Back in 1971, one of Malta’s leading industrial estates was inaugurated by the prime minister, George Borg Olivier. This year, the Bulebel Industrial Estate is celebrating their 50 years. 

Despite Covid-19, a small commemorative event took place on the 30th of April, at the Zejtun Estate, honouring this anniversary in the presence of Hon. Minister of Economy, Investment and Small Businesses, Silvio Schembri, and dignitaries from Industry including Toly Products.

Toly was the first business to operate within the estate, which signalled the start of the industrial revolution in Malta. For this reason, Toly is proud to also be celebrating its 50-year mark in conjunction with the estate.

Toly’s Chairman and CEO, Andy Gatesy was invited to give a speech during the ceremony that was recorded on Live TV. The unveiling of the monument symbolizes a token of the last fifty years of industrialization and the bright future which lies ahead.

During the event, Gatesy expressed how Bulebel has evolved over the last 50 years, and remarked how different it was back in 1971, and then went on to share Toly’s history and fond memories with Zoli Gatesy, his father and founder of Toly Products Ltd.  

‘’I was just six years old, and my father brought us to see a new factory growing out of the ground and started operating a year later. There was not even a proper road, there were fields, farmers, and goats’ He reminisced.  
Toly started operating with just over 40 employees and has since evolved into an international beauty development platform.  

In 2014, with the support of the government, new state-of-the-art corporate offices were built, to incorporate the additional value services Toly offers from its headquarters in Malta. This was a catalyst for 6 years of growth which saw Toly doubling its revenues.

Today, the group is no longer just an industrial player, through their expansion of in-house makeup artists, beauty bloggers, trend consultants, graphic designer, and innovation engineers, this has entitled the company to be a €100 million company, with a €250million vision as their next milestone. 
Toly stands to be one of the leaders in beauty packaging across the world, working with 23 out of the 30 top beauty brands and a network of sales offices worldwide.

In 2017, the company started building a new €20million manufacturing plant, designed with sustainability, safety, and agility in mind.  

Two years later, Bulebel Industrial Estates saw the opening of the 20,000sqm plant.

In building it’s new factory, Toly has maximised its footprint to create a model that can be replicated through the industrial estate to increase space, manufacturing capacity and set up a vision not just for the future of Toly, but also for the future of manufacturing in Malta.  

Toly, being primarily in the make-up business, has suffered a drop in sales during the pandemic. However, with the support of the Government and their packages, Toly has not given up and stood by their commitment to keep people safe, save jobs, keep the plants running efficiently all whilst, retaining the soul of the company.

The Bulebel Industrial Estate has been Toly’s home since the very beginning and we are excited and feeling optimistic for the next 50 years and beyond.