Fierce battle over WasteServ’s €125 million workforce contract

Four joint ventures have submitted bids for WasteServ’s lucrative €125 million outsourced workforce contract, with incumbent Ozo Group facing stiff competition from ventures involving Marsaxlokk FC president Frank Cachia’s AGV, Ninu Fenech family’s Tum Invest and a Corinthia subsidiary.

The offers range from €124.2 million to €127.1 million for a three-year contract covering recruitment, payroll and employment administration across the state waste agency’s facilities in Malta and Gozo.

Although Cachia’s joint venture submitted the lowest price, this will not automatically secure the contract as the tender assigns 60% of the final score to technical quality and 40% to price.

KERAGV JV, bringing together Kerber Security Services and AGV HR, submitted the lowest offer at €124.2 million. AGV is part of the business group founded by Cachia.

EGTUM JV followed at €124.7 million. The venture includes Executive Services Ltd and Tum Invest, the business group of Anthony, known as Ninu, Fenech and his sons Silvan and Matthew.

The incumbent’s OG96 JV submitted €125.2 million, placing it third on price, €1 million above the cheapest offer.

BQJV, which includes Bad Boy Cleaners and Quality Talent Ltd, submitted the highest bid at €127.1 million. Quality Talent is owned by CPHCL, the Corinthia parent company.

The bidding brings together groups with substantial interests outside workforce outsourcing.

Corinthia’s businesses – currently struggling – centre on hotels, hospitality and real estate, while Tum Invest’s activities include property development and the automotive sector, including Motors Inc.

Corinthia nevertheless has a dedicated recruitment business. Quality Talent was established to recruit personnel for its hotels and other operations, before expanding its activities.

Cachia’s AGV also operates across recruitment, property, hospitality and logistics. Its government staffing business has already attracted scrutiny.

In April, The Shift reported that AGV secured more than €8.5 million in public personnel-services contracts between 2022 and 2025. Nearly two-thirds came through two tenders issued under Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri and Education Minister Clifton Grima. The report also recalled Cachia’s support for former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s bid to lead the Malta Premier League.

AGV also previously submitted the lowest offer for an €18 million Water Services Corporation recruitment tender that was subsequently withdrawn.

The cancellation followed direction from the ministry headed by Miriam Dalli over concerns about AGV’s relevant experience. The reasons for the cancellation remained unclear, and second-placed Ozo was not awarded the contract either.

According to the the tender document, the successful contractor must retain the existing contractor’s employees under the document’s transfer provisions. WasteServ will continue directing their operational duties, while the contractor remains responsible for their employment.

The contract runs for 36 months, with an option to extend it by another year.

This unusual outsourcing arrangement has previously come under scrutiny.

In September 2023, The Shift reported that Ozo supplied around 700 workers and that WasteServ had disclosed payments of €18.5 million during the first ten months of the then-current contract.

WasteServ declined to release that contract, citing commercial sensitivity.