Nazzareno Vassallo to step down as chairman of Vassallo Group

Seasoned Entrepreneur Nazzareno Vassallo has announced that he will be stepping down as Chairman of Vassallo Group after  more than half a century at the helm of the group. He will turn 70 later on this month.

He made this announcement during the annual group event known as the Chairman’s Lunch held yesterday. He also announced that the leadership of the group will be vested in his five children who will work together in different roles.  His daughter Natalie Briffa Farrugia, who is currently the CEO of CareMalta, will be appointed chairperson of the group and she will work together with her brother Pio who will continue to serve as group CEO. In a recent communication with the top management of the group Mr Vassallo said that he strongly believes in the collective power of his five children working together in taking Vassallo Group forward in the years to come.

Mr Vassallo took over as the managing director of a modest construction company Vassallo Builders in June 1971. Since then he has overseen the growth of the company into one of leading group of companies in Malta branching in diverse sectors ranging from construction to care for the elderly and persons with disability, property to catering, hospitality to education. Earlier this year he won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. Today the group employs over 1,800 employess, has a share capital of over 45 million, an aggregated turnover of  78 million euro, fixed assets  valued at 417 million with the value of net assets exceeding 250 million euro.

Succession planning at the top levels of the group started years ago when Mr Vassallo’s five children – Natalie, Pio, Christian, Ruben and Charlene – were made equal shareholders of the group and over the years assigned leadership roles within the group. Natalie, the oldest of the siblings has been running CareMalta as CEO since 2009, Pio headed Vassallo Builders Ltd for 20 years until being appointed as CEO of the group four years ago, Christian is chief executive of Campus Residence Ltd operator of Campus Hub, Ruben is CEO of Vassallo Group Realty whilst Charlene,  is currently leading a new project related to alternative care within the group.

The transition in the leadership of the group will take place in early 2022. This change will also necessitate changes in the top echelons of CareMalta which will be announced in the coming weeks.