George Vella

George joined Grant Thornton in 2010. He holds a Masters in Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is an Associate of the Malta Institute of Accountants and he has over 15 years experience in corporate and project finance, research and development, strategic and project management.

After graduating in 1995, George joined PwC and worked in the assurance and advisory arms of the firm. He was later seconded to their office in the West Midlands, UK where he specialised in risk management.

In 2001 he joined the Corinthia Group – a multi-national hotel chain headquartered in Malta - and fulfilled a number of roles both locally and abroad. He was responsible for the business planning and budgeting process of the Group with operations in 11 countries, the implementation of a standard accounting package across the Group and supported the business development function by carrying out a number of feasibility studies.

In 2003, he took on the role of Finance Director at the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal in Budapest, Hungary and was involved in turning around the hotel into a profitable operation.

In 2005, he was appointed Head of Corporate Strategy at APS Bank where he was responsible for the preparation of a three year business plan. He was a member on the Bank’s risk management and credit committees and was involved in the introduction of the Bank’s internet banking infrastructure.

In 2007 he was appointed Corporate Finance Executive at the Corinthia Head Office where he was responsible for the raising of €325 million in project and corporate finance.

George was involved in the preparation of a number of feasibility studies and acquisition bids amongst which the ones that were used in acquiring a five star hotel in London and a 200,000 sq.m. development in Tripoli.

George was involved in the raising of a €150 million syndicated loan facility for the development of the London property. He was also responsible for raising €175 million by way of bonds on the local stock exchange for a number of commercial projects both locally and abroad.