While 93% of family businesses have a clear sense of agreed values and purpose, only slightly more than half (57%) of respondents have those values and the company’s mission articulated in written form, the PwC survey has found. 

In addition, the results show that such values can benefit family businesses, especially in the areas of employee recruitment, retention and business reputation. For instance, 96% of local respondents say that values and purpose improved the reputation of the company. 

“Family businesses need to adopt a mindset of profit with purpose, leveraging their strong values to enhance their reputation, legacy and resilience in an ever-changing business environment. These values will guide businesses to be sustainable in their approach and take well-informed decisions in the interest of all stakeholders. To be successful in the future world of work, family businesses must invest in reskilling and upskilling their workforce, enhancing their people experience and embracing new technology,” said David Valenzia, Territory Senior Partner at PwC Malta.

“Family businesses must invest in reskilling and upskilling their workforce, enhancing their people experience and embracing new technology.”

David Valenzia, Territory Senior Partner at PwC Malta

“This requires comprehensive strategic planning which is lacking in local family businesses given that over half of respondents (52%) were found to have no formal strategic plan in place. Taking these steps will result in family businesses being better equipped to build a competitive advantage in a digital age and secure a lasting legacy that is fit for the future,” Mr Valenzia added. 

Growth, however, always comes with challenges, especially when one needs to keep up with the latest technological advancements. The key challenges family businesses need to face appear to be accessing the right skills and capabilities, claimed by 69% of the respondents, and the need to innovate and keep ahead, said 54% of the respondents. Challenges have been amplified by digital disruption, changing expectations of stakeholders and the revolution of the world of work.

Digital, next gen challenges

The survey also shows that 39% of local businesses feel vulnerable to digital disruption and more than half of respondents (52%) feel that they are vulnerable to a provisional cyber-attack. In fact, 54% of respondents foresee that they will step up their digital capabilities in the next two years.

Although 63% of the younger generation (next gens) work in the family business, over a third of respondents believe neither ownership nor management will be passed on to the next generation. This might be an implication that opportunities outside of a family business attract next gens to abandon the business of their predecessors. Therefore, PwC Malta finds it vital for a family business to have a clear succession plan, as only 9% of local family businesses have a formalised and well-communicated succession plan.

“Continuity and succession planning remain a key priority for family firms and their stakeholders to be prepared for the future. So much so that the government of Malta introduced legislation to provide incentives and support family businesses in their transition from one generation to another through the Family Business Act,” said Michel Ganado, Advisory Partner at PwC Malta said.

“Furthermore, we see the importance of such plans as we try to navigate through a digital age, meet changing stakeholder expectations and encourage new ideas from the next generations. Planning for the future will bring about new challenges, but more importantly, will present new opportunities for family firms to seek further growth,” Mr Ganado added.

The post Some 80% of Maltese family businesses envisage growth, PwC says first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

PwC Malta notes that organisations are rapidly changing the way they work and how they capitalise on new technologies like blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) — innovations that bring challenges that may put stakeholders in an uncertain position.

“Blockchain and other emerging technologies are making our clients rethink the way they do business. With the addition of this new tool to our suite of software we believe that we can continue to add value to our clients and help build trust in these emerging technologies,” said David Valenzia, Territory Senior Partner of PwC Colombia.

Since Malta adopted three bills last year regulating virtual financial assets, the island nation has often been referred to as the “Blockchain Island”. As a matter of fact, Malta has attracted players operating and providing services in the cryptocurrency space who are in the process of obtaining a license in terms of the Maltese Virtual Financial Assets Act, the PwC press statement reminds.

Therefore, PwC Global assembled its leading assurance professionals, software developers and blockchain experts to develop assurance solutions to support this complex, emerging area.

Furthermore, PwC thinks that with the launch of their new software tool, they are “well-positioned” to provide audit and other assurance services to their clients and prospective clients holding or transacting in cryptocurrency.

PwC Malta says the new software they launched can provide independent, substantive evidence of pairing the private key and the public address, which process is needed to establish ownership of cryptocurrency. Furthermore, the software is seen to securely interrogate the blockchain to “independently” and “reliably” gather corroborating information about blockchain transactions and balances.

In addition, PwC has started leveraging its new solution to support audits of clients engaged in cryptocurrency activities, the press statement adds. PwC is also working with companies to help them address the new opportunities and challenges of blockchain and cryptocurrency, including supporting them to implement the processes and controls they will require in order to obtain assurance reports from their auditors, the statement adds.

The group can use its new tool to provide assurance services to clients transacting in bitcoin, bitcoin cash, bitcoin gold, bitcoin diamond, litecoin, ether, ERC20 – OAX token, and ripple (XRP).

The post PwC Malta launches auditing tool for crypto first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Over 100 restaurateurs participated in PwC’s market research during Q4 2018. Some 48% of the participants talked about an increase in business as compared to 2017, in contrast to 23% who registered a decrease in activity and 29% who reported of stable commercial levels, PwC has found.

“The sentiment emanating from the barometer corresponds to an economic landscape that has experienced an increase in disposable income and a marked growth in population, that has also brought with it the challenges in terms of resources and infrastructure,” says David Valenzia, PwC Territory Senior Partner. “The evolving channels of customer interaction and demands is a further challenge that the industry needs to adapt to and invest in,” he adds.

Restaurants in the St Julian’s area reported a 76% increase in business, the southern part of Malta saw a rise of 63%, while the central area lagged behind with a growth of only 25%, figures by the PwC show.

Labour shortage casts shadows on market

The industry appears to have adopted a slightly more negative outlook recently. As compared to 2016, when 71% of the respondents talked about a positive outlook, in 2018 only 51% said they anticipated positive times approaching in the next half a year. However, outright pessimism was also on the decrease. While in 2016 some 18% held a negative outlook, in 2018 the ratio dropped to 16%, according to PwC.

Unsurprisingly, the sector voiced concern about finding an adequate supply of skilled resources in 2018, which is similar to what PwC found in 2016, even if figures appear to have been dropping. Out of the respondents, 35% identified the availability of skilled resources as their leading business concern in 2018, while in 2016, a significant 63% of the industry had identified human resources as the principal business concern.

PwC’s findings suggest that the drop of the aforementioned figure was chiefly due to the engagement of foreign nationals, although only 25% of the respondents think that the sole strategy of recruitment of foreign nationals should be pursued.

For fighting challenges posed by the shortage of skilled labour, 38% of the respondents said that the industry needs to come together and increase the financial package to its employees, with a view of making a career in hospitality more enticing, PwC says. A further 37% urges policymakers and educational and vocational institutions to position employment in the hospitality industry as a more attractive job opportunity.

An increasing emphasis on infrastructure accompanies the growing demand. Some 53% of the operators in the industry believe that the level of investment in not commensurate to the recent surge in tourists volumes. This sentiment, at 88%, is more acute through restauranteurs who operate in the south of Malta, PwC added.

The whole report including charts and visual representation of data is available for view at the official webpage of PwC Malta.

The post Maltese restaurant sentiment boosts, labour shortage casts shadows first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“I’m very proud of these new appointments. This is a great achievement for both our people and our firm. I believe Mark and David will contribute to the success of PwC Malta and provide high-quality services to our clients and markets. They set our firm’s purpose in motion: to build trust in society and solve important problems,” says David Valenzia, Territory Senior Partner at PwC Malta.

Mark Lautier joined PwC Malta in 2005 after graduating as Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta. He subsequently completed the diploma in taxation offered by the Malta Institute of Taxation and a Masters in Taxation from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London).

Mr Lautirer advises a wide range of local corporate and international clients on various tax and legal matters. He also lectures at the University of Malta and the Malta Institute of Taxation. “Over the years, Mr Lautirer has acquired strong experience in direct and indirect taxation and also specialised in corporate, financial services and shipping matters,” PwC says.

David Leone Ganado joined PwC Malta’s assurance service line as an ACCA student in 2000. He gained practice experience across a wide range of industry sectors including periods of secondment to PwC Boston and PwC London. Since 2008, he has managed the firm’s Accounting Advisory Services offering in which he provides accounting advice and support within the contexts of IFRS and GAPSME, the local GAAP accounting framework.

Mr Ganado has acquired experience in the implementation of IFRS requirements as well as advice in IFRS financial statement disclosures. He also delivers client and in-house training in financial accounting. Additionally, he supports the Malta Institute of Accountants through membership in the Local Regulatory Committee, has been a member of the GAPSME technical working groups set up by the Institute and has lectured financial accounting to ACCA students.

The post PwC Malta welcomes new partner and director first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.