It was on a sunny Saturday afternoon in early May that Frank Salt Real Estate employees gathered at the head office in St Julian’s for what was to be a very particular afternoon. The reason behind the urgent meeting was not property or real estate-related, as many had expected, but simply the start of an afternoon of crime scene investigating, character profiling, clue gathering and everything else related to a make-believe mystery murder that had taken place in Mdina earlier that morning.

‘CSI Mdina’ was the theme for this year’s annual company team building activity, organised in association with Outdoorliving Ltd, and by all accounts, the participating staff got more than they had bargained for! The 60+ participants were transported to the crime scene down at Mdina Greek gate to further investigate the alleged murder and before long the teams were on their way with their personal explorations and investigations to determine who had done it and the motive.

Three hours later, having interviewed a number of witnesses and identified key evidence and alibis, a number of theories were drawn up, each team having a plausible case for identifying the culprit. But it was the Watson Team, led by Nick Bilocca (marketing) and his associates Candace Vella Bencini (administration), Dorothy Rutzen (Fgura branch), Ray Young (Sliema branch), James Stagno Navarra (Homes of Quality) and Jacqueline Micallef (Mellieħa branch) that identified the actual culprit, who was eventually taken away in handcuffs to the cheers of the crowd.

Team-building activities are no novelty in the company’s calendar of events. With Malta’s largest team of property people, team-building and social activities play an important role in the company’s calendar. “Our team is composed of over 100 employees, from different walks of life,” said managing director Joseph Lupi, “yet together we share a common vision, based on mutual values: serving our customer. And it is this that makes our company tick and grow further”.

“As individuals we all have our challenges,” said HR Manager Sandra Aquilina. “But as a team, we overcome such situations and turn them into opportunities. We are a growing family business, and we want to make sure that our employees feel part of the family.”