3 - 9 May 2001

East (and West) of Eden

Public perception seems to imply that the Eden Leisure Group’s Ian and Kevin De Cesare possess the mythical Midas touch. Whatever tactile powers the two brothers might have, however, they are definitely no strangers to the notion of success. This week Kevin Drake decides to double the stakes, while probing both IAN and KEVIN DE CESARE for vital clues related to what, in a nutshell, makes them successful.

All right, gentlemen. Some background information if you please.
Ian: Well, I’m nine years older than him, so he’s got nine years catching up to do.
Kevin: Eight and a half actually.
Ian: You can’t really tell that there’s an age difference though can you? (Smiles) I’m 50 years old (so Kevin’s 41) and we both had the same sort of preparatory background in that we’d both attended hotel management courses right after school. At the time our parents owned a hotel in Sliema, the Eden Rock. From 1967 – 1969 I followed the Hotel Management course at the MCAST polytechnic and after that I spent 18 months in London working in various hotels owned by Trusthouse Forte. Upon my return to Malta, at 21, I was given the exalted title of assistant manager at the family hotel!

So you kicked-off your career with the ‘family’?
Ian: It was very strange how the family business came along. You probably know that my father (Dr Maurice De Cesare ) was a paediatrician who also had a very varied career. He was a doctor, a politician, an international footballer, President of the MFA, a member of the old NTOM, President of Sliema Wanderers. At the latter part of his life he gave everything up for the hotel business, something he enjoyed tremendously. What started off as a small, part-time, bed and breakfast establishment ended up becoming his whole life. It suited me just fine. I was just leaving school, I didn’t really want to become a doctor – I don’t like blood very much – and I thought: ‘Well, yes. This is definitely a cushy number!’ Little did I know (Laughs). Kevin at the time was still at school, but when he did join up with me nine years later everything was settled, everything was working well. Kevin came along and started wanting evening off, afternoons off to play basketball, waterpolo. I said ‘Bugger this – You’re going to start working split shifts’. (Laughs)

So Kevin, you went through the Hotel Management course as well?
Kevin: Yes I did, at the Polytechnic. The difference was, though, that when Ian came to work in the family hotel he started off as assistant manager. It was a small hotel, so when I started to work there the only title that left for me was ‘Waiter’! As part of my training (and to learn German) I’d already spent three months waiting tables at the Hilton in Germany.
Ian: Well, if we’re going to start talking about how hard it all was; I worked as a cook in Brighton!
Kevin: Since Ian was already assistant manager I became assistant to the assistant manager (laughs). It was tough for me because I was very much into playing waterpolo at the time and the shifts I was working played havoc with training schedules, games and so on.

Did you get into the family business by default?
Kevin: I always considered myself to be an average student at school. But, perhaps, to compensate for not being academically brilliant, I think I have a lot of common sense – something which is still sorely lacking in so many people. When I left school, moving into the family business seemed like the most logical thing to do.
Ian: For me, it was just a case of the family business being ‘there’. It was there and I felt it was my responsibility to go for it and do whatever I could to the best of my abilities.
Kevin: Fortunately for me, in 1974-75 we expanded the family business. The Eden Rock hotel would have been much too small for my father, my brother and me to work in. The family had a bungalow in St George’s bay which my father turned into a small 27-roomed apart-hotel christened The Eden Beach. In the summer holidays I would be ‘asked nicely’ (Laughs) to work in the hotel bars. So I suppose that was a good indication of where I was to end up.

Was your father such an influential man in your lives?
Ian: Yes. Both my father and my mother. They were and are very influential in various ways. They had different strengths. Kevin and I have been fortunate enough to inherit many of their strengths. We carry some of their weaknesses and a lot of our own too, but on the balance I think we’ve been able to assimilate many of their best characteristics.

What were the best characteristics you inherited from your father?
Ian: I always admired him because he always succeeded well in what-ever he set out to do. He went into politics and was elected an MP. In football, I am told, he was one of the best left-wingers that Malta ever had. He was always at the forefront. He was the first person to write a book on childhood illnesses in Maltese (L-omm u t-tarbija).
Kevin: He liked his small comforts though and he greatly disliked people phoning him up at all hours of the day. On the other hand he worked seven days a week, even on Christmas day. I think that work was therapy for him. Notwithstanding his many involvements in different areas I still think of my father as ‘It-Tabib’ (‘the doctor’) though. And I think that’s how many people still refer to him.
Ian: I spent a lot of time with him in the business so my memories of my father are mostly related to him in the hotel business. I mentioned that my mother was very influential too. Her business-family background gave her a particular astuteness. I’m sure that we picked up something there too.

At what point did you ‘take over’ the
business?
Ian: We didn’t really take over as such. In 1979 I’d been working for nine years as my father’s assistant. At that point my younger brother came into the business, I suppose as my assistant.
Kevin: By that time I wasn’t so much his assistant as his competitor!
Ian: Anyhow. I felt that we needed to spread our wings. I wanted to move over to St George’s bay, to the little hotel that we had. I tried to persuade my father to buy some land over here. At that time my father was 61 years old. He told me quite plainly that he didn’t owe money to anyone and that he didn’t really relish the idea of going through the process of loans and building development all over again. Apart from his accompanying me to the bank to sign a guarantee, I was pretty much left to my own devices. At any rate, the property that we bought around the existing hotel allowed us to develop and build the New Eden Beach hotel with 125 rooms.

Was this then the turning point?
Ian: I left the Eden Rock and began supervising all the works being carried out here. At that time we did most of the interior-designing work ourselves: Sketching, measuring, making detailed diagrams, choosing curtains! What did I know about curtains? Kevin came along too. It took me nine years to break away and here was my brother, at 20 years old, wanting to ‘do his own thing’ and open a disco!
Kevin: I was very determined to open Styx disco. It was a great experience for me, and a very successful one too. It made a huge hit almost immediately. We’d open at 9pm and at 9.30pm it was packed to capacity. It was very tough-going though.
Ian: It was amazing how he managed to pull it off. A 20-year old with this huge success on his hands. Thanks to the success of Styx, Kevin was able to finance the further development of the hotel. Don’t get me wrong, he was having a whale of a time! But it was dangerous too.
Kevin: All the ‘less appetising’ elements of society would be there on most nights. It was extremely hard-going keeping the peace and ensuring that everything ran as smoothly as possible. That was a period in my life that toughened me up considerably.

How different are you as individuals? In a professional context?
Ian: For 10 years our work-habits were diametrically opposed. I’d be the one working in the office whereas Kevin didn’t even have an office. He’d be out and about, on site, at the Disco; wherever his presence was needed. Kevin’s public profile was more prominent too. For years he’d be at the Disco every night, meeting people, being seen. That and his sports involvement made Kevin a very familiar ‘face’.
Kevin: Ian was already married and with a family at the time. He was married at 22. I married at 29. Our lifestyles were very different.
Ian: Our roles have changed drastically though. Kevin is much more office-bound and IT-based nowadays.

Kevin, are you more mature, mellower now?
Kevin: In truth, I had a much better life 10 years ago than I do now. The pressure is phenomenal. Today I almost consider it normal to be working seven-day weeks. I don’t mind that either as long as it’s not a nine-to-five routine. I think that today Ian would in fact find it hard to accept a seven-day week arrangement.

What do you have in common?.
Kevin: It’s a family ‘thing’. We’re a very close family. My greatest worry is that my children and Ian’s won’t be as close-knit as we are. We argue all the time but our arguments are very short-lived. One well-placed word normally puts things to right immediately. That can only happen when you’re very close to someone.
Ian: For a long time we weren’t ‘socially’ close at all because of the age difference. Its only in the past 10 years that we’ve bridged that gap. But in everything else we are extremely close, closer than most. I don’t think I fight and argue with anyone else the way I do with Kevin. But that is purely on the surface. We both have very strong opinions and although we both give the impression that we strongly disagree with what the other is saying, in fact we’re both listening intently to what the other has to say. We’ve never had to take a vote to reach a decision.
Kevin: It’s also because there’d be a one-one tie! (laughs)
Ian: Normally, whoever feels most strongly about something, wins through. I guess one of us always manages to concede graciously (smiles).
Kevin: Our way of thinking and attitudes differ immensely. We’re very close but very different. Take trips abroad or holidays for example. He’ll go to the North Pole and I want to go somewhere close enough to come home the next day if necessary. If we go to Africa I want to come back the next day. If it’s Australia I want to return as soon as possible.
Ian: That’s the standard joke here. Our last trip together was to Helsinki for just 36 hours. Would you believe that he tried doing everything possible to return home earlier? (Laughs)
Kevin: I’m comfortable living here. I like the daily routine. One of the things that I dislike about going abroad is that it interferes with routines, it creates confusion.
Ian: Although one doesn’t get that impression, Kevin is very conservative. When it comes to eco-consciousness or paying attention to little mundane matters, it’s my task to point things out to him. On the other hand he’s the ‘religious’ one who’ll cross himself twice on an aeroplane: once for himself and once for me.
Kevin: (Smiles) I flare up much quicker than Ian does though. I’m much more volatile.
Ian: Unfortunately he barks and growls extremely loudly at times. He’s never bitten me though. (laughs). He bites other people but not me.
Kevin, how do you see yourself today?
Kevin: I’ve changed a great deal. Maybe it’s to do with getting older. Endless nights out with other people don’t appeal to me so much any more. I’m much happier going home nowadays.

Do you see yourself as having become domesticated?
Kevin: No I don’t.
Ian : Come off it! Of course you are. (grins)
Kevin: What I mean to say is that I don’t mind spending many hours at work. Staying here till 8pm or 9pm is not a problem for me. Ian, on the other hand, gets the heebie-jeebies if he needs to stay on later than 6pm! That’s what I meant.
Ian: Yes, but spending more and more hours at work is becoming a bit of an obsession with you now.
Kevin: Well, true, maybe you’re right.

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Continued from page 6

Ian, have you changed a lot?
Ian: Well you remember Kevin saying that he used to work for me in his teens? Well today I feel that I’m working for him, what with all these projects underway. (Smiles) My life was really well-organised till about five or six years ago. I knew that I could go on three or four-week nature trips if I wanted to. But now...?

Who’s the driving force behind the Eden Leisure Group?
Ian: Hmmm, today Kevin is the one who wants to do new ‘things’. He’s the one who wants to embark upon new projects. There are many things that I want to do but not necessarily the same things again and again.

So you’re opting for a back seat?
Ian: I wouldn’t say that, no. There are many things that I’d still like to do, things that are unrelated to work. I enjoy travelling a lot and I’d like to see more of the world. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to carry on working. I just don’t want to feel that I need to be tied down that way every day. Having my children working here now will definitely help in that regard. It means that there’s someone else here looking after our interests in the way we do.

Are your attitudes and outlooks one and the same at work and at home? Kevin, are you ‘conservative’ at work?
Kevin: No. I don’t think so.
Ian: I think it’s the other way round when it comes to work. We switch roles then. I look after the financial side and Kevin gets the thing done. I would do most of the contracting and the negotiations.
Kevin: He negotiates 10 times better than I do.
Ian: And he gets it done. As long as he wants something badly enough, it’ll get done.

Kevin, are you impulsive?
Kevin: Yes.
Ian: I sometimes think that we’re very lucky to have each other. We’re so different but we feed off each other. Kevin’s impulsiveness without my restraint might well have gotten him into trouble in the past. My instinctive sense of caution, of restraint, without his impulsiveness, might have kept me at the Eden Rock forever.
Kevin: We compliment each other very well. But it’s tough, it’s tiring. Our different characters would sometimes bring about epic disagreements. The good thing about being so busy these days is that we can’t afford to upset each other for too long a time! (Laughs).
Ian: The fact of the matter is, however, that the company has been successful precisely because of our characters, differences and all.
Kevin: We can have fun together too. I go on holiday with him and I do enjoy myself. I select which sort of holidays very carefully, though. I won’t go up Kilimanjaro with him or to the North Pole. I won’t go to Lapland and spend five days on a sledge being pulled around by dogs! (laughs).
Ian: And I won’t take him everywhere with me either. All he’ll want to do is talk about business all the time.

Is any one of you a workaholic?
Kevin: I can go away and ‘switch off’ up to a point. But I’ll phone up two or three times a day to see what’s happening here at work. Ian won’t. It’s amazing how he can switch off so completely.
Ian: I’ll switch the phone off and I’m very annoyed if someone does manage to call. This is not something recent but it dates back to when I was in my 20s. I’d justify this by saying: ‘Look. I work extremely hard when I’m at the office so I do need time to recharge. I’d tell my staff only to ring me up if the hotel was burning down. I wouldn’t want anyone to call me if something bad had happened and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.
Kevin: (Laughing) One time I was going back home from Stownes (disco) at 4am, passing by the Marina because it was a very stormy night. I noticed that our boat was in danger of sinking so I decided to phone up Ian. In that panic and confusion my first words to him nonetheless were: ‘Sorry for disturbing you.’ (More laughs). After telling me very brusquely to deal with the situation myself, I still had to get him out of bed when the boat was really about to go under.

Ian, do you see yourself then as being more practical?
Ian: Kevin would come up with a number of thoughts and ideas that he’d throw at me constantly. He’d then leave, expecting them to be done. But someone has to shuffle and organise these thoughts and ideas. Nowadays I’m trying to get him to take action and follow these ideas through.
Kevin: Ian would feel that it was unfair for me to come up with the ideas and then just pass them on. Now it’s somewhat different. We have a much bigger and better logistical back-up.

When people talk about you, the word ‘empire’ is sometimes used.
Ian: I hear that word used a lot and I ask myself whether that is reality or just people’s perception? To be honest, it’s a description that annoys me. It jars. Do you really walk down the street thinking ‘This is my empire’?
Kevin: Anyone who’s been running the same small business, bar or restaurant, for some 20 years and looks at what we’ve managed to build in this same time, that is exactly the perception that forms in their head. Its not reality, it just a perception. We’re just running a business that’s all.

Is there much jealousy directed against you?
Kevin: It’s human nature. Then again, I’m sure that there’s a bit of both: jealousy and respect. Some individuals respect you, others are jealous of you. There’s mixed reactions whatever you do.
Ian: But on the other hand many people do stop you and pat you on the back, telling you that you’ve done a good job. And they’re sincere. It’s a wonderful thing to be complimented by a perfect stranger for a job well done.

Do you intend to expand the business further?
Ian: (Laughs) It’s not the best time to ask us that question. Our current project has been so time-consuming, so tiring. It’s been exhausting. Off the cuff, my immediate response would be: No! You’d better ask us that question again in a year or so.

Is there room for further expansion in Malta?
Ian: We’ve never had any interest in expanding our operations overseas. I don’t think that we ever will, either. Having said that, I do think that every area has reached saturation point in Malta. Everything. In order to develop and expand you need to present something which is really special and unique. You need to find a niche and develop it. Unfortunately in Malta we also have an added disadvantage in that too many people lack imagination. If someone comes up with a good idea, sure enough, somebody else copies that idea, rather than come up with a new initiative. There’s too much blatant plagiarism going on. Ultimately, this harms everyone.
Kevin: As a rule people just don’t believe in market research. Many people will prefer to copy an idea because it’s been successful for somebody else, rather than research the market properly and act accordingly.

You’ve managed to be successful in most everything you’ve undertaken. In obtaining success, what gives you the most satisfaction?
Kevin: For me it’s simply the satisfaction that comes about from getting things done, coupled with the success that a project might obtain. It’s not a money-related kind of satisfaction. It’s the combined thrill of completing a project and ensuring that it obtains success. Looking back, I’d have to say that the two ‘projects’ that have given me the most pleasure and satisfaction were the disco and the cinemas.
Ian: Finishing a project and seeing it work gives you immense satisfaction, you can’t possibly disagree with that. On a different level, this kind of work has also made me acquire a very marked taste for travel. That’s my ‘other’ life. Not cities, which I avoid. I like to ‘get away’, to be at one with nature, to distance myself from phones. Unlike Kevin who’s obsessed with his mobile! (Smiles)

How important is it to be ambitious?
Ian: I wouldn’t call myself ambitious, but I like to succeed. I would be terribly upset if I
didn’t succeed. If that is ambition then I’m very ambitious.
Kevin: I’m probably more ambitious than Ian. Although I sometimes say that ‘this will be the last major project that I’ll be involved in’, if that project were up and running and successful for a couple of years, I think that I would seriously consider going on to something else. I think it’s in my character. I enjoy the challenges.

What is tomorrow going to bring, growth or consolidation?
Kevin: At this point in time I’d say ‘consolidation’ for sure. In Malta today no
market is safe, nothing is guaranteed. Back to what we said before, there’s an over-
saturation everywhere. Something has got to give. Our culture is changing too. We’ve been too spoilt, too molly-coddled. Till recently everybody felt safe to borrow and spend in a carefree manner, safe in the knowledge that if things went wrong someone, somewhere would make good for you. That culture is changing and when it does Malta will be a better place. But until it does change there will be a lot of ‘growing-pains’ and culture-shocks to contend with.
Ian: For the past 15 years I’ve been saying that ‘after this particular project’ (whatever it may be) I’ll be retiring. (smiles). It’s a good thing that I don’t always remember the way I was feeling at the time.

What drives you most, what motivates you most?
Ian: With me it’s a sense of responsib-ility. It’s my job to do what I do, and I have to do it the best way possible. I’ve also tried to impart this sense of responsibility to my children: be the best that you can be, and nobody can ask you for more. You have to learn how to accept limitations – something that can be very tiring and frustrating.
Kevin: Success is what drives me, what motivates me. I want to win. I admit to this freely without feeling any need to apologise for it. I don’t play for fun, I play to win, to succeed. I go to great pains to avoid failure and whatever needs to be done to ensure success I’ll do it.

What is the secret of success?
Ian: There’s no one particular thing. First and foremost you have to have common sense.
Kevin: You’d be surprised at how many people don’t have common sense. This is what frustrates us most. I can’t understand how some people manage to take decisions that are so obviously destined to fail.
Ian: Success cannot come about just by applying common sense either. You have to have the driving force, the motivation. You need to want to succeed and you have to be able to work hard. Few people don’t work hard and still succeed. You’ll find the odd ‘lucky’ individuals, but very few. A one-off success could be attributed to luck. But how do you explain sustained success or failure in terms of luck? Could you possibly be always lucky? Always unlucky?
Kevin: When the disco was very successful I would, superstitiously, say that it was luck. Thinking about it though, I’d try to see where luck fitted into the equation. Nowhere really. If I have any talent that I’m proud of, it might be my ability to gauge consequences, to see things two or three steps ahead. That has helped me a lot in my life, in my career. That and a lot of hard work. Willing yourself to do whatever is necessary, whenever it is necessary.

Are you happy with what you’ve achieved? Is that ‘it’?
Ian: There’s always room for improvement. We can definitely improve standards, they’re never high enough. Too many people are ready and willing to rest on their laurels. In this country we accept mediocrity too readily, much too easily.
Kevin: Its unbelievable. Some people have turned mediocrity into an art form. And you can put that on the record!