Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/534048
Events 49 maltatoday, Sunday, 28 June 2015 Vassallo Group employees honoured at annual Shine Awards Farsons reports a steady performance as Group pursues growth through innovation and internationalisation For the second consecutive year, Vassallo Group of Companies organised the Shine Awards to reward employees who stood out for their excellent performance throughout the year. The glitzy event, held at The Diamond Conference Hall in Qormi, was hosted by TV per- sonality Corazon Mizzi. Awards were given in 12 categories: Customer Focus, Green Initia- tives, Successful Project, Service Quality, Safety Award, Train- ing and Development Award, Exposure to Group on Personal Social Media Award, and Smart Appearance. Other awards given were the Best Employee Award, the Best Supervisor Award, the Best Manager Award and the best Arkati Foundation Ambas- sador Award. In addition, Group Chair- man Nazzareno Vassallo gave a number of surprise awards. Cul- minating this year's event was the Chairman's award given to Joe Borg, a foreman who has just retired from Vassallo Builders after almost 40 years of service with the Group. Speaking during the event, Vassallo highlighted the Group's achievements this year namely the completion of works at Wast- erserv's North Waste Treatment Plant in Magħtab, the comple- tion and inauguration of the 200-bedded home for the eld- erly, Casa San Paolo in Buġibba, the completion of phase one of the One-One-O complex at The Strand, Gzira, the completion of works at the Coastline Hotel as well as the Oncolology and the Life Sciences centre. He also announced the open- ing of two homes for persons with disability who wish to live in the community whilst out- lining the Group's intention, to open such more homes in the next five years. Vassallo had words of praise for the over 1700 employees em- ployed by companies within the Group, whom he described as the key to the successes achieved by the Group throughout the 69 years of operation. He affirmed the Group's in- tention to keep investing in its human capital, both through improved employment condi- tions as well as through training and development. At this point he mentioned that during the same morning, Vassallo Group inaugurated a new Training and Development Centre which will henceforth host all training pro- grammes for employees within the Group. Farsons Group reported another set of satisfactory results for the financial year ending 31 January 2015 as a result of consistent op- erational improvements combined with the Group's pursuit of growth through innovation and interna- tionalisation. This was stated by Louis A. Far- rugia, during his Chairman's ad- dress at the 68th Annual General Meeting of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc held at Palazzo Parisio, Naxx- ar. He said:, "Farsons Group has set out a clear vision for the foresee- able future, namely to grow our local and international business in order to establish the Group as a regional player within the food and beverage sector. "To achieve this, appropriate resources are being invested in constructing additional state-of- the-art productive assets, includ- ing the €27 million beer packag- ing facility. This investment shall become operational as planned in April 2016." "Furthermore, we are not re- stricting our investment solely to machinery and physical assets. Much time and investment is cur- rently also being deployed into en- suring we revitalize some existing brands, as well as innovating and launching new products suitable for both the local and internation- al markets, "said Farrugia. While the Group is guided by the values of teamwork, respect, integrity and dynamism, there is a determined effort to align and integrate processes and nurture a culture which is driven by per- formance, is results-oriented, and in which development and train- ing are critical enablers. Working in close collaboration with internal and external stake- holders, Farsons is constantly seeking to maximise potential, work smarter, and optimise the use of technology in the quest for cost effective solutions and con- tinuous improvement in all its op- erations. In reviewing the performance of the Group's business and brands, Farsons Group Chief Executive Norman Aquilina said, "Innova- tion is a continuous cycle and, in this regard, our strategic response to the competitive pressures is reaping the desired results by registering yet another solid per- formance with profit before tax amounting to €8.2 million, exceed- ing last year's record performance by almost 20%. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased by €1.7 million over the previous year to reach €15.9 million," he said. During his overview for 2014, Mr Aquilina said that the Group con- tinued to focus on delivering value and developing brands and pack- aging that differentiated Farsons brands and products allowing Farsons to maintain a leadership position. "Moreover, our export efforts are not restricted to Europe - where significant increases were registered in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Poland - but also to build our brands in Asian and Australian markets," said Aquilina. During the AGM proceedings, Dr Max Ganado and Mr Roderick Chalmers were uncontested and re-elected as Directors. All resolutions proposed at the Annual General Meeting were ap- proved. The Annual General Meeting approved the Board's recom- mendation of a final dividend of €2 million, bringing the total de- clared dividend for the year to €3 million. After the meeting, Louis A Farrugia delivered a presenta- tion regarding the review of the Group internal structures. As the company is planning to hive off a number of properties from its core food and beverage business activi- ties, these properties will eventu- ally form part of a separate and distinct property-focused public limited liability company planned to be set up in 2017. Following this, the General Manager of Trident Developments Limited Christopher Ciantar pre- sented a number of designs and artists' impressions about the 'Far- sons Business Park project that were prepared by a well-known British firm of international re- pute, Ian Ritchie Architects. Last year, this architectural firm was entrusted with the development of the proposed masterplan for the Board's eventual consideration. The Waterfront Hotel certified excellent by TripAdvisor for third year running The Waterfront Hotel in Sliema has once again received TripAdvi- sor's coveted "Certificate of Excel- lence" award for its outstanding standards in hospitality, facilities and services in its category. The "Certificate of Excellence" was first awarded in 2010 and rec- ognises hospitality businesses that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor. Properties that are awarded the Certificate of Excellence demon- strate hospitality excellence and represent the upper echelon of businesses listed on TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site. The Certificate of Excellence is awarded on the basis of user-gen- erated content, which includes: review ratings, overall rating and the quantity of updated reviews. To qualify for a Certificate of Ex- cellence, a hospitality business must maintain an overall TripAd- visor rating of at least four out of five; have a minimum number of reviews; and have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months. The property's popular- ity ranking on TripAdvisor is also an important factor taken into consideration for the award. "It is a great satisfaction for us to be rated so highly by our guests," said Sales and Marketing Man- ager Charmaine Camilleri. "This award acknowledges the profes- sionalism and hard work of all The Waterfront staff to ensure that our guests are given the best treatment and that their stay is as comfortable and enjoyable as pos- sible." The 116-room four-star hotel is a highly popular destination among tourists visiting Malta who are looking for a central location. It is located within walking distance from the Sliema centre and less than a 10-minute ride to Vallet- ta. The hotel offers guests bright and comfortable rooms with full amenities and spacious balconies, most of which have a sea view as well as the majestic bastions of Valletta across the creek. The hotel has three catering outlets - the Regatta and Basilico restaurants and Star Café - and is part of the Mizzi Organisation. Imnarja activities launched The parliamentary secretary for agriculture, fisheries and animal rights, Roderick Gal- des (above, second from right) launched the annual Imnarja activities, to take place in Bus- kett. Activities begin today at 6pm and continue tomorrow be- tween 8am and 2pm. Galdes described the feast day as an opportunity to dis- play local produce. The secre- tariat has worked hard, over the past three years, to boost the feast's popularity. A number of animals will be on display this year, including horses, cattle, dogs, rabbits, goats, sheep and several avian species. There will also be dis- plays of local produce. Visitors will also be able to see how local ġbejna cheeselets are made and witness a milk- ing competition. Folk music and traditional food will also be available. A Park-and-ride service will be provided from Triq l-Infetti. Farsons Group Chairman Louis A Farrugia flanked by Group CEO Norman Aquilina, Company Secre- tary Antoinette Caruana and Vice Chairman Vincent Curmi