Another Frank Borda Ltd business will be winding down, with the company's long-standing Gala Domestic Appliances and Gala Supermarket announcing on their respective Facebook Pages that the retailer's last day in business will be 31st July 2023.
This follows the winding down of the Skoda showroom in Ta' Xbiex last year, which was also represented by Frank Borda Ltd.
Informed sources contacted by this newsroom said that following the passing of Frank Borda there was no clear path forward agreed upon by his children in relation to whether the business should continue. When contacted, Paul Borda, son of Frank to whom the business was passed onto, explained that he loved the Gala business and wished he could continue but declining health and difficulties with a succession plan proved too difficult to deal with.
The situation was made even more challenging due to difficulties with finding the right technical personnel. Mr Borda emphasized that it is becoming very challenging to find the right technical staff in Malta. “We tried with MCAST students and getting people from abroad,” he explained, but in each case the company was finding retention after training to be prohibitive.
Understandingly, the winding down of several components of the business have left some employees dismayed. One employee told WhosWho.mt that she was heartbroken with this news as she had been with the company for decades and loved the business as if it were her own.
Although the the Borda family had been establishing itself in the Maltese business scene since 1595, it was not until 1768 that the enterprise took off. Giuseppe Borda, owner of a fleet of sailing ships, was contracted by the British Navy to use his fleet to deliver fresh food and water supplies directly to the Royal Navy. This was a successful contract that lasted 120 years.
The ‘50s saw the business expanding under Frank Borda who took control from his father and established the Gala Domestic appliance side of the business. In that period Gala became pioneers, supplying refrigerators not only locally but also exporting to Libya and Egypt. In its last years, Gala was led by Frank’s son, Paul, who invested a sum of €40 million to purchase and develop headquarters premises in Ta’ Xbiex.
