BTC head Mermal honoured for lifetime achievement
Ljubljana, 30 January - Jože Mermal, the chairman of the operator of Ljubljana's shopping and logistics hub BTC City, is to receive today the lifetime achievement award in the filed of management, which is conferred each year by the Manager Association.
Ljubljana
BTC City's chairman Jože Mermal.
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
The association wrote that Mermal, who took over as chairman in 1993, had been involved with BTC for 42 years, helping transform a degraded location that featured public warehouses into one of the biggest business, shopping, leisure, culture, and innovation centres in Central Europe, which records 21 million visitors a year.
Under Mermal net sales revenue has increased 3.5-fold to EUR 71 million and the workforce expanded by 80% to over 500. Business premises spanning across 200,000 square metres were renovated and 150,000 square metres were added in what was EUR 269 million worth of investment by BTC and EUR 184 million by partners.
Mermal, who will be handed the award at a ceremony that will also reveal the winner of the 2019 award for best young manager, is the recipient of a number of honours. He was for instance declared the top manager in SE Europe in 2016 and the Slovenian manager of the year in 1997.