Malta’s largest gathering of Exclusive and High Performance Building Materials

An interview with Andrew Magri Overend, CEO (pg. 103)
and Karl Mallia, CCO; Mac Med Group

Design & Build spoke to Andrew Magri Overend, CEO of the Mac Med Group
and Karl Mallia, the Group’s CCO.

The Mac Med Group exclusively represents what could well be Malta’s largest gathering of leading brands of high quality building materials.

From Knauf drylining systems to Macpherson Paints and finishing products; International Marine Paints; Stanley power tools to Pennelli Cinghiale, the Mac Med Group in turn leverages that broadest of offerings with the support of its well established stakeholders, Alf Mizzi & Sons Ltd and First Gemini plc, to provide its customers with distinct advantages of local stock availability, dependable logistical efficiencies, reliable professional human resources and timely economic advantages which can only be derived from considerable economies of scale.

The companies forming part of the Mac Med Group are fully owned by Calco Limited, a holding company established in 1993 as a joint venture between Alf Mizzi & Sons Limited (established 1915) and First Gemini plc (established in 1945). The three companies which make up the Mac Med Group are Macpherson Mediterranean Limited, Mac Med Limited and Paint Centres Limited.

Andrew Magri Overend has been with the organisation since 1995 as Managing Director and eventually moved into the position of Group CEO. Karl Mallia joined in 2017 as General Manager for Med Projects (previously JGC Limited) and was promoted to Chief Commercial Officer, following the Mac Med Group’s reorganisation in 2022.

instead of manufacturing pre-mixed colours and selling those to clients, the technology allowed the dispensation of pigments in the paints to be tailored to consumer choice at point of sale

Andrew explained. “For various reasons, multinationals in the coatings industry tend to set up a manufacturing facility in the territory in which they aim to sell and this is so since paints don’t travel very well once these come in buckets containing water besides the other
ingredients of resins, pigments and other additives. Even the conical shape of a bucket does not fit well into box cargo containers, leaving plenty of ‘wasted’ space.

One could also say that the container would be partially filled with water, making it non-viable in terms of transportation costs unless one is selling a premium, high end product. In addition, the tax free holidays provided by Malta in the 70s made it a prime target for Pearl Paints, like other companies then, to establish themselves locally.

Eventually, the brand was bought out by Macphersons UK, and hence the change in name,” he recounted.

In 1994, the company, which was then located in Ricasoli, was bought out by the present Maltese shareholders, Calco Limited, and retained its licensing agreement to produce the Macpherson brand in Malta, with the newly updated research-based paint formulations.

The company had immediately embarked upon an expansion programme, particularly in view of the crucial technological developments at the time, which enabled choice of colour to move to point of sale. This meant that instead of manufacturing pre-mixed colours and selling those to clients, the technology allowed the dispensation of pigments in the paints to be tailored to consumer choice at point of sale upon demand. “This was a very advanced development at the time and the local market could take advantage of Macpherson UK’s market leadership. This also enabled us to penetrate the local market by being the first to offer fully computerised colour mixing machines for use by our distributors, providing them with a distinct competitive advantage in exchange for carrying the Macpherson brand,” he explained.

Colours & more has today become the premier location for colour matching, targeting different segments, including architects, interior designers, homeowners and developers; with superior colour technology, product quality and advantageous cost to benefit ratios

The company opened its first own colour mixing centre, which was called ‘Just Paints’ in Psaila Street, Birkirkara in 1995. A second retail proposition, called ‘Colours & more’ followed shortly in Swatar and has today become the premier location for colour matching, targeting different segments, including architects, interior designers, homeowners and developers; with superior colour technology, product quality and advantageous cost to benefit ratios.

This concept has since been franchised to 26 outlets that offer the broadest of product offerings at different price points, from entry level to high-end premium products.

“With the proposal to reactivate Malta’s membership to the EU in 2002, we planned ahead and understood that protective tariffs for local industries would be removed, so we carried out market analyses which showed that we should add new premium quality products to our offering. With this in mind, we approached Crown Paints UK, then also owners of Macpherson Paints and other leading brands, in order to start importing the prestigious Crown and Sandtex brands,” Andrew proudly said, outlining the company’s strategic positioning.

“Thus, in 2004, we took the Crown brand to a different level, opening two boutique outlets, one located in High Street, Sliema and another within the Portomaso shopping mall, for 18 months, to launch the brands with very attractive displays and instore settings. Soon enough we became market leaders in terms of imported decorative paints, with Macpherson consolidating its local brand leadership among mainstream products and Crown taking over that of the medium to high end sectors,” he explained.

Macpherson is a leader in paints for standard specifications including interior walls, ceilings, facades and roofs. Crown Paints feature a vast colour range for specific applications, including meeting scrub resistance to Class 1, and mould inhibiting and antibacterial requirements. Sandtex is considered to be a premium exterior wall paint that includes a specialist product for exterior walls which is colour and rain resistant within 30 minute from its application.

“We have a strict policy to only represent brands which are market leaders in their sectors and which have outstanding reputations” – Andrew Magri Overend

In 1995, just one year after the acquisition by Calco, the Group started to represent International Paints, which since the late 1800s had been renowned for producing coatings for ships’ hulls. Still today they supply their products, which range from marine paints to yacht paints, paints for land based steel structures, for corrosion and fire protection, and others for the aerospace market, protecting planes and helicopters.

Mac Med Limited also offer a range of Italian brands that includes Novacolor, which appeals to the more trend conscious clientele, particularly for feature walls, bathrooms and counter tops. The brand is a leader in Italy and is renowned for having contracts with reputable brands such as Armani, Google and Costa Coffee. Novacolor is best known for its exquisite finishes for feature walls, tactile luxury appeal and seamless wall-to-floor propositions, for both internal and external applications.

Over the past 20 years, the company has also represented another Italian brand, Atria, which products are used by contractors primarily on commercial building facades. These are the ‘graffiato’ coatings – a high build coating, with a relatively large granule size that leaves
a visual indentation in the coating when applied with a trowel on the wall. “Since this tends to get dirty quickly in Malta, we have since moved to a smaller granule size, which creates a smaller indentation and therefore retains less dirt and dust,” Andrew said.

“In 2018, we ventured into building materials by representing a huge multinational brand, Knauf, the world leader in drylining systems, particularly suited to applications for acoustic and fire management scenarios, at very competitive price points,” he explained.

Andrew outlined a key company strategy: “We have a policy to only represent brands which are market leaders in their sectors and which have outstanding reputations.” An apt example of this is Saint-Gobain’s Weber, a high quality range of waterproofing and remedial treatment products, started recently in 2021.

“Besides Tarkett’s resilient flooring systems, we offer fabric carpets, artificial turf, seamless impact resistant flooring for outdoor playgrounds, as well as shock absorbent gym floors” – Karl Mallia

“We have also been representing Pennelli Cinghiale for 17 years, which is the leading paint and sundry brush in Malta and one of Italy’s top 100 iconic brands. That’s besides adding Stanley, a world leading power tool brand, in 2018” he added.

Paint Centres Limited has grown to include a fully-fledged chain of retail outlets – Colours & more, Lights & more, as well as Builders’ Depot in Marsa (which is targeted towards the Trade). “As a policy we do not undercut the prices we provide to our wholesale clients,” Andrew stressed.

Med Projects is another division within Paint Centres Limited and offers installation services in speciality segments. Some 15 years ago it started representing a leader in the resilient flooring sector called Tarkett, which is a truly global company, operating 34 factories worldwide. It is best known for its flooring systems that are widely sought in hospitals, aged care facilities, educational establishments and pharmaceutical settings.

The company leverages its size for economies of scale and boasts stock on hand even for large projects

Karl explained that Med Projects has carried out largescale local projects including the new Paola Regional Health Hub, the Life Sciences Park, the Saint Vincent De Paule Residence for the Elderly, the FTS and others too many to mention. “As this type of flooring was rather unique and new to our shores, and since not many installers were yet acquainted with the application techniques, we opted to provide the installation service.

That has expanded to now include fabric carpets, artificial turf, seamless impact resistant flooring for outdoor playgrounds, as well as shock absorbent gym floors. We also provide specialist flooring for pharmaceutical settings,which removes 99% of the bacteria from the sole of shoes when walking a distance of 3 metres on this special carpeting. In addition, we also apply floor levellers and epoxy resin floor coatings, which are ideal for warehouses,” he added. Med Projects also sells and installs EU certified playground equipment as well as

shelving systems for retail settings and warehouses, having recently completed projects for large retail outlets and local bottling plants.

The Mac Med Group also boasts of its human resource expertise, and provides training to its customers and continuous professional development for its own sales and installation teams, inviting overseas brand ambassadors to deliver training courses at their 36 seat in-house auditorium.

The company leverages its size for economies of scale, regularly keeping stock on hand, even for large projects. “Being well stocked is critical to our business model.

The Mac Med Group also boasts of its human resource expertise, and provides training to its customers and continuous professional development for its own sales and installation teams

We carry in excess of 2000 pallet positions worth of stock across our different brands and product categories, so it is rare for us to be out of stock on anything, with various trailers and cargo containers arriving on a weekly basis,” Andrew explained.

“Being well stocked is critical to our business model. We carry in excess of 2000 pallet positions across our different brands and product categories” – Andrew Magri Overend

In line with its mission to provide Malta with world leading brands pertaining to the property and construction markets, the Mac Med Group continues to seek broadening its appeal to its clients by continuously offering a comprehensive line up of world leading brands which are also complementary. Furthermore, being a net positive energy organisation, with surplus from its vast PV roof arrays, the Group’s green conscience is as prevalent in their portfolio expansionary objectives as is their commitment to meet customer demand and enhance the sustainability of Malta’s development alike.