The Alert Group has invested over €1 million in a brand new head office in Qormi as it marks 15 years of operation and looks toward further growth, particularly in overseas markets.

Alert was founded by Claudine Cassar – who remains the group’s executive chairman – as a digital agency specialising in web design. It started out as a two-man operation using two borrowed PCs in a friend’s living room, but now employs over 40 people, offering a range of complementary IT and marketing services.

The group, which is presently made up of Alert eBusiness, Alert Solutions and Alert Creative, opted to invest in a custom-built head office in Qormi as it became clear that it was outgrowing its old office.

The new premises will provide room for further growth and increased employment in years to come, but the group also expects to invest a further €1 million in the near future to expand its data centre and refurbish its old head office. It may also end up establishing an annex close to its new head offices to ensure it has an adequate space to operate from.

At the inauguration of the new head office today, Ms Cassar said that the investment was being made at a time when Alert confident about its future, and also announced that the group is planning to expand in international market. The company has recently signed a $2 million contract with an oil and gas company operating in Libya.

The head office was inaugurated by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who said that the company’s plans fit perfectly with the government’s own strategy on internationalisation.

He said that the government was happy to assist SMEs break into new markets, noting that while the Mediterranean region was an obvious target, local companies could also go beyond.

Dr Muscat also expressed his satisfaction at visiting the premises of a “female-powered” company.