Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/714702
43 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST 2016 Grant Thornton confirmed as Malta's best consulting, advisory, audit entrepreneur for 2016 Grant Thornton's managing partner, Mark Bugeja has re- cently been awarded as Malta's Best Entrepreneur for 2016 in the field of consulting, advisory and audit. Organised by MBR Publication Ltd, Malta's Best Entrepreneur of the Year Awards are now in their fifth year and aim to define and celebrate the vision, spirit of achievement and excellence in business leadership in Malta. Their scope is to distinguish and honour leaders who continuous- ly contribute and help shape the Maltese economy. During the awards ceremony, which was held at SmartCity under the patronage of the Presi- dent of Malta, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Mark Bugeja com- mented that he was honoured to be recognised as a leading and enterprising entity in the consulting, advisory and audit industry. "However this recogni- tion is the result of the excellent work that Grant Thornton's oth- er partners and the whole team in general put into making Grant Thornton the strong organisa- tion that it is today. "One of the most distinguishing features of our service promise, which definitely puts us ahead of other industry participants, is the time that partners and man- agers dedicate to clients. We have had many situations where new clients point out that the atten- tion they get from our top people is much more when compared to what they used to get from their previous service provider. This lies at the basis of our philosophy since it ensures that our clients get the best service possible. "We consider this to be a key factor in ensuring that we de- liver the high quality service that we are renowned for. We in- vest time to understand our cli- ent's business, commercial goals and objectives, which enables us to deliver the right solutions necessary to meet their needs and bring added value for their growth and development." Mark Bugeja joined the audit and investigations department of Grant Thornton's audit and investigations department in 1987 and was admitted partner in 1993. He became managing partner in 2013. Early on in his career, Mark was seconded to the then De- loitte Haskins & Sells offices in Turin, Milan and Florence, Italy. Mark specialises in auditing and has extensive experience of high- profile clients in Malta, Italy and other countries across a broad range of industrial and service sectors. His responsibilities in- clude the audits of large inter- national groups of companies. Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Accountancy degree from the University of Malta and a Masters degree in Business Ad- ministration (MBA) from Henley Management College UK. With more than 42,000 team members internationally, in 130 countries, Grant Thornton is by far one of the leading finance and assurance companies on a global level, which position is also echoed in Malta and which reinforced through the latest ac- creditation as Malta's Best En- trapreneur in its field for 2016. Handling hazardous waste at home Although we may think that the waste we generate at home is in- nocuous, the truth is that a certain amount is considered to be haz- ardous in waste terms and hence does not belong in the black or re- cycling bag. These everyday mate- rials contain chemicals that if not disposed of properly, are harmful to the environment and subse- quently to human health. While some products, such as sprays and paints, are easily iden- tified with universal hazard sym- bols, others like medicines, make- up, soaps, batteries, syringes and light bulbs are not. In addition, summer brings with it a number of activities which may generate additional hazardous household waste such as 'fjakkoli', expired charcoal, charcoal ash, insect re- pellant or leftover paints from DIY decorating. All of these items must be handled carefully and dis- posed of safely if we are to ensure that hazardous waste is treated properly and does not go to land- fills. If wrongly disposed of, this kind of waste contaminates the environment, aggravating the pol- lution problem. The six civic amenity sites which are found in: Mriehel, Hal Far, Luqa, Maghtab, Ta' Qali and Tal- Kus in Gozo accept all hazardous waste, bulky waste and recyclable materials generated by house- holds for free. The sites are open seven days a week (including pub- lic holidays) between 7.30am and 5.30pm. Vehicles can drive directly through the facility avoiding the need for parking. No appointment is needed so it really is plain sail- ing all the way! In fact the purpose of these centres is to optimise the collection of certain types of waste and increase the recovery of secondary materials. Once collected and sorted this waste is exported for treatment, unless it is treated locally and re- used for other purposes. Many lo- cal councils also offer a free bulky refuse service, some of which will also collect hazardous waste. Speak to your local council to see what they offer. For more information on how to get rid of your hazardous waste, just visit http://dontwastewaste. gov.mt – it's that easy! Do your bit. Technogym chosen as Official Supplier for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Rio 2016 Olympic Games have cho- sen Technogym as Official and Ex- clusive fitness equipment supplier. For Technogym, internationally recognized for setting the standard in athletic training, rehabilitation and wellness, Rio 2016 represents the sixth Olympic experience after Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Turin 2006, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. In Rio, Technogym will equip 15 centres for the athletes to train prior to and during the Olympic Games. The main training centre (approxi- mately 2,000 sq. metres) located at the Olympic Village in Barra da Tijuca, will be open to all athletes taking part in the Games and will be equipped with a wide range of products in order to cover the ath- letic preparation needs of every sport discipline. The other 14 training centres will be located at additional competition venues and specifically designed for the athletic preparation needs of the different disciplines. A total number of around 1,200 pieces of equipment will be made available to the 10,500 athletes, coming from 205 countries and performing in 42 disciplines. Moreover, Technogym will provide a team of 50 profes- sional athletic trainers to support the athletes as well as all related ser- vices (gym layout, installation and technical service). The Rio 2016 athletes will have the possibility to train on a selection of the best and most innovative prod- ucts covering all training areas such as cardio, strength and functional training. All Technogym equip- ment will be fully integrated with the Mywellness cloud, the Techno- gym digital platform enabling them to stay connected to their own per- sonal training programme directly on the equipment itself and via their mobile devices. The state of the art solution that Technogym will take to Rio in- cludes the newly released SKILLM- ILL, the only non-motor-driven functional training product – spe- cifically designed for Athletic Per- formance Training – which allows athletes to train power, speed, stamina and agility exercises with the same product. Athletes will also be able to train on Excite, the widest and most complete cardio training range in the world featuring UNI- TY, the latest generation "internet of things" based interface, designed to ensure a fully personalized train- ing experience, which allows the athletes to access to their personal training programs via the Techno- gym's Mywellness cloud. Kinesis, the Technogym patented technol- ogy, will allow athletes to explore the freedom of 360° movement to perform exercises aimed at improv- ing balance, flexibility and posture and simulating sport specific move- ments. Technogym's commitment for the Rio 2016 Olympics goes far beyond the company's role of Offi- cial Supplier for the athletes train- ing centres and aims to concretely contribute to the legacy that the Olympic movement wants to leave in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In con- junction with Rio 2016 Technogym is launching the "Let's Move for Rio" social campaign. The campaign's purpose is to donate part of the equipment provided to the Olympic training facilities in favour of the post-Olympic legacy. Through the Technogym digital platform Mywellness cloud, during the Olympics, athletes and wellness enthusiasts will be able to measure their physical exercise – both on the equipment and thanks to the free Technogym mobile app ¬– and transform it into equipment that Technogym will donate to 22 public gyms in Rio's most disadvantaged communities. At the Olympic Village athletes will collect MOVEs – the unit of measurement of the movement defined by Technogym – by train- ing on the connected Technogym equipment, while everybody will be able to join the campaign by just downloading the Technogym app. The app measures movement per- formed both on the equipment and outdoor in the daily life. For each 75,000 MOVEs collected globally Technogym will donate one equip- ment to the community gyms se- lected together with the Empresa Olimpica Municipal that is part of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro. The more people will move, the more Technogym will donate! Nerio Alessandri, president and founder of Technogym said: "We are very proud of being chosen for the 6th time as the official supplier of the Olympic Games. This im- portant achievement represents a victory for the whole Technogym team and a strong reference on our products innovation and quality standards." He added that "Rio 2016 will also represent a unique social opportunity to promote wellness in Brazil and in the whole Latin Amer- ica and to get an increasing number of people interested in regular phys- ical exercise". Besides the partnership with the Olympic Games, Technogym is globally recognized as the refer- ence brand for elite sport athletic training. Technogym partners in- clude the most important European football clubs such as Juventus, Milan AC, Inter, Chelsea and Paris St Germain, the Italian and Brazil- ian national teams, the Ferrari and Mclaren teams in Formula 1, the US tennis federation, the NBA star Marco Belinelli and the EA7 Arm- ani team in basket. When it comes to the preparation for Rio 2016, Technogym supports the training of many champions in different sport disciplines. The Technogym ambassadors team training for Rio include Rafael Nad- al, international tennis star who has just built his own tennis academy in Mallorca, fully equipped with the latest Technogym products; Marco Belinelli, NBA champion in 2014 with the San Antonio Spurs and star of the Italian national basket- ball team; Carlotta Ferlito, the young Italian gymnast already winner of one sil- ver and two bronze medals at Lon- don 2012; Elisa Di Francisca, fenc- ing renowned defending champion, thanks to the gold medal won in London; Gregorio Paltrinieri, cur- rent 1,500 metres freestyle world record holder; Clemente Russo, Ital- ian boxer winner of silver medals at Beijing and London Olympics; Sanya Richard-Ross, Jamaican- American track and field athlete specialized in the 400 metres and London 2012 Olympic champion; Dina Asher-Smith, British athlete, heptathlon Olympic, world and European champion and indoor pentathlon world champion; Be- atriz and Branca Feres, Brazilian twins and synchronized swimmers; Arthur Zanetti, Brazilian artistic gymnast who won the gold medal on rings exercise at the 2012 Sum- mer Olympics in London; Ivana Španović, Serbian long jumper and current European champion; and Diana Martin Gimenez, Spanish athlete specialized in steeplechase. Cooling off with an ice cream Who doesn't love an ice cream in the scorching heat of summer? As part of their ongoing ef- fort to enhance the employees' wellbeing, GasanMamo Insur- ance treated all staff to a free ice cream or granita. The Tanti ice-cream van headed off to the GasanMamo's car park at their head office in Gżira, where the staff enjoyed a mid-week treat. Mark Bugeja