There is an old saying that goes, “find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life.” For Ruben Vassallo, CEO of Vassallo Group Realty and the fourth of the Vassallo siblings, working in the family business doesn’t feel like work at all. “When you’re born into a family business, it never really feels like work,” he says, recalling his close bond with his father, Nazzareno, and how he continues to follow in his footsteps. “I don’t do anything without my father’s blessing.” Ten years younger than first-born Natalie and the youngest of the boys, Ruben was, and still is, “very close” to his father.

“I was always the kid running around with my father,” he smiles. Saturdays were special. Those were the days when his father would take him around construction sites. Those weekend excursions sparked a lifelong passion for the business. “It was fun and exciting. For me it was like play. Children use toy blocks, but my father was building real buildings. That’s where I got my love for this job,” he recalls. In the Vassallo household, work never really stopped. Even Sundays were spent around workmen helping on Nazzareno’s personal projects.

“I grew up running around their feet, ‘helping’ them. I knew all the workers and their families. That’s where the love for the job deepened.” That creativity and curiosity rubbed off on Ruben. “My father is very creative. He was always changing plans, sketching ideas on paper or walls; brainstorming.” Many of their best ideas still come on quiet weekends, driving around sites and discussing new projects over coffee. “I’m the architect; my father’s the businessman. The real feeling of a project is formed in those quiet moments.”


For Ruben, the Group has always been about “creativity, dreams, and ideas”. “At heart, we dream and we create,” he says. “Every project must be completed in time, and at the right time”; another of his father’s lessons that still guides him today. Despite their different personalities, the Vassallo siblings share one defining family trait that runs through the Group’s DNA: respect for people. And it all comes with passion. “We always put our heart into whatever we do. We’re passionate people, and we’re passionate about our work.”


When Vassallo Group Realty (VGR) was founded, Ruben began his first presentation with a story that has become part of the family’s lore – a lesson his father learned from his grandfather: It’s better to have a room in a field than a million in the bank. The room is yours, but you will never own the bank.” That simple wisdom inspired the family’s enduring love for property and tangible value. VGR represents the culmination of 80 years of Vassallo Group experience, bringing together everything learned from construction, care, hospitality, and education to create spaces that are practical, timeless, and people-centred.


Now, after a successful eight-year run, the company is entering a new and “exciting” phase with two landmark projects next year that will reflect Malta’s identity and architectural heritage, while reinforcing the company’s ethos of quality over quantity. “Our future buildings will reflect more of who we are as a nation,” Ruben explains. Just as his father taught him, every VGR development is designed with the end user in mind, with a focus on high standards of execution, finishes, and maintenance. This philosophy has already shaped landmarks such as Casa Arkati in Mosta, which now stands as a lasting testament to thoughtful design and longevity.


Respect for heritage is another core family value. “We don’t just demolish and start over. Wherever possible, we preserve and restore. We upgrade old structures to meet today’s needs, while respecting their legacy,” Ruben says. Have we built enough? “Not enough,” he smiles, “but we need to be wise about our next steps. We don’t go for quantity but always for quality in our developments. That is what defines us.”

Describe the Group’s next decade in one word:
Exciting.

As a guardian of the Group’s 80-year legacy, what do you hope to leave behind?
 I’d like to be part of a strong group that continues to serve the country, for the good of the people; a group with a social conscience.