President hails Hal Mann growth

Employers and employees had to safeguard each other’s interests to help businesses prosper, President George Abela said on Monday during a tour of the Hal Mann Vella Ltd factory and showroom in Lija.

The President’s visit to the marble and tiling plant was the latest in a series of meetings with local industries.

Dr Abela was impressed by the loyalty of the company’s long-standing employees, some of whom have been on Hal Mann’s payroll from the business’s early days. The company currently employs183 people, 27 of whom were recruited this year.

Dr Abela noted the health and safety measures in place at the 25,500-square-metre plant. He hailed company chairman Vincent Vella for his leadership in steering a strong, united family and handing down a successful business to his children.

Hal Mann, named after the hamlet on the outskirts of Mosta to where it moved from Mġarr, was established by the Vella brothers in the 1950s. Dr Abela expressed admiration of the company’s steady growth and its constant efforts to evolve its product.

Accompanied by company directors, Dr Abela viewed newly acquired, state-of-the-art equipment used in marble fabrication, including a computer numeric control machine with touch screen technology which cuts and finishes marble according to programmed design.

The Vellas explained new procedures and recycling initiatives which have been implemented over the past year. Hal Mann, a leading local specialist in granite, terrazzo, resin and hard stone works, is capable of producing over 1,000 square metres of terrazzo tiles a day thanks to recent investment.

The company has also acquired the long-standing firm Galea Tiles, a supplier of hand-crafted traditional tiles.

The President walked around the 500-square-metre showroom where numerous samples of a range extending to 300 types of marble are on display. The showroom was inaugurated last November.

Hal Mann Vella Ltd was restructured five years ago and its order book has flourished. The company has been entrusted with jobs for the Midi development, the Radisson Golden Sands Resort and Spa, Manoel Island, the US Embassy, the Hilton extension, and the Valletta Waterfront.

Overseas, Hal Mann has delivered to London’s Canary Wharf and Haggerstone, Dalston and Shoreditch railway stations, the Hebert Art Gallery in Coventry, the Merry Hill shopping mall in Birmingham, the Woolrich Arsenal railway station, and the Westfields mall in Hornsby, Australia. Mr Vella also presented the President with a donation to the Community Chest Fund on behalf of the directors and staff.