Emigrating to Malta & running a business

Hi SteveandPaul,

Welcome to the forum!

I do not know much about how to open a business here in Malta, but I have found this Website which I hope will answer to your queries. It gives you a break down of the time and costs involved.

Hope it helps!

Cheerio,
Antonio

am sure you could probably do either - with the right property and permits etc etc etc.....

We are not sure of how we will actually go either renting  a shop and convert it  or rent an on going business / coffee shop

I think we will most probably opt to rent to see how we get on firstly ...

again if you convert it has to have the appropriate licensing / permit for what you wish it to be....and its not always straightforward so be wary. make sure you do your homework. before major outlay

There are many 'empty' catering properties to lease but if they are already licenced the owner expects you to pay a hefty goodwill loading over and above the rental - total nonsense because the previous tenants had failed and there is no goodwill!!
They do this because they know the expense involved in converting a non licenced place is very high - since Malta joined the EU all new catering licences have to conform to EU standards eg ramps for disabled customers, disabled toilets, correct ratio of kitchen size etc (as is expected in the UK) The existing licence holders did not have to upgrade their premises, so they are smiling! It is best to make a visit in person to a couple of commercial property agents who will give you the information about all this in finer detail. We researched this over a period of two years and found the outlay for conversion of old Maltese shops (unlicenced) to be prohibitive, unless you have very deep pockets or have a financial backer

As we are planning to operate just a coffee shop selling coffee / tea / soft drinks and cakes possibly sandwiches I believe we would need a class 6 premises I hope we would not require a licence

Are you on Inter nations ?

I think there are people there who have done it, so worth asking there