With over 30 years of experience and multiple awards for business excellence, Juanafil has positioned itself as a one-stop-shop for corporate services, advisory, and growth support in Malta and internationally. Building on this strong foundation, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of change.

Thanks to a wave of new clients in recent months, Juanafil CEO Christine Camilleri and her team of over 30 employees have seen the company grow significantly, all while preparing to implement a new vision for the future.

“We are in a digital era,” Ms Camilleri says. “For a few years now, more and more of our client work involving government agencies has moved online.” Daily, the team files online data with the Malta Business Registry and accesses information from the MTCA.

“It’s time for us to move more of our internal systems onto digital platforms.” The transition has started with software upgrades and data being transferred from hard copy formats to digital options, and the team has an ambitious goal: “By 2026, all client data will be stored on secure digital platforms.”

The internal and external benefits are obvious. “Storing information digitally will allow the team and myself to access client information immediately and independently of where we are,” Ms Camilleri explains. “For example, if I’m away from the office and a client calls with a time-sensitive problem, I don’t have to defer or ask someone else for help. I have everything I need at my fingertips.”

This personal approach to client services has set Juanafil apart from its competitors for decades. While Juanafil is embracing digital transformation, its client-first, personal approach remains central to its identity.

To this day, Christine Camilleri remains hands-on and takes charge of the initial stages of client onboarding. “At a minimum, I will have the initial meeting with a new client myself,” Ms Camilleri says. “It’s important for me to understand their business and their needs as a whole to be able to recommend the most suitable services.”

Once that’s done, Ms Camilleri introduces Juanafil’s clients to the managers who will take care of specific services for them. That doesn’t mean that clients no longer have access to the CEO. “Some clients continue to reach out to me because they know that I’ll be direct. I won’t overpromise but instead share a realistic assessment of their situation from my perspective.”

Clear communication is one of the pillars of client success at Juanafil. “It’s not always easy for clients to tell us that they may have made a mistake or overlooked a piece of critical information. But because small problems can soon grow into big issues if they remain unsolved, we emphasise how important good communication is between our team and our clients.”

Those open lines of communication are also at the heart of solid customer relationships. One of the issues close to Ms Camilleri’s heart is setting realistic expectations when it comes to the timeframe involved in setting up a business, for example. “Of course, we are in control of our part of the setup, and we can guarantee the number of days that takes,” says Ms Camilleri. “But on the other end of the process is a team of government employees whose schedules and workloads we don’t control. They may be dealing with a backlog in their department. They could be sick or on their annual leave.” And this is where keeping the client in the loop is essential, Ms Camilleri says.

Internally, communication is just as crucial, both for sharing client information and for departments to collaborate seamlessly. Technology plays a big role in empowering team members to improve their client communications. “A lot of our client work is driven by deadlines. Someone’s residence permit may be expiring, or they may need to submit information for their forthcoming VAT return. With software, we can automate reminders in good time to avoid missing deadlines and the fines associated with that.”

Again, the team combines an element of technology with its customary personal touch. “First and foremost, we are here to support our clients in achieving their goals. They need a helping hand and sometimes also a little extra follow-up,” Ms Camilleri believes. “So, if a client doesn’t react to an email reminder, it’s time to pick up the phone to make sure nothing is missed.”

Excellent client service relies on good operations. For Ms Camilleri, this means having the right people in the right position around her and making sure team members are happy. “Happy people deliver outstanding client service, so our HR manager ensures that we listen to our team members and take their views into account.”

“Some months can be very busy in our offices, so we need to make sure that we balance those times with time to reflect without compromising client services.” In previous years, that meant closing for a week around the Santa Marija holiday. This year, though, the company is taking a new approach.

“As we have grown and expanded our client base, closing for a week is no longer the best thing to do,” Ms Camilleri says. “Instead, we will take a long weekend and then give our teams the option to take the week off or defer their holiday.” As a result, Juanafil’s offices will remain open with a skeleton staff, and no one needs to return to an overflowing inbox after a week.

Adapting the company’s operations and prioritising teams and customers has helped Juanafil grow over the past months. For the rest of 2025 and looking forward, Christine Camilleri is looking to make her teams even more efficient and help everyone deliver great client service.

So far, a growing number of word-of-mouth recommendations are proving the success of the team’s approach. “It’s simply the best way of marketing, and we hope our clients continue to enjoy and recommend our services to others this year and in the future.”