The sole shareholder and company director of Xuereb Installations Ltd, is Mr. Frank Xuereb, who studied and qualified in Sydney and Queensland, Australia, where he later set up his first company of gypsum board installation and plastering. In 1984, Mr. Xuereb sold his then established business to Star Cast Production, a large company operating on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
In 1985, Mr. Xuereb remained within the company and headed its construction and maintenance division; a position he had held until 1988, when he returned to Malta to set up Xuereb Installations Ltd.
Fast forwarding by three and a half decades, in our various looks at the prime service providers to Malta’s properties and developments; whether in tourism, iGaming, medical, residential, commercial, ambassadorial, or governmental developments, the name of
Xuereb Installations seems to be perennially accompanied by a deep nod of approval. Indeed, their list of accomplished projects is flabbergasting, and includes a wide plethora of some of our country’s most complex projects – and international developments too,
as well as standard developments alike.
Design & Build met up with Stephen Cachia, their Operations Manager, to find out what makes Xuereb Installations Ltd such a coveted and well-respected name for gypsum ceiling and wall installations, and finishings.
The refurbishment of Malta Marriott Hotel & Spa was extensively executed by Xuereb Installations Ltd.
photo: Malta Marriott Hotel & Spa’s Reception area.
“S tephen Cachia explained to us that today the company employs a substantial trained and professional workforce, which includes sixty full-time workers as well as several contractors as full-time piece workers. “This set up ensures an efficient, reliable and professional service where deadlines are always met, delivering the highest quality of standards,” he said.
True interior turnkey experts, alongside all standard and traditional gypsum works, Xuereb Installations Ltd also install raised floorings, toilet cubicles, movable walls and glass partitions too.
Stephen continued to explain that each project undertaken, both locally and abroad, can vary from small domestic ones to major commercial requests, and all are supervised by a team of Project Managers employed by the company. “Much of our service is to supply and install gypsum boards and the metal profiles which sustain the carriage of suspended ceilings or other requirements. Most of our work obviously ends up hidden during the finishing stages with the plastering and painting or the suspended ceilings or whatever else is required,” he explained. “But this does not deter us from religiously seeking high quality products during all aspects of every project.”
our work must reach the quality standards required to ensure that there will not be related repercussions in the development’s lifetime
QUALITY PAYS
Stephen explained that “in the process of installation works, most of our work is done in the earliest stages of the development project itself, such that I could get to understand how one could think it to be therefore not so important to use top quality materials for these installations if they will remain totally hidden and unnoticeable by the time the project is finalised. But – and it is an important but – it is imperative that you use these quality materials throughout because of the fact that our work must reach the quality standards required to ensure that there will not be related repercussions in the development’s lifetime.”
The criteria they utilise when selecting which brands to operate with includes that the suppliers must be constantly well stocked “to avoid as much as humanly possible the slowing down of job completion – complying always with the client’s ever-increasing need to reach project completion deadlines.” Stephen also added that the reliability and high quality of all the materials employed by Xuereb Installations Ltd is often immediately recognisable through the sheer quality the finish can reach thanks to the thorough base prepared by the company.
Alongside all standard and traditional gypsum works, Xuereb Installations Ltd also install raised floorings, toilet cubicles, movable walls and glass partitions.
photo: a movable walls installation as can be installed by Xuereb Installations
Nonetheless they keep a vast constant range of stock to enable the smooth operation of undertaken works. “Our extensive stores in Qormi are always stocked to full capacity and our sales department is able to also offer a wholesale and retail sales supply service to the private sector and other companies. This full capacity assists the company in its mission to complete every project on time. Yes, stocks are our life saver, always!” he said. “We are committed to delivering the highest quality of standards at every stage of our work.” He said that they can make this statement because “it is supported both by quality certifications that we have, as well as from the many leading architects that we have worked with on a number of prestigious projects in Malta and abroad.” He added that “client satisfaction is also borne out by the number of prestigious clients who have come back to us with other projects over the years. Even in cases where ownership remained unchanged but the management changed – as often happens in the hospitality industry (case in point Le Méridien Hotel now The Malta Marriott Hotel & Spa), when property needs a new look they returned to us as satisfied customers.” Many other hotels have done likewise.
REFURBISHMENTS
Stephen Cachia added that since being set up, they have always managed to maintain a high market share because of the various philosophies and working criteria that they employ. “In fact,” he said, “our market position has always been above the 60-70% level although there were times (when competition was much less than nowadays) when we even had serviced 90% of this market.”
Xuereb Installations’ extensive stores ensures that their stock levels are always sufficient to operate at constant efficiency.
Since he had just mentioned Le Meridien and The Malta Marriot as examples on which Xuereb Installations had worked extensively, we asked Stephen for his comments on how they regarded those refurbishment projects on which they had already done the initial work themselves some years before. “How does dismantling your own work feel?” we asked.
Stephen’s soft chuckle clearly showed his amusement felt in answering us. As he pointed out, the reality of things is different. “Here our brief was to totally refurbish the corridors and rooms throughout all the hotel property… to update and upgrade services used, even to installing new utilities. This included gypsum, plastering, painting and more. And this is what we did to the best of our ability. You cannot be nostalgic about it all. We have to get on with the job. Stephen explained that one must be intimately conscious of the style fashions of the time, location and nature of the building. “Our job wasn’t to improve what we had originally done years back but to upgrade and re design to the required standards and expectations of the new management.” “It is more than just a splash of paint here or a wall erected there,” he explained. “There is more to this than meets the eye, such as new branding requirements imposed by the new brand takeover… or other things that are not so obvious to the man in the street.
We are committed to delivering the highest quality of standards at every stage of our work
“Every client and every project has its parameters, which are laid down by the interior designers and the architects.
They stipulate the colour schemes, the materials, layout schemes etc. We have to create, as far as is humanly possible, these ideas. Through our experience we are able to transpose these ideas into a working project. If the proposed concept would not work, or ‘fit’, or seem feasible, then we suggest alternative ideas based on our experience and expertise. This element of our service provision is one of the predominant factors which raises us above the crowd,” Stephen proudly told us.
GETTING IT DONE
Stephen added: “Our wish is to always convert our client’s wishes and dreams into perfectly finished projects and if there are technical problems we are able to work with them to find the required solution. Sometimes these problems come about by over enthusiastic designing or by the simple fact that designers and architects are not technical installers and whose drive and creativity might thus not take into consideration certain constraints which we would naturally be privy to. To give an example, a layout as projected might not leave enough hidden ceiling space to pass the required services, or a bulkhead needs to be reduced in size for specific reasons, so a minor (or major) rethink would be necessary.”
Xuereb Installations: experts in residential and commercial installations alike
Project management is a very important aspect of the way Xuereb Installations works. In fact, every project has a manager on site while at the same time they have another project manager with the overall responsibilities for coordinating everything, explained Stephen. “At the same time,” he explained, “our people coordinate with the clients’ own architects or their own project managers, for quality control requirements. This is important for the final certification of the works done. In fact when a hotel room is finished it still needs to be checked over by the client’s quality people before it is certified as done to the established standards. It has to be 100% not 60%!” “That said, Stephen added, “the final stamp of approval for our sense of accomplishment is how delighted the customer is.”
If the proposed concept would not work, or ‘fit’, or seem feasible, then we suggest alternative ideas based on our experience and expertise
“It is all a combination of experience at one’s job, knowledge of required standards and so on,” he said. “Our portfolio covers a long list of prestigious projects: you name it we’ve done it. It says a lot on our capabilities; knowing we’ve done banks, cinemas, shops, complexes, factories, showrooms, offices, apartments, casinos, libraries, hospitals and so many more, such as the Air Malta offices in Tripoli.
photo: the Betsson Group’s Experience Centre in Ta’ Xbiex – expertly gypsum-finished by Xuereb Installations
And, of course, we must not forget hotels – not only in Malta but overseas as well, such as the Corinthia Bab Al Africa to name just one… or the conference centre in Nazareth, Ethiopia.
Asking what is it like working overseas in such different situations and cultures, Stephen replied: “Actually it is more a case of manpower and the prevailing situations there, such as, for example, Libya. There we had about 120+ Filipinos working for us on the project. They were always directed by Maltese staff and also had their own project managers or employees who were leading them which made life easier, especially on communications.”
Our aim in life has always been to give the best service; to meet all deadlines agreed to, no matter what problems we may encounter
Turning to talk about the Corinthia Group which has been a regular client for Xuereb Installations having entrusted them with extensive executions both locally and overseas, we wondered why they were so loyal to them. Stephen reckons that “Corinthia has always appreciated the work ethic that we are able to give them, that we reach our targets and are always on time… that gives them the confidence to rely on us always. So they come back to us whenever they’re looking for a job well done.
Xuereb Installations: constantly entrusted with large and small projects alike
“Our aim in life has always been to give the best service; to meet all deadlines agreed to, no matter what problems we may encounter. This gives us and our clients the confidence to work together and to closely develop the projects in hand… even if this requires having to work during weekends and holidays to reach deadlines. Client satisfaction is always our prime target!” he said.
Faced with this list of prestigious projects I asked a parting question: Does he personally have any one particular project he particularly liked, or enjoyed working on?
Xuereb Installations’ Operations Manager Stephen Cachia reply was very diplomatic indeed: “We try to execute the very best job for every single client and to always satisfy them completely with our performance so I think it’s not ethical to prefer one project over others. Whether big or small, all projects are done with the same attention to detail and with the full respect for the client. If they’re satisfied so are we!”
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