Marianne

Earth Hour is on Saturday 25th of March at 8.30 pm.  Earth Hour is a global movement that seeks to raise awareness about issues such as climate change that affect lifestyles and work-practices. The event is held annually encouraging community, governments and businesses to turn off non-essential lights for an hour as a symbolic action to demonstrate commitment to a safer and healthier planet. Over the years it has seen the Pyramids, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Majal, the Colosseum, Table Mountain and other key landmarks switch off their lights in support.

As we count down towards Earth Hour, the Gibraltar Small Business Federation (GFSB) is partnering with Prof Daniella Tilbury, to launch a 12-month series of initiatives that support the transition of Gibraltar business towards sustainability. These include; sector specific training workshops on sustainability; events involving international speakers and business strategists; podcasts and social media coverage to share examples of best practice from our membership; a Morocco-Gibraltar Business event amongst other initiatives still in development.

Prof. Daniella Tilbury, formed part of the WWF Australia Board and team that had established the movement in Sydney in 2007. Since then, Earth Hour has become the world’s largest grassroots effort for the environment, engaging millions of people across more than 190 countries and territories. You can learn more about the initiative at  https://www.earthhour.org/ . Previous years has seen Gibraltar engage community groups, education and government stakeholders pledging their commitment to this agenda. In 2023-24 the focus will be on the circular economy and business transition.

The initiative will be launched 25th March 2023 with more details following shortly after about the sustainability initiative which will unfold over the next 12 months.   

The GFSB Women In Enterprise group hosted a successful breakfast workshop at the Garrison
Library to mark International Women’s Day 2023. The event reflected the themes being
explored by many women and supportive men, across the Rock IWD once again gave the
opportunity to focus on the need for greater diversity, inclusion and dialogue surrounding
balance between the genders.
Opening the event, Minister Sacramento reminded those gathered that IWD has a long history
in Gibraltar and will continue to be marked until the balance between genders is visibly
addressed. Fiona Young then addressed the audience from a historical context, reminding
those gathered that human survival as a species depends on better allocation of tasks and
division of labour based on skill, ability and circumstance -rather than on contrived assumptions
about Gender. Stewart Harrison then inspired the audience with his explanation of the role he
has had in normalising gender harmony in cyber-space world, creating a new generation of
diverse coders, programmers and computer scientists. Rebecca Jackson then assisted the
participants to divide into small groups to experience the Lean-in methodology first hand. Giving
each other insights into questions such as “what would you do with an extra hour?” “what one
word would your friend use to describe you?” and “what advice would you give to your younger
self?”- helped the participants explore together their personal needs, approaches and
experiences in a way framed to build empathy, connection and understanding.
Michaela Rees and His Worship the Mayor then closed the event with heartfelt pleas to those
gathered to encourage others to join in the dialogue about diversity. His Worship the Mayor
identified that he was “preaching to the choir” referencing the almost exclusively female
audience. It was recognized that until the outstanding matters are discussed between the
genders and a diverse range of people actively engage together on addressing these matters,
the movement towards diversity will remain extremely slow, which holds the whole of the
community back.
The general conclusion was that there needs to be far greater opportunity for men and women
to work side by side tackling stereotypes, sharing domestic tasks and identifying and utilizing a
person’s key strengths -regardless of gender. While it is clear there is much more to be done
and a much wider audience to reach before hopes for change can become a reality, the event
cemented the understanding that an excellent starting point is honest discourse and connection
between colleagues and peers, both men and women. The GFSB and WIE will be providing
more information on how to receive training to create Lean in Circles in their workplace.
Anyone wanting more information about this, or becoming a member of the GFSB Women in

Enterprise, please email Georgie at gfsb@gfsb.gi

PRESS RELEASE

Gibraltar Business Podcast returns with Emma Jones, CBE
The highly anticipated fourth season of the Gibraltar Business Podcast by the GFSB returns on March 21st,
featuring an exclusive interview with Emma Jones, CBE. The podcast series is hosted by local
communications and marketing professional David Revagliatte and aims to provide insightful discussions on
the local business landscape and economic trends.
In the first episode of the season, listeners will have the opportunity to hear from Emma Jones, a respected
entrepreneur and founder of Enterprise Nation, the UK's largest community of small businesses. During her
recent visit to Gibraltar, Emma shared her thoughts on the local business environment and her insights on the
challenges faced by small businesses in today's economy.
"Emma Jones is a highly respected figure in the business world, and we are thrilled to have her as our first
guest for the fourth season. Emma is also the first international guest on the show," said David Revagliatte, the
podcast host. "Her expertise and experience in supporting small businesses will provide invaluable insights for
our listeners. We are excited to kick off the new season with such a fantastic interview."
Throughout the season, David will interview various guests, including local business owners, entrepreneurs,
and industry leaders. Listeners can expect to hear in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics, from
innovation and technology to marketing and strategy.
The Gibraltar Business Podcast is brought to you by the GFSB and is sponsored by Gibraltar International
Bank. Listeners can tune in to the podcast on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
and Google Podcasts.

For more information on the Gibraltar Business Podcast and upcoming episodes, visit the website at
https://gibraltarbusinesspodcast.buzzsprout.com
Contact:
David Revagliatte, Host
Gibraltar Business Podcast
Email: david@motion-gi.com
Phone: +350 54059479
Website: https://gibraltarbusinesspodcast.buzzsprout.com

The GFSB, following the AGM on the 15th March has a new Chairperson Mr. Owen Smith of TSN Barristers and Solicitors/ Word of Mouth.  This follows on from the recent AGM and the sad retirement from the Chair and the GFSB Board of Mr. Julian Byrne.  

Mr. Bryne held the position of Chairperson for approximately 7 years and has left a legacy behind he can be very proud of including the Business Innovation Awards which have seen year-on-year growth in applications, the strengthening connections with the European Small Business Alliance (ESBA) the Intouch magazine and the joining with Women In Business (WIB) which was rebranded as Women In Enterprise (WIE) to name a few.

For the first time in GFSB history, the position for Chairperson was contested with two nominees for the post; Mr. Owen Smith and Mr. Blythe Reeves.

Following their formal approval as nominees by the board on 8th March, and a week of campaigning, both Mr. Smith and Mr. Reeves, delivered a short pitch to the AGM on 15 March 2023 allowing the GFSB members present an insight as to how the GFSB would look and function under their supervision.

The counting of the votes was overseen by an impartial witness, Neil Rumford of EY,  and it was announced that Mr. Owen Smith had been voted in as Chairperson with 90 votes to Mr. Reeve’s 35.

Mr. Smith thanked the members present for attending and their participation in the AGM process, the GFSB Board for their support and Julian Byrne for his 7 years of dedication to the GFSB. He reiterated that he hoped  to bring his professional and GFSB experience to the role of Chairperson, and focus on the three areas in the first year;

Advocacy for and representation of members interests,  further provision of training & Information services, and enhancing of networking opportunities.

The GFSB would like to thank all members for their continued support and it is with great pleasure we can announce the full GFSB Board.

Chairperson:  Owen Smith

Vice Chair:     Daniel Delgado

Treasurer:      Neville Dalmedo

Secretary:      Janet Brear

Blythe Reeve

Eran Shay

Ramesh Karnani

Carmel Khalilian

Henry Bautista

Brian Ross

Guy Povedano

Michaela Rees

Co – opted Board Members:

Steven Marin

Rebecca Jackson

———————————————————————————————————————–

Press release ends

Source YGTV

The COVID-19 Strategic Coordinating Group, on the advice of the Director of Public Health, has recommended that the legal requirement to self-isolate when testing positive for COVID-19 be removed.

Therefore, with effect from Friday 17th March 2023, those who test positive for COVID-19 will be under no legal requirement to self-isolate. However, the advice of the Director of Public Health remains to stay at home for 5 days until tests return negative, up to a maximum of 10 days. Limit interactions with others, especially with those who are immunosuppressed and vulnerable members of our community.

A statement from the Government follows below:

Those who test positive for COVID-19 must not attend any GHA site or visit any ERS or Care Agency premises until 5 days after the initial positive test and further tests return negative. This includes attending appointments and screening tests aswell as visiting family and friends.Members of staff working at the GHA, ERS or Care Agency who test positive, must continue to contact line managers for advice regarding returning to work.

Testing requirements for entry into Gibraltar from China, Macao and Hong Kong will also lapse on Friday 17th March 2023 and no persons will be required to test for COVID-19 when entering Gibraltar.

The Director of Public Health, Dr Helen Carter, said: “I am satisfied that it is the correct time to introduce these changes to self-isolations rules as the COVID-19 infections in our community are mostly causing mild disease and immunity is high because of our successful vaccine programme. Although it will not be a legal requirement to self-isolate when testing positive for COVID-19, my strong advice still remains that people should self-isolate if possible for 5 days and limit social interactions as not doing so could still affect vulnerable and immunosuppressed members of our community.

“The changes to entry requirements into Gibraltar also come at a good time as there are currently no new variants of concern globally that could cause a fast spike to cases locally. However, we will continue to closely monitor these trends and reintroduce regulations if necessary”.

The GFSB will be holding its Annual General Meeting at GFSB House, 122 Irish Town, on Wednesday 15th March 2023 at 19:00 hrs.

Date: Wednesday 15th March 2023
Time: 7 pm
Venue: GFSB House, 122 Irish Town

The GFSB Board kindly requests that ALL members please make every effort to attend. If you can not make it please let us know so a Proxy vote can be arranged.

If you would like to nominate a GFSB member for the board please do so in writing to gfsb@gfsb.gi by no later than

Wednesday 8th March 2023.

Agenda

Welcome from the Chairman.

1. Apologies
2. Treasurer’s Report.
3. Chairperson’s Report.
4. Election of New Office Bearers and Board members.
5. AOB

New Chairperson speech & Closing of the meeting.

If you are able to attend, please let us know by email gfsb@gfsb.gi or call (+350) 200 47722.

Press Release: 2023 GFSB Business Innovation Awards.

The GFSB is delighted to announce that applications for the 2023 GFSB Business Innovation Award sponsored by Gibtelecom are now being taken. 

Recent winners have included DigiDemics, Crucial Compliance, EBike Gibraltar, Hempassion and Buytickets.gi who all demonstrated how businesses in Gibraltar are agile, forward thinking and superb at innovating to succeed. 

We are thrilled and proud to continue our partnership with Gibtelecom, the sponsors of this award since its inception. 

Gibtelecom will be giving the winner an incredible and generous prize of £2,000 worth of IT and communications equipment and in addition the GFSB are offering a year’s free advertising in the Intouch Magazine to further promote their winning business.  

We believe we will see just as many if not more pioneering businesses apply for the 2023 prestigious GFSB Business Innovation Awards.

We look forward to seeing what great concepts and innovations our members have come up with to drive their businesses forward, ensuring ongoing success, growth and stability.

The online application form can be found on our website at the following link GFSB Business Innovation Award Application – Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses 

All applications need to be submitted before Friday 31st March 2023. 

Best of luck.

Applicants must have all business licences up to date and produce them on application. Applicants must be fully paid GFSB Members. Applicants agree to be filmed for any purposes as part of their application, should it be required. The GFSB reserves the right to accept or deny applicants.

Following the Ministry of Equality’s press release on Friday the 20th of January regarding the enactment of sections 13 & 14 of the Disability Act, the GFSB is keen to promote the free presentation for businesses by the Ministry of Equality with Keynote Speaker Ian Streets from About Access UK.

The Disability Act 2017
The Bill for the Disability Act 2017 (Ange’s Law) Press Release 14th July 2017

The Ministry of Equality will be undertaking a series of awareness campaigns in order to help break down some barriers people with disabilities face on a daily basis.

This will include an open day event at the end of this month to allow people from the private sector to be better informed on their obligations, as well as learning how to best welcome people with disabilities into their premises.

The GFSB will be actively engaging with its members to offer support and guidance and to promote events relating to this enactment of sections 13 & 14 to ensure the message is distilled throughout the business community.

On the 16th of May 2022, The Chief Minister addressed parliament giving an update on the current state of the Brexit negotiations.  In respect of the continuing negotiations, and of particular interest to members, he stated;

“Gibraltar will continue to work constructively, together with the United Kingdom, to secure an international treaty based on the framework agreement concluded with Spain on 31 December 2020. That framework provided a delicate balance on a number of important issues. However, since the UK or Gibraltar would never accept an agreement which would sacrifice fundamentals or put Gibraltar’s future prosperity in jeopardy, we must also be ready to walk away, everything including the Transaction Tax is still on the negotiating table along with other measures such as land and air transport, the rights of cross border workers, the environment, financial support, and establishing a level playing field.”

The proposed negotiating directives put forward solutions to “remove physical checks and controls on persons and goods at the land border between Spain and Gibraltar while ensuring the integrity of the Schengen area and the Single Market”

The address in Parliament concluded with the following statement from the Chief Minister…
“On the morning of the 24th June 2016, our political world changed forever. We must understand that as we reach the final throes of this process. We must understand that Spain remains a member state of the EU and we are not. We must understand that things we had the right to do in Europe before we are now NOT entitled to. My obligation from then has been to steer a course to continued prosperity and to seek a path to future prosperity in an exclusively British Gibraltar. We have a plan for being outside the EU now and a plan for being outside the EU in four years’ time if needs be. Our better plan is the plan that sees us enter into arrangements with the EU so long as the circumstances for those arrangements are right and remain right. We are leaving no stone unturned to negotiate a safe, secure and positive agreement for Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU”.
“We will continue to work night and day, in good faith, to achieve that”.

Following the address in Parliament, the GFSB has been briefed by the Chief Minister on the current situation regarding the Brexit negotiations. The meeting was offered to the Board on the condition that the information shared was confidential. In order to continue working hard behind the scenes on behalf of our members to gather and distil this in the formation, the condition of confidentiality was accepted by the Board. As a result, and due to the sensitivity of the negotiations the details apart from those currently in the public domain cannot be shared at this point in time.
The GFSB is in contact with No. 6 and has requested, and will push to be included, in all future updates in order to and when appropriate, communicate effectively to its members the outcome and to assert pressure on Government to negotiate an agreement that secures the interests of our members.

The GFSB has issued a press release but wished to update our members directly.

In 2020 when the new legislation was first brought to the attention of the GFSB, the GFSB stated it was very concerned that although the spirit of the UK Act was being followed, much of it has been left out in the Gibraltar draft which made the process less consultative, without scope for negotiation, and it was heavily biased towards recognition of unions being imposed on workplaces with significant punitive measures for those who are unable to cooperate.

The GFSB strongly opposed an Act which increased the ability of unions to bring aggressive and adversarial demands to workplaces, with little provision for the employer’s rights from being appropriately addressed or supported throughout that process. In the case of small businesses, this approach would have been very damaging indeed.

The GFSB also highlighted that many small businesses had been catastrophically hit by Covid and the onset of Brexit limitations to market forces and client base.

The GFSB requested that the Government took into consideration the fact that many of Gibraltar’s small businesses are family-run businesses and would require as much support and protection to weather the current economic storm as their employees. In fact, felt it would be better to focus on improving employee and employer relations through dialogue and conciliation processes than placing further requirements such as enforced collective bargaining without correct independent support of the process.

If a mechanism to facilitate collective bargaining by unions in all workplaces was required, then it would request at the very least, the appropriate support structure and advisory body must also be established to ensure fair and justifiable implementation and application.

There is suitable and sufficient legislation already protecting the rights and welfare of employees in Gibraltar and the current Law exists to protect workers’ rights.

Employment (Trade Union Recognition) Regulations 2023
Please get in touch and let us know what you think: gfsb@gfsb.gi