Linda Alexander joined International Franchises Ltd in April, taking on the role of Ladies Buyer.

She moved to Spain with her family six years ago and wanted to get back into the retail trade after spending time at home with her two children. She joined River Island in the UK as an Admin Assistant. Linda worked her way up through the ranks with companies like Top Shop and Etam. Her last position before she left the UK was Senior Merchandiser/Product Manager for Miss Selfridge. Linda loves being back in the business and is looking forward to many happy years at IFL.

Mark Isola, a senior lawyer in the local profession with over 20 years’ experience joins ISOLA’S commercial team to add to the depth and breadth of litigation experience at Gibraltar’s longest established law firm.

Called to the Bar in 1985 Mark specialises in employment, landlord and tenant, personal injury and general insurance work, coupled with a general local practice involving civil and commercial litigation. The growing importance and inter-relationship at work of employment and health and safety legislation, coupled with the rise in employment-related personal injuries claims, has allowed Mark to have an in-depth appreciation and perspective of daily issues affecting businesses in general and to provide comprehensive and practical advice on the multiplicity of issues affecting local businesses on a daily basis. A Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal and Member of the Law Reform Committee, Isolas is proud to welcome Mark to its growing team of specialist lawyers, continuing to offer our local and international clients the full range of expert legal advice.

A team of employees from Ibex Insurance Services Ltd completed the Media Maratón de Málaga on Sunday, raising £791 for charity in the process.

The team of 8 completed the 21k circuit around the city of Malaga, with 6 completing it within the 2.30 hour time frame. The majority of the team have only just taken up running in a bid to get fit after the Christmas blow out making this a first for many and a fantastic achievement for all involved! The team completed the run in aid of Oxfam, a charity dedicated to fighting poverty.

“A number of us at Ibex had promised to get fit this year for our New Year resolutions, and we thought we’d all do better if we actually had something to aim for. As with any fitness regime we’ve all fallen off the wagon at some point so it was a great challenge! There were a few aching legs in the office on Monday, but it was well worth it, especially as we managed to raise money for a good cause in the process!” said Rachael Collier of Ibex.

Despite aching muscles, this has not put them off and they are already looking for another run to enter later this year. You can still sponsor the team at: www.justgiving.com/ibex  with all donations going towards Oxfam.

Following the launch of the Future Leaders in Philanthropy Project last month, the twenty selected participants enjoyed a Welcome Reception and Project Briefing last night in the offices of Credit Suisse.
During the reception, Moe Cohen of The Bonita Trust provided an overview of what was expected of the participants in their Charity Research Project, and Alan Sene of Credit Suisse explained how the virtual investment portfolio would work, and introduced the mentors for the FLIP project.

Once the formal proceedings were over, the participants enjoyed drinks and canapés, and received their Welcome Packs and a Welcome Gift to congratulate them on their selection – an IPOD Nano. Each participant will now be invited to choose a local charity to receive a £250 donation, and will each receive £500 into their personal investment, which will run for the 3-year project.

The students’ first individual assignment will involve them researching the management, operations and fundraising activities of a locally-based charity and comparing and contrasting them to those of a similar international charity, with a view to suggesting areas where they could learn from each other. This is due to be completed by the end of July of this year.

Moe Cohen encouraged the local charities to assist the students as much as possible, for their benefit and that of the community at large.

The first year will also see the launch of the virtual charity investment portfolios, where students will be divided up into groups and will have to decide how and where to invest their virtual funds, with support and guidance from their Credit Suisse mentors. They will learn about various investment vehicles along the way, and will be in competition with the other groups to see who can manage their money most successfully.
Ros Astengo, the FLIP Project Manager, together with Credit Suisse and The Bonita Trust would like to take this opportunity to thank all the students who applied for the project, those who attended the interviews, the schools and the Department of Education.

Marrache & Co. is very pleased to announce the induction of Nicholas Piñero into the Membership of the prestigious Association of Taxation Technicians (the ATT). Nicholas is an associate of Marrache & Co., working within the Firm’s Tax Department.

The ATT was established on 30th August 1989, its creation recognising the increasing demand for tax services the globalising world market was exerting on the UK’s professional community, as well as the need to develop general tax practice as a professional activity in its own right. The Association now has over 9,000 members and has become the leading professional body for those providing tax services and related activities.

Nicholas has been working at Marrache & Co. for over four years; his commitment to providing the highest quality, most trustworthy advice, as has come to be expected from Marrache & Co.’s professionals, prompted Managing Partner, Benjamin Marrache, to enrol the young practitioner on the ATT’s professional examination course. The examinations are notoriously demanding, both intellectually and in terms of the amount of study-time required. The depth of knowledge demanded by these examinations is unusual in a professional exam at this level but ensures that all successful candidates are extremely well grounded in the intricacies of the UK tax regime and ready to tackle the most complex issues as from graduation day.
The essential UK and European tax knowledge Nicholas has obtained in his studies will prove invaluable to Marrache & Co.’s clients wishing to structure their tax affairs in Gibraltar. Marrache & Co. wishes him well in his burgeoning career in tax advice, once again underlining their seriousness in providing their clients with the services of quality, well-trained professionals.