“I put my future into the future of this company,” says GlobalCapital’s longest-serving member of staff John Zammit, who has been with the company since 1968. Mr Zammit has no intention of retiring, although he has cut back on his hours and responsibilities in the last couple of years. “I was recruited by our then Manager for Malta, John L. Rizzo, and I am thankful Mr. Rizzo gave me the opportunity to dedicate my life to the company.”
Other long-serving members of the GlobalCapital team originally engaged with British American or Bupa Malta, are John Curmi Dimech who has been with the firm for 35 years, Lucienne Camilleri with 21 years service, and Chris Chetcuti who has a 28-year track record at the company.
During his first days as an employee Mr. Zammit, then 22 years old, would get lost in the long, intertwining halls and corridors within British American’s building in Bizassa Street, Sliema. Queen Elizabeth II was still Head of State in Malta and Sir Maurice Dorman Governor-General, 800-squadron were still based at RAF Luqa, and Malta’s athletes competed at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Forty-four years later, Mr. Zammit, now 66, knows the network of departments inside GlobalCapital’s modern landmark building in Testaferrata Street, Ta’Xbiex perhaps better than anyone. After all, he is GlobalCapital’s longest-serving employee ever, loyally serving the insurance specialist for the last 44 years.
We were able to track-down former British American Manager for Malta, John L. Rizzo to ask him why he chose to employ Mr. Zammit, “John is a very good man, a genuine, honest fellow, I would recommend him to this very day! I employed him as a salesman and he was going to resign at a certain point, but I managed to persuade him to stay on, I am very happy he decided to stay on to this very day. I still bump into him from time-to-time on the Sliema front with his wife.”
Prior to its merger forming GlobalCapital plc., British American had been operating a branch in Malta since 1965 and built up a portfolio of life and related insurance cover for its Maltese clientele. In 1997 it secured a majority shareholding in BUPA Agencies Limited, thus creating a significant foundation for a strong insurance, life insurance, health insurance and insurance broking business under GlobalCapital plc.
Chris Chetcuti says, “I’ve been here since February 1984. It’s a fantastic place to be, I’ve learnt an amazing amount from Mr. Zammit, my former boss, whilst he was here full-time. It was really great to be part of the organisation before we had so many customers, quite incredible really. Well here I am now 28 years later still with the company and in that time we’ve got over 50,000 customers. It’s been quite a journey and that journey really has been all about the fantastic service we provide our customers. That’s what’s really kept me here in this brilliant business where the customer is right at the heart of all that we do on a day-to-day basis. Both of our new products, Real Life and Life Protect, contain special benefits and compete well against anything in the market, GlobalCapital plc. once again has market-leading insurance products.”
Mr Curmi Dimech adds, “Families need life insurance, it supports the family, and we have the best life and health insurance products for the family.”
Ms Camilleri chips in, “I hope GlobalCapital and Bupa Malta continue to grow in the way that it has, as it’s a great company to work for. If one word in Malta spells out health, it’s ‘Bupa’. “
Mr Bashar Khatib, CEO of GlobalCapital said , “GlobalCapital is a household name and there is wonderful energy with so many dedicated and long-term staff members. Things have of course changed and moved on since both Johns, Chris and Lucienne joined the company, particularly when you look at the size of the company and the product innovations and developments. But the people here are certainly one of the main reasons why these four members of staff and the rest of our team numbering around one hundred of their colleagues have been at GlobalCapital for so long.”