Toly Products CEO Andy Gatesy has been awarded EY Malta Entrepreneur of the Year 2024.

Additionally, Zach Ciappara, Founder and CEO at FreeHour Malta, was named Entrepreneur of the Year Rising Star 2024.

The announcement came during an event that was held at The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, which supports the award.

Following these awards, Mr Gatesy will now represent Malta in EY’s World Entrepreneur of the Year award ceremony, being held in Monaco in June 2024, together with business leaders from over 60 countries.

Mr Gatesy has worked at Toly Products for close to 40 years, having initially served as Sales and Marketing Executive, and then as Vice Chairman. He is now Chairman and CEO of the cosmetics packaging company.

Mr Ciappara founded student application FreeHour in 2017, allowing users to share their timetables with friends to facilitate meeting up on campus.

The EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards have been held globally for the past three decades, and today includes a global network of 50,000 entrepreneurs, acting as the global benchmark for capturing the present and future’s entrepreneurial spirit.

The local award aims to promote entrepreneurship across the Maltese Islands, empowering individuals to grow their business on both a local and global basis. This was the seventh year that the awards ceremony was held in Malta.

The Maltese award is adjudicated by an independent panel that is made up of key figures from the local business community. This year, it included The Malta Chamber President Chris Vassallo Cesareo, The Malta Chamber of SMEs President Paul Abela, BOV CEO Kenneth Farrugia, HSBC Malta CEO Geoffrey Fichte, and Atlas Health Insurance Managing Director Catherine Calleja.

EY Malta forms part of the international EY network, providing clients with advisory, assurance, tax, and transaction services.