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04.07.12

Realising Our Potential

MGI partner George Farrugia was in Brussels between the 16th and 20th June 2004 taking part in the annual European Area Meeting of MGI held in Europe’s capital. MGI is a leading international association of accounting, auditing and consulting firms with offices in over 70 countries around the world. Partners from most offices throughout the European continent were present, as well as partners from offices in the USA, Argentina, Singapore, South Africa and New Zealand.

Apart from participating in the normal MGI business Mr .Farrugia was also responsible for one of the presentations entitled REALISING OUR POTENTIAL which dealt with the substantial, and effective efforts that the Malta office has been making during these last three years to reposition the firm in Malta.

This presentation covered the four major changes that the Malta firm underwent in its restructuring process which included:

• Re branding of the firm, including the name change from George Farrugia & Co to MGI Malta on 1st March, 2003
• The complete transformation of the decision making process within the firm, from a top down organization to a flat structure wherein all the team members participate in the decision making process
• The overhaul of the product base from one mostly based on compliance work to one aimed principally towards adding value to the firm’s clients, and
• Enhancement of the marketing efforts.

Mr. Farrugia described how the energy and enthusiasm generated within the whole MGI team in Malta has enabled the three partners to concentrate more on their real duties, those of ensuring a higher level of service to existing clients and charting the firm’s future. It has also encouraged the partners to set higher objectives for the whole practice, one of which involves the attraction of higher value assignments from clients that previously the firm could not service.

He further explained how the above processes have assisted the firm to double its turnover with a period of 3 years and also how from a position of hardly any international work, the firm now already has 25% of its business coming from non residents of Malta. In line with their policy of continually promoting the Maltese island to their growing number of foreign clients, Mr. Farrugia highlighted the human efforts and monetary investment in revamping the firm’s new web site which is aimed primarily at attracting foreign interest.

Mr. Farrugia also had the chance to make another presentation on the effects that Malta’s recent entry into the EU will have on Malta itself and the MGI office on the island. He explained how the firm in Malta is already reaping the benefits of such membership. Within 3 weeks of Malta joining the EU, MGI Malta signed its second largest contract ever with a Danish company which will be setting up operations on the island. He explained how these investors chose Malta over all other potential locations for the advantages that the island offers to investors within this industry including:

• Political stability
• Clarity in its legislation
• Regulatory framework that ensures the highest level of reputation for all those operating from the island.
• Its unrestricted access to the vast European market.
• A level of service from local professionals and the local regulatory authority that is far superior to others which they had already looked at.

The representatives of other new entrants to the EU, namely Cyprus, Poland and Lithuania also had the opportunity to make a similar presentation.

Other presentations made during the 3 days meeting included two by internationally acknowledged management gurus Mr. Will Kentish of the UK and Mr. Paul Dunn from Australia. Both these presentations definitely challenged all those present since they dealt with topics that have been long enshrined into the way accountants around the world run their offices. Mr. Farrugia noted with satisfaction that some of the improvements that these gurus preached have already been implemented in the Malta office and both speakers made frequent reference to his own presentation.