Going where the action is

Some of Malta's men of enterprise have always looked outside the islands to exploit opportunities the likes of which might not be available here. Bart Attard, who passed away a fortnight ago, was one of them.

One of three former policemen who literally made it from rags to riches (the other two being Tumas Fenech and Carmel Bugeja), he recognised very early on that he had to move out of the Malta box to try to exploit a bigger picture.

Bart was one of the few Maltese contractors who from the late 1960s on ventured abroad in search of work to expand their endeavours. Such initiatives were not always rewarded with success. They were fraught with dangers of the unknown, cultural differences, state machines to learn to co-drive and oceans to navigate.

Nevertheless some succeeded, and Bart was one of them. He built a conglomerate from nothing and left a heritage to his offspring to look after and grow.

The offspring of Tumas Fenech, led by his dynamic son George, were more focused on opportunities in Malta, diversifying from land development to hotels, to enterprise related to modern port development, and also venturing overseas in the highly competitive French hotel sector.

Others did and some are doing it now. The Albert Mizzi phenomenon, an early dipper into the sea of tourism with its hotel in Għadira and a magnate of commerce and retailing, is now focused on expanding overseas, particularly in North Africa.

Increasingly there is awareness that Malta offers good but limited scope. Those who want to continue to grow have to look elsewhere to give full rein to their entrepreneurial spirit.

No one has done this with more vigour and determination than the Corinthia Group, headed by Alfred Pisani. Early entrants into the local tourism market with their first hotel in inland Attard, expanding with other hotels more strategically located near the sea but not necessarily more attractive, they took the bold step of targeting overseas development.

Alfred Pisani has spearheaded a consistent drive of expansion abroad, even thousands of miles away from Malta.

The Pisani family, in association with major Libyan interests, have built up a portfolio of hotel ownership, operating and development the like of which is not around to compare.

Last week due publicity was given to their latest venture. Their foreign arm, International Hotel Investments (IHI), announced that it was on track with a flagship luxury hotel and residences project in the heart of London.

Last year the Group acquired the Metropole building in Northumberland Avenue close to Trafalgar Square, plus adjoining premises in Whitehall Place. They worked quietly but diligently on their plan to retain the external structure of the buildings while planning an avant garde luxurious structure inside those walls.

The project required very substantial funds. The Corinthia management tapped its internal resources, persuaded its foreign partners also to put up equity in the venture and, on the basis of that package, approached a multi-national consortium of financial institutions for the remaining required funding.

They did so at a time when lending to property is very tight in the context of a situation triggered off by careless sub-prime lending and consequential sharply falling property prices.

That notwithstanding, the Corinthia international arm secured the required bank financing. Barclays Commercial, the consortium leader, heaped lavish praise on IHI.

The IHI media release reported the Leisure Director of Barclays Commercial as saying that the landmark deal was affirmation that the Bank (along with the Libyan Foreign Bank, the Arab Banking Corporation and the Bank of Valletta) continued to support new lending within the (tourism and property) sector, and in particular lending to high quality management teams with a strong track record of success.

That track record was recalled by IHI in its media release. It pointed out that since its inception IHI had built up a valuable €1 billion portfolio of owned hotels, as well as retail space and offices in various countries, including landmark properties which the company had acquired and developed in St Petersburg, Prague, Budapest, Tripoli, Lisbon and Malta.

The London venture - styled the Corinthia and Residences venture - is the first one in the UK. The media release suggests a wish for the enterprise of the Corinthia Group to be better known, not least to the public shareholders who have taken up investment in the Group, and who might be called upon to do so again in the future.

The Group does not hide its talents under a bushel. Seriously speaking, who does?

The important thing is not the broadcasting abroad of one's abilities, but what comes out of them. The growing hotel and other activities portfolio of the Corinthia Group indicates that a lot is coming out of its endeavour. The Group also professes pride in the various layers of mixed young and experienced management resources it is nurturing.

If young men were encouraged to go West in young America, this is an example that, without neglecting opportunities in Malta, there are many to exploit abroad, provided one goes about doing it with the required degree of professionalism.