INSIDER May 2012 67

There are names of people and companies that become so much part of our life that we do not even realise how familiar we are with them. The C & H Bartoli brand, which has been one of the pillars of the supply chain for hotels and restaurants for 50 years, is one such name.

People in the hospitality trade do not need a recommendation to go to C & H Bartoli - they just go to them knowing they will find good quality and superb service. It is a well-documented fact that the C & H Bartoli brand is strong, vibrant and reliable. The company has always believed in keeping a low profile but the directors, employees, the products and the back-up service have always been strong elements of the brand.

Quite by chance I found out that their 50th anniversary is being celebrated this year and felt it would have been quite amiss if MHRA magazine, Malta’s own hospitality publication which is just a few years older than C & H Bartoli, did not celebrate such an occasion. The company that has been supplying the hospitality industry has had strong ties to the MHRA for quite a while but rather than

the directors chasing this magazine to blow some trumpets about their history, it was the magazine which had to get them to accept this feature which will map out a few of the exploits of the first directors, their legacy and what they have achieved in this half century of success.

C & H Bartoli: the beginnings

When C & H Bartoli was set up, Malta’s business scene was a far cry from what it is today. Malta was still two years away from independence

and the tourist industry was still in its infancy so it was an innovative and courageous step to venture into the importation and servicing of hotel and restaurant supplies. The hotel and restaurant industry was still not sure where it was going or if it would manage to make a go of it, much as today we may find this hard to believe. It might have been virgin territory –there were few suppliers to the fledgling hospitality industry - but there were lesser takers and users of the service as hotels were few and the ones opening were more inclined to seek big company names directly from abroad.

Half a century of HARD WORK, in a bid to achieve excellence

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Insider goes behind the scenes of C & H Bartoli to find out how the company started and what its legacy is.

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The initial steps were taken by Cecil and Harold Bartoli who together set up and ran an insurance venture which offered insurance policies mainly in the car industry, later growing into an agency. Following a merger with another local agency the company eventually developed into a fully fledged, risk-taking insurance company. Just after they ventured into insurance the brothers saw an opportunity in the importation and distribution of catering supplies, professional laundry equipment and floor coverings and for 50 years the company grew into what it is today - a group that has interests in insurance and hospitality as well as in car hire (Unicar), retail and media.

Initially C & H Bartoli depended on the “C” & the “H” components - and both Cecil and Harold were innovative and assertive in their outlook. While Harold was the

planner, the rational mind behind every step and every new venture, Cecil was the face for the clients, the man whose smile and charm won many a new account. An interesting - and historic - register placed proudly in the boardroom has all the initial insurance entries of the company beautifully written in the hand of Harold Bartoli. It records, in fine detail, all the premiums sold by the Bartolis on behalf of the Sun Insurance company in England, the company’s principals at the time.

The meticulous registering of all entries and revenues and what was due to Sun Insurance are a good measure of how dedicated and hands-on the two brothers were at the time of the company’s inception. This dedication lives on with the present directors. The three children of Harold (who died in 2010) took over the company, and Cecil decided to retire in 2007. The three

are all shareholders of C & H Bartoli and now head separate departments, each having their own sphere of responsibility. All three have been more than dedicated to the values their father and uncle instilled in them and which have made the C & H Bartoli brand so reliable and recognisable.

The present directors: from left David, Celia and Alan

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The company legacy lives on:

meeting the present directors

I meet Harold’s three children in their boardroom, where the historic register is one of the books on view along with a framed photo of the two brothers. The Bartolis forged the company out of nothing: the toil and sweat of their associates and employees as well as their own was all that made C & H Bartoli the success story it is.

Harold Bartoli led by example. His children have fond memories of a man who was firm: he was steady in his strong loyalty to friends, clients

and family. He believed that if you are going to be given anything - even if at a young age - you should work for it.

This made Harold’s children appreciate all they were ever given - though when they were young they often believed their father to be far too strict. However, in later years this method was recognised by the Bartoli siblings as being the right way forward with children. In all their years of working in the business they never heard their father raise his voice or act unfairly with his staff.

His fairness was all pervasive. The children saw the father sweat it out and adopt a very hands-on approach.

One of their childhood memories is going out with their father who had to go to clients to have carpets laid and fitted . All was done by Harold, who was sometimes given a helping hand by an employee. Down on his knees Harold would go cutting, gluing and making sure it was done to military perfection.

This dedication - which was instilled in the children by both Harold and Cecil - is what gelled the children to go on building on what their father and uncle had started. When the Bartoli brothers started their import and trading side of the business they used to import leather goods and material and personally deliver to shops around the island.

Still young, and full of zest, Harold would visit a number of shops and explain all about the products available. Affectionately called “il-ginger” by these shopkeepers, they would show their trust in him and his brother by extending their business with them to get insurance cover for their cars and later even for their shops or businesses.

Trust begets trust, and business relationships, if well looked after, become a solid association that spans over different generations.

Cecil BartoliAlthough retired and no longer connected to the C & H Bartoli firm, Cecil Bartoli, the surviving founder, talks with a twinkling smile about the whole set-up. At 86 he is still unbelievably jovial, alert and vividly remembers the details of what happened fifty years ago. He believes that the synergy he shared with his brother made them work hard at what they created and he looks back on their achievements with pride.

From the humble beginnings of two directors typing away letters while seeking agencies and doing all the odd jobs, to a company that won the esteem of people in business for Cecil it was - and is - a story of hard work, good service and loyalty. Together with Harold, Cecil feels they built an organisation that always respected employees and their families and clients, while delivering quality services and products. Unity is what always stood them strong—the unity of looking at anything, even through hard times, with determination. Photo on left shows the founders, Harold and Cecil (on right with glass)INSIDER

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Celia Bartoli

To get a better, more intimate glimpse of the C & H Bartoli story, I first meet Celia who spent most of her time abroad. The two brothers, Alan and David studied and also worked abroad but have been involved in the family business for over 30 years.

Celia today heads the Human Resources department and is also responsible for handling special projects of the mother company. When she was 16 she started working with C & H Bartoli but hammering away on typewriters wasn’t the most rewarding of chores for someone with a spirit of adventure like Celia. Within a year Harold suggested starting an incoming travel business with Celia helping in the setting up of this and working in the same company. Her role would be to assist incoming tourists in their numerous requirements.

The offices in Zachary Street, where the company was born, were involved in some interesting work and leading businessmen of the time who spearheaded most of what Malta achieved in the next

decades, came to visit or to have their business insured and discussed. Most hoteliers came here for their first foray into furbishing or insuring their establishment. Though Celia relished the experience and loved the staff

she still needed to go out and explore the world herself so once the travel business was on its feet she was off in search of wider horizons.

Celia joined a Swedish incoming travel company and was later chosen to work in different countries abroad as a travel representative advising and assisting tourists during their holidays. Her work experience extended to running a hotel in Cyprus.

In between all this Celia would take off on her world adventures: amongst others she visited South and North America, the Himalayas, the Far East and Australasia. She went, saw and loved every minute. During one of her adventures she also met and married her husband.

Celia tells me: “I need to travel, it has been my greatest education. By experiencing different cultures it puts life and people into a better perspective for me. I love Malta as my base: my roots, family and friends are here, and I love our history and culture. I will stay to look after the HR side at C & H Bartoli and to continue to assist in the company’s growth.’’

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Alan Bartoli

I then meet Alan Bartoli who charms and who has always taken on the face of the company. He is the one who is most ebullient, who uses charm and his joie de vivre to get involved in everything. He is the people’s man - in contrast to David who is the figures man. Together the three siblings make a marvellous and fully complemented team. But although they have separate roles and strikingly different characters they all agree about their father and uncle’s legacy: of being true to their origins, of being honest and humble and of giving excellent service to all clients.

Hearing Alan was a joy - he is hung ho and full of winsome fun though is also very blunt and does not tolerate any nonsense especially when it affects the C&H Bartoli name and reputation. “Yes, we do now hold many more meetings with management, sales and service personnel which has helped us to give our customers all that is expected of the C&H brand. We continue to do what my father and uncle taught us best, which is to give

a service to clients which is as near impeccable as possible. I cannot begin to express the pride I feel in the respect that our customers, as well as foreign suppliers, have for the C&H name. The respect afforded to the C&H brand far exceeds the individual director, manager or staff member. It is one forged by years of dedicated service to the industry within which we operate.

“Obviously we all have our problems and we make our fair share of mistakes but what we aim for is perfection. It is only in this way that we may hit the 100% mark.. Excellence and top service obviously come at a price.

“In today’s competitive world some players in our field offer the world, if not the universe, but give much less than that. And we are then sometimes called in to go and solve others’ problems. We believe a lot in personal service and in having top technicians on board. This is hardly a cheap way of doing things. But this is the way my father and his brother did it - and we intend to keep it that way. I feel very satisfied knowing that our clients can call me whenever they need me. And nothing is too small or too irksome, even if sometimes calls do come at the most inconvenient of times.”

Alan has fond memories of both his father and uncle - for him both of them felt that a gentleman’s word was his bond. And notwithstanding what has happened in today’s world, where some businessmen hardly know what a bond and what loyalty is, Alan, just like his fellow directors, believes that doing business with this ethos at the core is the right way.

Talk of Alan’s father makes him smile quizzically. “My father was of the old school. He was an army man who stood straight as a ramrod - we didn’t even dream of questioning his authority. But this strictness was deeply complemented by love and affection, campfires and rough and tumble.

“My father would come home when we were young, help feed us, bathe us and then off to work again he went. He was

also so very organised and an awesome inventor. We had all sorts of contraptions at home to do all sorts of quirky but functional stuff. If he hadn’t been an entrepreneur he could easily have become an inventor - maybe dreaming of getting stuff patented and discovered.

“At home when we were kids we had a number of mechanised chore-busters. Some did the job efficiently, some didn’t but they still functioned and gave our household a special feel.” Living in Harold Bartoli’s household sounds like something straight from an enchanted land - or a captivating story by Roald Dahl.

Alan and David came and joined the family business practically at the same time, back in 1982. Both had studied and worked abroad and both were carving a good future for themselves in the UK. When they came back to join the family business they had both reached their decision independently and both went into lines that suited their characters and temperaments best: Alan in sales and business development, David in the accounting and administration side. But unlike some other family businesses Alan and David were not pressurised into doing anything. They just took on their role and worked hard at making a success of it.

When Alan and David were getting to grips with the business they made the directors a proposal which at the time sounded rather avant-garde: to be given a performance scheme whereby the two children would be rewarded according to the results they managed to procure. It paid off - the company grew and they were given their due reward.

This also meant that both brothers sacrificed a lot of their time for the company and while friends were out having fun, they were slaving away consolidating and furthering the C & H Bartoli brand. It was all worthwhile as now they feel they not only own the company, but know it inside out - and love it more, for what it has given them.

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David Bartoli

While Alan is in charge of all the catering division, carpeting supplies and servicing, David looks after the insurance interests of the company,, together with the car-hire and media interests.

Insurance was the first big mainstay of the C & H Bartoli business and today the company is a much respected player in the field, following a merger with another leading name - Cassar & Cooper - which resulted in the formation of Elmo Insurance.

David is the least ebullient of the three siblings. He encapsulates the clichéd way of looking at an accountant: being careful and less outgoing in what is said and letting the deeds do the talking while looking after the sums for all to see and appreciate. His mantra seems to be: less talk, more work and better results all around.

When I meet David, however, he too relates a story about his father which could so easily come out of a storybook. In the mid 80s Elmo’s Old Mint Street offices were proving to be inadequate, both in terms of visibility and availability of space. On a trip to the UK, Harold Bartoli, together with his business partner Captain Cassar, casually raised the subject of financing a new office in Ta’ Xbiex whilst walking back from a long boozy city lunch with Sun Alliance’s overseas manager. They struck a deal there and then in the middle of the road, prior to getting back to the office, which was ten minutes walk away from the restaurant.

A walk, a whisky, a handshake and the foreign counterpart agreed to part-finance the project. What nowadays would need a sheaf of documents and a load of consultants to conclude was done easily and breezily, once more proving the importance of loyalty and reputation. David said: “The Bartolis - my father and uncle - never ventured into areas they were not capable of

handling and never over-promised or over-stretched themselves”.

David’s insurance duties are heavily influenced by corporate governance and the proper maintenance of business practices. He tells me that “being involved in insurance and having to comply with all regulations of a very strict and stringent insurance regulator makes it more than important to be not only completely above board but to be seen to be so. We are not just careful with which businesses and partnerships we go into, but also vigilant about all our business transactions to be seen as transparent.”

David says that the EU has given Malta great opportunities. “Even if, at the moment, not all seems rosy or well with the Euro and the Euro zone. The EU has helped put us on the map, in terms of financial services”

In 2004 Elmo converted from an agency company into a risk taking insurance company. David tells me that: “After the successful launch of Elmo Insurance Ltd. , we put our experience in setting up our own insurance company to good use and in 2007 we developed a business relationship with JLT Insurance Management Ltd, one of the five largest international insurance brokers in the world and which is listed on the FTSE 250. A local joint venture insurance management company was formed between us, its object being the setting up and management of captive insurance companies. Today JLT Insurance Management Malta Ltd. manages four such companies, which are, in the main, owned by vast industrial and commercial international organisations.”

David goes on: “we might be a small country but what we have achieved and what we have learnt is very satisfying.” I would use a much stronger word than satisfying: impressive is more like it but understatements do seem more than normal with David.

David is also in charge of the car hire business and its media interest. C & H Bartoli Ltd was one of the founding investors in Standard Publications Ltd, the company that owns, amongst other publications, The Malta Independent newspaper.

“These,” according to David, “are challenging but stimulating times for the traditional media. All sorts of changes are happening. The return from that investment has not been phenomenal but there are good prospects for the future. It was an interesting line to diversify in - even if the interests of C & H Bartoli are very much at arm’s length and only on a shareholder basis.”

C & H Bartoli is involved in various aspects of business, but their lifeblood has always been the appreciation of people and their worth. The founders never thought that people - be they children, nephews or nieces, clients or employees - were just numbers, making sure people are treated well, which has resulted in the common knowledge that C & H Bartoli is truly special.