Forestals open new showroom in Mriehel 21/05/2009 Mrieħel, 21 May, 2009 – The Forestals Group of Companies have relocated their head office to Mrieħel and today Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi visited the premises, which include a flagship multi-brand outlet. Speaking at a brief ceremony after Dr Gonzi toured the premises and met the staff, Forestals Group Chairman and Managing Director Tancred Tabone announced that the Group intends to continue to invest to prepare for when the upturn arrives. “We are in the process of expanding into an ICT services and solutions company, which will operate from Malta for both the local and international market” he said. “To this end we shall be engaging the top people in this field and we have already contracted to increase our  office space by 50% to accommodate these new recruits.” Mr Tabone said it is anticipated that the staff complement will increase from 120 to 150 by next year, adding: “It is with extreme satisfaction that we can say that over all these years we have never made any member of staff redundant.” Forestals Group Managing Director Tancred Tabone addressing the media and guests present Dr. Lawrence Gonzi congratulated Forestals' continued investment and diversification. He traced the company’s history back three generations to September 27, 1945, when the original holding company, SRT, was incorporated. The business was run by the sons of his late grandfather, Salvatore Tabone, from small premises in St Mark Street, Valletta. “The business gradually evolved and grew over the years,” he said, “and our  lines of business have changed as we have, from the distribution of butane gas on a national scale in our early days to I.T. and digital entertainment  in our later years.” Mr Tabone affirmed: “We can justifiably say, with some pride, that the Forestals name is now one of the leading well-known brand names on the island.” A common denominator across all of the brands Forestals represents is that they are market leaders. Apart from domestic appliances, electronics and IT, the group is involved in other lines of business,  supplying many top hotels and restaurants with internationally recognised brands of catering equipment and quality fitted carpets,  as well as supplying professional and broadcast equipment to local media producers and television stations. Mr Tabone said: “We harbour the belief that most  families in Malta have over the years  made a purchase from Forestals and that these customers cover the broadest demographic range  from very young kids to  not so young adults.” Dr.Gonzi admiring the range of Consumer Electronics at the new Forestals showroom in Mriehel While acknowledging the need to always remain focused and committed to providing customer satisfaction by maintaining high standards of ethical behaviour at all times and providing quality products and services, Forestals is proud of its customer loyalty. He described the new flagship showroom, comprising 1,100 square metres of retail space, as a multi-brand, supermarket concept outlet, the first and largest of its kind in Malta, covering the entire product portfolio - large and small domestic appliances, consumer video and hifi equipment, digital entertainment, IT hardware, and cleaning equipment. The state of the art showroom layout brings the customer’s in-store experience to the forefront, eliminating barriers between the customer and the product range and displaying all products prominently and accessibly, an experience highlighted by the absence of sales counters separating customer from product. The new Forestals showroom is open all day from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Reserved customer parking facilities are available just outside the showroom.. The new Forestals Showroom  - impressive design, state-of-the-art facilities Say cheese! Forestals staff pose for a group photo