Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday opened the £1.8 million new headquarters of Fraser Eagle, forging an even closer relationship with the British group that has made Malta its second home.

The headquarters, in Padiham, Lancashire, bring together under one roof 180 staff from the various branches of this rapidly growing group, which started off almost 90 years ago as a transport company and has since diversified to transport management, travel, interior refurbishment contracts and even its own rail services.

Fraser Eagle managing director Kevin Dean also has a number of plans for Malta. These include a Lm10-Lm15 million business centre that would offer a combination of residential and office facilities, a project being done in collaboration with Credal Network, a Ta 'Xbiex consultancy firm. " have already been approached by a number of businesses interested in investing in the centre and I will be coming to Malta on January 27 to meet them. Depending on whether we opt for a new development or the refurbishment of an existing one, the project could be up and running within a year,"Mr Dean said.

The group is also planning to open a captive insurance cell, which would be a form of self insurance for both the Fraser Eagle Group as well as for its transport partners. This is being done by April/May with the local Aon Insurance Group.

"It costs around £5, every year to insure a coach so it would make a lot of sense to do this collectively on a profit sharing basis,"he said.

Fraser Eagle will also transfer its telemarketing division to Malta next month from London, creating six to 10 jobs.

Fraser Eagle ' involvement with Malta started when it was looking for a software company and through Malta Enterprise gave the prestigious contract to Crimsonwing. The software - which will control and coordinate thousands of vehicle movements a day - goes live next week. Other substantial IT contracts followed for Megabyte and for DMax,which has done all the group ' website, among other work. Mr Dean said that his visits to Malta alerted him to the opportunities afforded by the island - including proficiency in English and the high work ethic - and it eventually opened a control centre at the Cornerstone Complex in Malta a year ago, which already employs 30 people.

Also present at the opening yesterday was the former chairman of Virgin Rail Chris Green, who praised Fraser Eagle for its efficiency and customer service.

"Frazer Eagle provides rail replacement services and on one occasion moved 50, of our passengers over a weekend when our service was disrupted. And now they have the cheek to start up their own railway !"he joked, referring to one of the latest companies in the group, Grand Central.

Mr Green also shared with Dr Gonzi some of his ideas on how a light railway could help to solve Malta ' transport problems. During his speech, Dr Gonzi said that he had accepted the invitation as it would recognise Fraser Eagle ' achievements in the UK, the mutually beneficial nature of the partnership that Fraser Eagle had with Malta and also the way in which the partnership would help to promote Malta. "Within 10-15 years, I see Malta as a centre of excellence for IT as it already is for financial services," Dr Gonzi said.

" Frazer Eagle has already helped to put us on the map."

The visit elicited considerable interest in the local media, included BBC Lancashire and the Lancashire Telegraph. Dr Gonzi, who was accompanied by his wife Kate, also visited a local primary school and will today visit Blackburn Cathedral and the Accrington Stanely football stadium (Fraser Eagle is one of the team 'main sponsors ).He will also watch the Blackburn Rovers vs Arsenal match.

Fraser Eagle managing director Kevin Dean presents a painting of Valletta by local artist Victor Caruana to the Prime Minister and Mrs Gonzi.

Fraser Eagle managing director Kevin Dean presents a painting of Valletta by local artist Victor Caruana to the Prime Minister and Mrs Gonzi.

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