Customer Stories
Miller Distributors Ltd.
This Malta-based distribution company modernised its board governance across a growing family enterprise, powered by OnBoard’s intuitive plaform.
Customer Stories
This Malta-based distribution company modernised its board governance across a growing family enterprise, powered by OnBoard’s intuitive plaform.
Industry: Commercial distribution
Location: Birkirkara, Malta
Board Management Goals
Results
OnBoard Capabilities Utilised
Miller Distributors Ltd. is the main operating company within TheMillerGroup, a family-owned enterprise headquartered in Malta with operations in Greece and Serbia.
As Kenneth Frendo, Chief Financial Officer, Company Secretary, explains, the Group “is headquartered in Malta… with operations spanning Malta, Greece and Serbia,” including 20 retail outlets in Malta, four of which located within Malta International Airport, 11 retail outlets located within Athens International Airport and Thessaloniki Airport, and three within Belgrade Airport. It also boasts a strong distribution network covering the Maltese Islands and the printing of all local and foreign newspapers available on the island.
Founded in 1966 but with origins that date back to 1914, the organisation has grown into one of the region’s leading distribution, retail and publishing groups, employing around 400 people. Its clientele ranges from international publishers to FMCG suppliers to retail customers in airports, convenience shops and bookshops. The company’s mission, Kenneth says, is “to deliver excellence in distribution, retail and knowledge services underpinned by integrity, efficiency and innovation.”
He emphasises the group’s long-term orientation as a fully family-owned business that values long term partnerships and sustainable growth.
TheMillerGroup’s board oversees a multi-jurisdiction operation and meets regularly to steer growth. The core board comprises eight members, with additional observers representing the next generation.
Committees include the Audit & Risk Committee, Remuneration, and Operations, each composed of two to three members depending on the area of oversight. Meetings are usually every quarter, though the board sometimes convenes more frequently for urgent matters; under a new structure the plan is to meet six times per year.
As a family business, there are no term limits for family directors, though the group intends to appoint external members with likely three-year terms and possible reappointment.
Before OnBoard, governance work was labour-intensive and paper-bound. Frendo recalls the time and manual labour involved in preparing board and committee meeting packs, noting it used to take hours of preparatory work. The reliance on paper, PDFs, and email created duplication, version-control risks, and logistical headaches.
“I had to prepare a number of photocopies,” Kenneth says, and if members missed a meeting, packs had to be dispatched through registered mail or with a driver by hand.
The COVID-19 pandemic period further underscored the need for a secure, centralised, remote-friendly solution.
Kenneth tasked his internal IT team to do data research for board meeting platforms, shortlisting options for review. On evaluation, OnBoard stood out immediately.
“When I started seeing the most of OnBoard, I immediately got impressed with the security it has, with the flexibility it has, [and how] user-friendly it is,” Kenneth says.
The decisive factor, however, was the people behind the platform. “I was assigned a very helpful person (Customer Success Manager Bibianna Fasogbon),” Kenneth says. “She was extremely available and accessible, and she made the implementation excellent.”
To secure buy-in from a seasoned board, OnBoard provided a concise demo video: “When I put it up during the board meeting, they were impressed — even the board members themselves,” Kenneth adds.
The group implemented OnBoard about a year ago and has already held multiple meetings on the platform. Training support and help-centre videos eased adoption, even for directors of a certain mature age.
Initial hesitation quickly gave way to enthusiasm: “They immediately started appreciating the advantages,” Kenneth says. “After that, then it’s history. It’s all positives.”
The outcomes are measurable. “Preparation time for board meetings has been cut by around 40%, freeing up senior management and the secretary resources,” Kenneth says. The financial impact is clear: “Paper and printing costs for board materials have been reduced by more than 50%,” he adds.
Equally important, the platform has improved discipline and preparedness. “Board members now engage with materials earlier and more effectively as they can annotate documents digitally and access them securely at their convenience,” Kenneth says.
With materials uploaded well ahead of meetings, excuses have diminished: “How can you tell me you did not have time to review the financial report when it has been uploaded on OnBoard 10 days before the meeting?” Kenneth says, laughing.
— Kenneth J. Frendo, Chief Financial Officer, Company Secretary, Miller Distributors Ltd.
Asked to summarise his favourite capabilities, Kenneth cites three standouts. First, “the annotation tools allow members to prepare in advance and share notes as needed, and they make life easier for me as company secretary,” Kenneth says.
Second, the central repository ensures that everyone is working off the latest version, eliminating confusion from outdated attachments. Third, secure mobile access enables members to participate from anywhere, which is vital for a leadership team that travels widely.
As Kenneth put it, “OnBoard is offering us that secure platform,” so even when directors are abroad, “you can access the board pack from the airport and still vote and still communicate.”
Looking ahead, the group intends to expand OnBoard to its committees because “the advantages are huge,” explore electronic voting, and digitise history.
For Kenneth, the verdict is unequivocal: Adopting OnBoard was “first and foremost, to support the board of TheMillerGroup,” and today, “it’s all positives.”
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