The Schembri family has launched SALV Group, a Maltese holding company that brings together a portfolio of businesses built over five decades under one unified structure.
It establishes a shared identity for a multi-generational enterprise, without changing who owns it, who runs it, or what it stands for.
The Schembri family’s business roots trace back to 1977, when the late Saviour Schembri co-founded Schembri Brothers Ltd, a company specialising in road and property construction. Building on this foundation, he expanded and consolidated the family’s business interests in 1988 through the establishment of Schembri Barbros Ltd and Barbros Group, alongside his brothers.
Their businesses span major road infrastructure projects, property development, manufacturing and recycling – today representing one of Malta’s leading and most established groups within the infrastructure and construction sector.
Following Saviour’s passing in 2018, the second generation began a structured consolidation of the Group to carry forward his legacy in Malta. Having already expanded into property development, fuel, and importation and distribution, this process has now culminated in the formal establishment of SALV Group.
Every business within the portfolio remains fully family-owned, with no external investment, while the Schembri family continues to manage operations directly, as it has done for decades.
Saviour’s four children – Fran Schembri, Ephraim Schembri, Claudine Barbara and Josepha Guntrip – now lead the Group, with Fran and Ephraim also remaining actively involved in the operations of Barbros Group, in which SALV Group holds a shareholding.
SALV Group currently operates across several verticals. These include SALV Properties, which encompasses property development, commercial sales and the management of short- and long-term rental accommodation across Malta.
SALV Fuel operates a network of fuel stations under the Pitstop brand in Attard, Ħal Għaxaq and Marsaskala, while SALV Auto represents and distributes more than 30 international brands, including Petronas, Autoglym and FÖRCH, across retail and professional segments.
The Group continues to expand into hospitality through the launch of a major international lifestyle brand in Q3 of this year, supported by agreements with a leading global hotel chain spanning multiple brand tiers.
Meanwhile, it also enters the elderly care sector, with its first 230-room project expected to be completed by Q4 2028. Further announcements are anticipated in the coming months.
With a workforce projected to grow to more than 500 people in the coming years, and an expanding footprint across property, energy and services, SALV Group enters its next chapter with a united strategic direction.
“Our father built these businesses with his own hands, and he built them to last,” said Fran Schembri, Managing Director of SALV Group. “SALV Group is the next step in that story – his four children, working together, giving structure to what has always been a family enterprise. Nothing has changed in who we are or how we operate. We are formalising what has been true for decades, building on the foundations laid by the previous generation to grow and diversify in the years ahead.”
To find out more about SALV Group, visit the website.
