A century of achievement

1915-2015 100 years of enterprise The History of Alf. Mizzi & Sons Ltd Author: Julian Sammut Publisher: The Kite Group / 2016 Pages: 416pp

The second generation

Alfred Mizzi’s retirement in 1950 paved the way for a new young spirit. Bertie, Tony and Arthur took over the helm of the company bringing with them novel ideas, enthusiasm and determination.

Now was their chance to change things, to steer the company in the direction which they believed was the future.

Malta had just emerged from one of its darkest periods. It was a time of rebuilding also at company level. Old associations with suppliers and exporters – those that had survived – were renewed. The company began to travel to foreign trade fairs, especially the Fiera del Levante held in Bari and the Fiera di Milano.

It was when visiting the latter that Bertie struck up a friendship with Alfredo Lombardi. The company used the Lombardi brand to successfully take on the mighty Knorr Swiss brand then imported by the Vadala family. The penetration of the Maltese market was helped by the massive Lombardi advertising on RAI, then the only television service received in Malta.

It was also helped by the Lombardi truck, like an ice-cream van, which toured the villages. But it was further helped by an innovation created in Italy – the Lombardi gift scheme (1960) which was an immediate winner.

Towards the end of the 1950s the company was keen to re-introduce the Frisian Flag brand from Holland. Thanks to the Dutch connection, in 1960 the company became involved in insurance as representative of the Rotterdam company Assurantie Maatschappij Nieuw Rotterdam. But soon the company realised this line needed more focus and reluctantly it had to let it go.

On a visit to Israel, while chatting in the bar of the famous King David Hotel, Bertie began chatting with a fellow guest who later turned out to be Lord Michael Marks. This chance encounter was to lead to the St Michael stores in Paola, Sliema and Valletta. Later Marks & Spencer outlets would appear in Palace Square Valletta, Bay Street St Julian's and The Strand, Sliema as well as The Point.

Another product of the Israel visit would be the company's association with the Elite range of products from Nazareth. The company never surpassed Nescafé in sales until the bulk buying scheme turned the market upside down and until the Labour government launched a boycott on trade with Israel.

As the property market started to gain momentum in the early 1960s, Malta Developments Limited was set up, a partnership between Alf. Mizzi & Sons, Mizzi Bros and Captain Philip Toledo. A further link up with some British investors led to the creation of Cenmed – the Central Mediterranean Development Corporation, whose first project was to be the creation of the Santa Marija Estate near Mellieha, 400 villas to be sold for between Stg2,500 and Stg10,000.

This involved negotiating an emphyteusis for 150 years with the Archbishop’s Curia, building permits from the Planning Area Permits Board (PAPB) and the unexpected condition that all infrastructure was to be done by the developer and had to be in place before the actual building of the villas could begin.

The roads down to the sea took three months to be built and in no time at all 117 villas were sold and there was serious interest in a further 100. The original ideas had also included a yacht marina, a supermarket and even a cinema but changes in government policy meant these plans had to be shelved. There is even a PAPB permit for a hotel.

To talk about Alf. Mizzi & Sons Ltd and about Cenmed in particular are impossible without mentioning Bertie (Albert) Mizzi. After some years in which he worked alongside his two brothers in the management of the company, he sort of branched off to travel abroad mainly to trade fairs. Then he focused on property development not just with the Santa Maria Estate but also Regency House in Valletta (Malta’s first shopping arcade), the Europa Hotel in Sliema together with Hunter's Palace, Spinola Court and Lapsi Estates.

Other initiatives were not so lucky – a development on the slope below the Red Tower in Mellieha had to be abandoned due to the clay ground. A more bitter disappointment faced a real estate venture in the Seychelles where the general manager absconded with a huge sum.

Other ideas were ahead of the times such as Manoel Island and one of the first ideas for the free port, which was to include an oil refinery, a bunkering operation, shipbuilding and pleasure craft construction, aircraft maintenance, etc.

It was shortly before Malta’s Independence in 1964 that the company, through Malta Developments. jumped at an opportunity to buy a huge site in Mellieha Bay from a British developer whose dream to build a hotel was thwarted by ill health. That became the Mellieha Bay Hotel in conjunction with the Thomson Group.

In June 1971 the Maltese electorate chose Dom Mintoff's Labour Party instead of a tired Nationalist administration led by

Giorgio Borg Olivier. One fine day a police despatch rider pulled up outside Bertie's weekend getaway in Gudja and told him Prime Minister Mintoff wished to see him in his office.

Mintoff wanted Bertie to set up Air Malta as the national airline of Malta.

Bertie relished the challenge but realised that working alongside Mintoff would not be an easy ride and that this post would take up much of his time.

After much thought and after speaking with Dr Borg Olivier, who encouraged him to take up the post, Bertie accepted on condition he would not be under contract and was free to leave as and when he pleased, and that he would receive no remuneration.

Thus began a long and successful collaboration which, over a period of 19 years saw Bertie build up an airline from scratch as well as secondary companies such as Medallion Holidays and Flyaway Tours as well as Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza and the Selmun Palace Hotel.

Mintoff quickly realised Bertie's entrepreneurship and capacity for hard work and engaged him to set up one new company after another – Sea Malta (1973), Malta Insurance Brokers (1976), Mediterranean Oilfield Services Company Ltd (Medserv – 1980) and Middle Sea Insurance (1981).

After the 1987 change of government Bertie continued his record of public service by accepting to be chairman of HSBC Bank Malta where he served for 14 years, well into his 80s.