Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/758493
43 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 DECEMBER 2016 EY Malta announces that Shawn Falzon has been promoted to As- surance Partner and Chris Meilak to that of Transaction Advisory Ser- vices Executive Director. This year's new partner class in EY's Central and Southern European (CSE) re- gion includes a record percentage of partners from the emerging mar- kets — 35% of all new partners. In addition, EY continues to focus on increasing the proportion of female partners, with this year's promo- tions coming in at almost 30%. Ronald Attard, EY CSE TAS lead- er and EY Malta Country Managing partner, says: "I would like to congratulate and warmly welcome Shawn Falzon as a new Assurance partner and Chris Meilak as a new Transaction Advi- sory Services executive director. EY Malta's leadership team now com- prises of 5 partners and 6 executive directors." Mark Weinberger, EY Global Chairman and CEO, says: "Today's promotions recognize the out- standing achievements of our peo- ple. Our new partners have been focused on providing services to our clients, leading high perform- ing teams and contributing to our purpose and ambition. Despite an uncertain economy, we are still in- vesting and these promotions are a tribute to the contributions these new partners have made to EY and our future. I'm proud of all that we've achieved together as an or- ganization over the past year, and I am particularly proud of all our new partners." EY continued to reaffirm its com- mitment to the advancement of women, with female partner pro- motions representing 29% (208), including women across all geogra- phies and service lines. EY has more than 230,000 people in 152 countries around the world. Vodafone Malta scoops three awards in Best in Business VODAFONE Malta has scooped three awards during the Best in Business awards ceremony, netting the Best in Marketing award, the Company of the Year award and the Award for Excellence. Held under the auspices of Presi- dent Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and organised by MBR Publica- tions Ltd, the Best in Business Awards recognise outstanding and exceptional achievement in busi- ness excellence, innovation and ethics. "We are proud to have been pre- sented with these awards – while we form part of one of the largest international groups in the world, we have been recognised as a val- ued contributor to the local busi- ness community," Head of Enter- prise Kenneth Spiteri said. "The fact that we have been awarded the Company of the Year accolade was indeed the cherry on the cake and recognises the hard work, dedication and passion of our people. This definitely gives us more energy to deliver on our brand promise 'Power to you' by remaining relevant, humble and focused to deliver the best service to our clients. "Similarly, through the Vodafone Malta Foundation we will continue to drive projects which have a posi- tive impact on the various com- munities in Malta that we strive to help." Vodafone Malta has been leading the way in mobile technology since the first call in Malta on its net- work 26 years ago. Although the Malta business is one of the small- est companies in Vodafone, it was one of Vodafone's first ventures be- yond the UK and over the years, it has introduced a series of firsts to the market. It was the first to introduce GPRS in 2001 and the first to deploy 3G in 2006. In 2013, Vodafone Malta was the first to deploy 4G across the Maltese islands and the first to introduce 'Roam like at Home' within EU member states in 2016. Vodafone Malta has also con- tributed positively by investing in a more sustainable society. Since 2003, the Vodafone Malta Founda- tion has donated over €3 million to local causes across Malta and Gozo, supporting organisations which ef- fect social change and improve the daily lives of people in vulnerable situations, which promote health and medical development, protect the environment and safeguard na- tional culture and heritage. EY Malta promotes new partner and new director Chris Meilak Shawn Falzon RSM, Chamber of Commerce launch Medium Sized Enterprise Survey RSM – one of Malta's leading mid-tier firms – and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enter- prise and Industry launched a research project to measure the prevailing sentiment and trends amongst middle-mar- ket operators in Malta. 'The Medium Sized Enter- prise Survey' is intended to provide benchmarking infor- mation at both middle market level as a whole and the indi- vidual sectorial levels such as, manufacturing, retail, health- care, professional and oth- ers. Once the results are pub- lished, the survey will enable respondents to compare their performance to both market and sectorial levels. It will be conducted twice a year across a statistically significant sam- ple of respondents who will be invited to participate in the survey. To date there is no survey that focuses solely and com- pletely on the medium sized enterprises to give a clear in- dication of: their business per- formance in total and by sec- tor; the economic, financial and employment issues facing them and how the players in this sector are coping with the present and the future chal- lenges. The middle market entities that include those employing between 50 and 250 staff are an important sector in our economy. Economic data indi- cates that the middle market segment accounts for around 24% of the local workforce in Malta making them one of the larger employer sectors in the country. Maria Micallef, Managing Partner of RSM said "Find- ings from the Medium Sized Enterprise Survey will provide factual data and information relevant to different stake- holders including medium sized enterprises, policy mak- ers and financial institutions. No other research method can provide this broad capability to gather results from which to draw conclusions and make important decisions. Research findings will be presented to key policy makers and relevant stakeholders to further the dis- cussion about strengthening the growing entrepreneurial spirit within the middle-mar- ket segment. We are also plan- ning a national conference to discuss the findings after our second survey is conducted." Kevin J Borg, Director Gen- eral at the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said, "The middle market industry has a num- ber of local and international challenges and statistics are particularly important as they often provide some of the only objective information that dif- ferent stakeholders may use when making decisions. Mid- dle market organisations are a key component of the local enterprising environment, given their indispensable con- tribution to the local economy. Historically, these medium sized companies have been hard to evaluate because of a lack of focused instruments and timely collection of data. Through this research pro- ject, the Chamber will be in a stronger position to assist its members in strengthening and growing their business." Structured around the sta- tistical classification model for economic activities in the European Community, RSM together with the Chamber of Commerce has developed this targeted instrument to enable the evaluation of trends and performance of the middle market at both a local and Eu- ropean Union dimension. The development of a fo- cused measurement mecha- nism by RSM and Chamber of Commerce is of great rel- evance to the business com- munity within this segment as it provides for the first time a middle market specific bench- marks and comparative data. Survey respondents will re- ceive free access to the Me- dium Sized Enterprise Confer- ence, a free copy of the Annual Survey Report, access to mem- ber information online and free access to market bench- marks by market and industry sector. RSM is the sixth largest net- work of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, encom- passing over 120 countries, 760 offices and more than 38,000 people internationally. RSM Malta has been a mem- ber firm of RSM network for the past 11 years. RSM Malta are gold collabo- rating partners of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, En- terprise and Industry. Maria Micallef, RSM Managing Partner, and Anton Borg, President Chamber of Commerce, at a signing ceremony marking the launch of the research project. Contactless, mobile technology driving new Christmas shopping WHETHER online or in-store, buy- ing gifts or enjoying Christmas rev- elry, shoppers around Europe are foregoing cash, opting for the speed and convenience of new payment methods. With more than 165 million con- tactless cards and 3.4 million con- tactless enabled terminals termi- nals across Europe, usage has grown from 36% in 2015 to 52% in 2016, according to Visa's 2016 Digital Payments Study. This trend is not solely reserved for younger, more tech-savvy consumers. Contactless uptake has increased across all age demographics, the greatest increase within the 55-64 age bracket, which has witnessed 64% growth since 2015.Moreover, the adoption of contactless cards is having a tangi- ble impact on other payment meth- ods. Europe-wide, contactless card users are more open to using a mo- bile device as a payment method in a shop (52% contactless card user vs 32% non-contactless card user), to shop via a retailer app (49% vs 31%) and to pay for a meal (50% vs 30%). As well as reaping the benefits of contactless payments, consumers are also recognising the benefits of other new payment methods. In 2016, 44% of the people Visa sur- veyed reported using mobile pay- ment apps, up from 38% last year. Nearly half (46%) agree that having the option of paying using their mo- bile or wearable device has made it easier to buy the items thy need. This added convenience is also fuelling an uptake in digital wallet usage across a variety of purchas- ing channels. European consumers are interested in using digital wal- lets to make purchases face-to-face (37%), through apps (51%), as well as online (56%). Consumers agreed that greater convenience (61%) and the ability to pay anytime, anywhere (59%), were the primary benefits.