Governance

Geoffrey Camilleri is a Certified Public Accountant. After obtaining an Honours degree in Accountancy from the University of Malta in 2002, he joined the Assurance and Business Advisory division of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Malta. He then moved into industry and occupied governance and finance roles in Malta’s Middlesea Insurance Group, and later Gasan Group. He joined Hili Ventures in 2014 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in January 2016. In January 2021 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer for the Premier Capital group. Mr Camilleri is also Chairman of Cobalt Leasing Ltd.

Melo Hili joined the family business in 1988 and was appointed managing director of Motherwell Bridge, then a joint venture with Motherwell Bridge Group of Scotland. He later also headed the company’s Italian operation and was a board member of Motherwell Bridge Bhicam in the Bahamas. Mr Hili was named Developmental Licencee for McDonald’s in Malta in 2005, for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2007, for Greece in 2011, and for Romania in 2016. He is also Chairman of Premier Capital and Chief Executive Officer of Hili Ventures.

Dorian Desira started out at the Hili family business in 1997 as an accounts clerk. He was promoted to Management Accountant with the group’s holding company in 2001 and later became financial controller at the group’s IT arm and MB Services. In 2008, Mr Desira graduated from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. A year later, he joined Premier Restaurants Malta as Finance Manager. On takeover of the Greek McDonald’s operation in 2011, Mr Desira moved to Athens. He returned to Malta as General Manager overseeing the McDonald’s operation of nine restaurants, including the opening of the Sliema restaurant in 2013. Mr Desira was appointed Chief Financial Officer for the Premier Capital group in May 2014. He was appointed Chief Financial Officer for Hili Ventures in January 2021. Mr Desira also sits on the boards of Premier Capital plc and 1923 Investments plc. He holds a CPA warrant and is a fellow of the Malta Institute of Accountants and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Jacqueline Camilleri is a Certified Public Accountant and a fellow member of the Malta Institute of Accountants. She graduated from the University of Malta with a B.A (Hons) in Accountancy and holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh Business School. Ms Camilleri held various roles at AX Holdings between 1990 and 1998. She later joined the team at the Foundation for Medical Services responsible for the opening of Mater Dei Hospital, and served as Directorate Management Accountant at Stock Mandeville Hospital in the UK. Ms Camilleri has provided financial consultancy to the private and national health sector in Malta and worked on privatisation processes, strategic reviews and business evaluations during her time at MIMCOL. In 2010, she was appointed Director General Finance and Administration at the Ministry for Health, Elderly and Community Care. In 2014, Ms Camilleri was appointed Chief Executive Officer of retirement village Hilltop Gardens, a subsidiary of AX Holdings. She served on the board of the Foundation for Medical Services between 2005 and 2010, and was Vice Chair of Malta International Airport between 2008 and 2013. Ms Camilleri now provides business advisory services. She is also a member of the board of directors of Harvest Technology plc.

Mario Vella joined Barclays Bank in Malta in 1969, occupying several positions in banking before concluding his career with HSBC in 2013 as Head of Corporate Banking. In this role he was responsible for the major share of the bank’s lending portfolio and its largest corporate customers. He has been involved in driving major change in banking strategies, especially on Mid-Med Bank’s take-over by HSBC. Over the years, Mr Vella has structured financing for numerous high profile projects, including bank / syndicated lending and capital markets. In 2013, Mr Vella moved to KPMG as Director, Deal Advisory and served as Consultant to several company boards and assisted in raising finance for new ventures while helping clients refinance borrowing facilities. He retired from KPMG in 2017 but continues to provide consultancy to businesses. Mr Vella is Non-Executive Director on a number of corporate boards.