has showcased an unparal- leled collection of performers in one place. • Sports: A collection of un- conventional global sporting events and experiences anchored by some of the world's most beloved sports he- roes. • Design: An extraordinary opportunity for fans to re-envision the facade of a Pepsi can with their own creative designs and flair. Global challenges will be augment- ed by regionally relevant challenges designed to capture the authentic es- sence of their market. Examples from around the world include "Crash the IPL," a three-month campaign chal- lenging consumers in India to create and submit their own Pepsi ad for a chance to be aired during Indian Premier League games during the 2015 Pepsi IPL season; regional food- focused challenges in Thailand and Vietnam; and a Latin America sum- mer music challenge tied to La Gira Refrescante. This initiative which is being sup- ported by The Catering Centre aims to recognise the chefs who make a great contribution towards the suc- cess of any restaurant. The top 150 restaurants as voted into The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in last year's survey have been asked to nominate their chef for the Chef of the Month. Each month 2 nominated chefs will be featured on www.restaurantsmalta. com and diners will be asked to vote for who they think is the best chef out of these, based on presentation of the food, variety of ingredients used and creativity in the use of them. In this way one chef will be chosen and featured on www.restaurantsmalta. com for the month. For the first time, this year a Chef of the Year award will be presented during the annual award ceremony of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in December. To be able to vote for your favour- ite chef and keep updated on how the competition is progressing, sign up by registering on www.restau- rantsmalta.com and like restau- rantsmalta.com on Facebook. HSBC recognises employee excellence at annual Staff Townhall Record year for Frank Salt Real Estate as sales revenue up by 48%, property consultant earnings up by 31% The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants brings you The Chef of the Month The Pepsi Challenge: Epic. Music. Sports. Tech. Design. Purpose.