Aaron Axiaq’s years working as a nurse, for both the public hospital as well as private healthcare centres and clinics, brought him face-to-face with an inescapable reality: community care is the foundation upon which the entire health of a nation is set.
Having graduated in 1999, Aaron was immediately thrown into the heaving drama of Malta’s healthcare system, starting his career working in the Intensive Care Unit at St Luke’s Hospital. “I spent approximately 16 years of my career working in intensive care, during which I also helped to oversee the transition of the Unit to Mater Dei,” he recalls.
This was a position which carried an immense responsibility, necessitating focus and commitment, as well as deep insight in the wider role of nursing. “Nursing, as a profession is quite vast, but I’ve worked everywhere – including in elderly homes, at Mount Carmel hospital, in prisons, and even in the film industry. I’ve also always carried out research into healthcare and, by the early 2000s, I had started to understand that nursing is not only about what happens in hospital or clinical settings, but it’s also about the community. I formed the belief that if we strengthen community services, we’ll, firstly, have a healthier population, and, secondly, this will lessen the burden on Mater Dei, limiting hospitalisations,” he explains.
This realisation came at a time when community care in Malta was almost non-existent, and, as Aaron approached his 15th year working full-time at the public hospital, he started to feel he could contribute to society in a different way. “In 2012, I partnered up with Claire Bellizzi, who was also a nurse, to create something which would serve the community. We started out as Apex Community Care, in a small office with three to five employees. It was a tiny space, with only three rooms, which we renovated ourselves. It had previously been a pet shop and I recall painting the walls and installing new furniture in there. It was definitely an experience,” laughs Aaron, who now serves as Chairman of the Group, as well as one of its directors.
The founders of Apex (L-R): Claire Bellizzi and Aaron Axiaq
However, the pair’s ambition extended beyond these inauspicious beginnings. “I always dreamt of a ‘one-stop-shop’, so to speak, where people could come to for, yes, nursing services, but also childcare, and cleaning, for instance,” he says. In fact, just one year after its inception, the company opened its first childcare centre – Barney’s in Fgura – and, today, the Group boasts six such offerings, with another one about to be opened over the next few months. Today, after 11 years in operation, 60 of Apex’s 300 employees run and work in these centres, while another 100 staff have been employed to cater for the Group’s cleaning services section.
“The most important thing in this business is to be flexible, nimble and adapt to the market,” Aaron says. “We’re constantly changing, and constantly restructuring the group. You have to diversify and – if COVID-19 is anything to go by – you also have to make contingency plans. I also feel it’s our responsibility to keep thinking about how to grow and how to take care of our staff, for we need to communicate the message to every member of our team that they can grow with us. They are not just a number,” Aaron asserts.
This is Aaron’s biggest challenge, he elaborates. “We currently employ 300 people, and I feel as if I not only have these members of staff but I carry the responsibility of their families too. My staff are my priority,” he insists, recalling the sleepless nights he had when the pandemic hit in 2020, and parts of the business had to shut down.
“Through those years, I learnt that, when things go wrong, you need to be prepared. We had three companies within the Group by 2020, but the childcare and cleaning outfits stalled completely. We suffered because, in reality, there was not enough support for employers. We had investments in place, loans which needed to be paid back, and so on – it was tough, but we were lucky we had diversified from our early days,” he says.
The Group founders’ hands-on approach has also had a key role to play in the company’s rise. “We distinguish ourselves from our competitors in this way. I am a nurse myself, so I run this company not only as Aaron, the businessman, but I am supported by 16 years’ work experience in nursing care. We make a difference because we know the sector well, and we are also keen to learn different aspects of running the Group. It’s important to step out of our comfort zone, I believe. I like challenges,” he asserts.
This is just as well for the rest of the year is looking eventful for Apex Group. “We are experiencing exciting times,” the Chairman says. “We’re planning on branching into hospitality over the next few months, in line with our idea of being ‘care’-givers. We have consultants helping us strategize this angle of the business, which we feel is important to get right,” he explains.
Apex’s drive to move into hospitality has been developed in tandem which the Group’s educational ambitions, Aaron outlines. “Like many companies in Malta, we have been employing many foreigners, who, we realised needed training and a bit of hand holding to understand the local culture and way of working. So, we have been providing induction training, explaining to them what our expectations are and so on. From this, we’ve developed an academy, accredited by the MFHEA, and we started to develop courses in nursing, childcare and in various aspects of the cleaning sector. Today, this has expanded and we now get students from abroad who come and train with us; following the course, they can stay to work here, or they can also find work elsewhere,” he states.
“We’re trying to be innovative,” the co-founder asserts, adding that a priority for the Group was to ensure that every “staff member is also on board with these changes.” For, the notion of care at Apex extends not only to those within the community at large, but also to every person in the company. “I want the staff to have something new to look forward to. I want them to also be excited about the changes ahead of us,” he smiles, concluding.
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