Local entertainment and leisure industry trailblazer, Eden Leisure Group, has appointed Pierre Baldacchino to its executive team as Chief Commercial Officer, it said last week.

The group welcomed him, predicting he will take help lift it “to new heights,” while “exploring vast new opportunities.”

Mr Baldacchino takes the role after a 15-year stint at Saint James Hospital Group, with much of that time spent in Libya, first as the head of its Tripoli Hospital’s financial department, then as Assistant General Manager, and General Manager.

During his tenure as General Manager, he displayed his strong management acumen, spearheading the expansion of the group’s operations, opening two new clinics in Libya.

In 2016, after a harrowing Christmas-time kidnap and rescue in Libya, which made national headlines, he returned to Malta.

He then took up a post in the local Head Office of the company, where he headed the planning and implementation of the group’s advanced Hospital Information Systems.

Recently, he also embarked on a Master of Business Administration at Henley Business School, which he is due to complete in 2022.