David Abela’s journey with EuroBridge, the freight forwarders company, goes back to more than 25 years. Now back in his company’s driving seat as Managing Director and CEO from October 2023, Mr Abela lays out very clear targets on the intended results and spares no efforts to achieve them.

Based on Mr Abela’s experience, one can immediately assess the energy bent on getting things done right. Having joined the company at a young age, he was quickly promoted through the ranks way back in 1998, taking over EuroBridge’s shareholding two years later. That was just a few years prior to Malta’s accession into the European Union in 2004, opening up the borders to the continent, especially in this sector. And while the long hours then may have taken their toll, this translated into a well-prepared company for the business that lay ahead.

EuroBridge’s connections on the European continent have since become well-established, with a main partner hub in Milan and a strong network of various shipping providers that can be called up and relied on to deliver.

Mr Abela underlines the advantages of having several suppliers at hand, with whom EuroBridge is in direct contact, making sure “that the service provided to clients is very good.” This is not only in terms of efficiency, which of course is mainstay in this field, but also embedding competitive rates right within the same network. Mr Abela considers that EuroBridge is unrivalled in this respect on the local scene.

The company is growing, expanding from past turnovers of €2.5 million to €10 million annually in the last few years, although he is quick to emphasise that the efforts being made are to have “controlled growth” and therefore ensure that the scaling up of operations is sustained.

Now operating from new offices in Qormi, strategically located on one of the island’s main road networks, Mr Abela explains that once a client has finalised orders, shippers based abroad are in contact within 20 minutes – an impressive standard by all counts, backed by a staff complement of five of the company’s personnel specifically assigning tasks and monitoring movements.

Mr Abela comes across as a very much hands-on CEO with a keen view over the whole spectrum of the company’s operations. And with a strong drive to deliver, a business philosophy that “the client is the priority” and that customer retention is very important, he sees to it that this culture permeates throughout the whole organisation. Just a few months back, he assembled a new leadership team for EuroBridge – Joseph Tedesco, Matthew Napier and Nicky Vella, galvanizing the company as it enters into a new era, laser-focused on retaining a leading position in the Maltese market.

While maintaining that competitive edge, EuroBridge is also about “continuing to be innovative.” Mr Abela provides further details, explaining how its B2B operations also cater for businesses that require warehousing services, door-to-door delivery solutions and insurance arrangements with world-renowned partners. The company also has plans to expand into ambient-controlled transport and warehousing, a useful additional feature that provides customers with more assurance should their goods require such attention.

And while clearly the freight-forwarding company is geared towards large shipping operations thanks to its network capabilities also on mainland Europe, its flexibility also allows it to be a solid partner for start-up ventures looking for all-round logistical solutions that cater to their diverse needs.

Mr Abela points out specific examples that are already within EuroBridge’s client portfolio. He contends that warehousing and delivery solutions can be a key to further efficient growth for such entrepreneurs, particularly when linked to their respective online store applications, with the company taking care of all the logistical needs.

He also notes that such processes can even be applied to much larger retail scenarios, with specific examples in mind. And that could very much be another avenue that EuroBridge will be looking at in the near future as he speaks of a retail “360 degrees” service where clients can focus on sales while EuroBridge is “taking care of everything else,” Mr Abela explains. That “everything else” is quite comprehensive as the CEO lists security and a safe space for goods in storage, insurance, personnel to stack up the shelves, and a delivery service. It really does seem to cover all the back-end activity and more for retail enterprise, promising to develop the way this economic sector is currently run.

A challenge that the logistics sector is currently facing is surely related to the geopolitical headwinds that are also threatening maritime supply chains. Some elements currently facing difficulty had already been indirectly negatively affected even during the recent pandemic. Besides being the owner of EuroBridge, Mr Abela is also a member of the Logistics Business Committee within the Malta Chamber of Commerce, which surely places him face-to-face with the realities impinging on Malta’s main industries.

To counter the current risks, Mr Abela suggests that shipping goods from the mainland is presently more reliable. Indeed, as one to take immediate action, Mr Abela has cultivated solutions linked to Türkiye, from where he has noted substantial growth. The service has already been tried and tested by EuroBridge, with his assessment being that it is “considered as excellent”. This modus operandi of anticipating solutions so as to overcome obstacles and deliver to clients’ expectations, seems to be a characteristic of how the company operates under Mr Abela’s helm.

Underpinning the renewed direction, the company’s CEO also delves into the investment that EuroBridge is placing into its own personnel in practical terms and the technology that facilitates its day-to-day operations, locating customer service at the very core of the company and across all its ventures.

For Mr Abela, all of the renewed efforts reflect that “this is just the start”. He plans to expand EuroBridge further in two years’ time. One can see that together with his team, a very hands-on approach, several new projects already in place or in line to fruition and a determination to deliver, positions EuroBridge ahead of the game.