Gibtelecom has been awarded the ‘Recognised for Excellence’ accreditation from the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM), a first for a Gibraltar company.
Following an on-site assessment and evaluation by a team of EFQM assessors, which included interviews and focus groups with a wide cross-section of employees, the company was awarded four-star recognition under the EFQM scheme. The award, said a Gibtelecom spokesperson, “is a clear signal for our customers that the company uses the best, well-tested and universally recognised practices in the area of leadership, partnerships and business strategy. The assessors were particularly impressed with the company’s strong customer focus, financial performance and management of technology, as well as the empowerment of employees”.
Gibtelecom’s Chairman, the Hon. Joe Holliday, praised Gibtelecom for “being recognised as it moves forward on its journey of continuous improvement. The Company has always demonstrated its commitment to quality, excellence and improvement and this accreditation, breaking new ground for a local business, provides further evidence that Gibtelecom is a leading business in Gibraltar worthy of being benchmarked.”
The EFQM ‘Recognised for Excellence’ is a programme based on an external analysis of an organisation’s overall performance and achievements. The award provides evidence that an organisation is high performing, able to innovate and deliver top quality results. The EFQM model is applied widely throughout many industries such as manufacturing, electronics and financial services, as well as educational and government institutions. Previous ‘Recognised for Excellence’ recipients include Siemens AG, O2, T-Mobile, Citibank, EDF Energy and Bosch.
As part of the assessment, the EFQM team thoroughly scrutinised a submission document prepared by Gibtelecom employees, which evidenced Company processes and good practices. This was then supplemented by three days of assessment by three examiners from Belgium, Germany and the UK and involved nearly 50 members of staff across different grades, locations and departments – a third of Gibtelecom employees.
Tim Bristow, Gibtelecom’s CEO, commented: “this is a great result for the Company, and all its stakeholders including staff and customers. One of the key features of the EFQM is the development of people, with every employee having been involved in one
way or another in the processes and projects which have helped to cultivate a culture of quality and excellence within the Company”. He continued, “the award is a great way for Gibtelecom to celebrate its 20th birthday this month, for which the staff and locally based Board Directors assembled for a photograph in John Mackintosh Square last week”.
Gibtelecom joined the EFQM in 1994 during its time as Gibraltar Nynex Communications (GNC). The company attained the ‘Committed to Excellence’ status in 2004, after the bringing together of GNC and Gibtel into common ownership. Gibtelecom is also an ISO registered company, having been upgraded to the latest ISO 9001:2008 standard in April 2009.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Gibraltar has announced that the Gibraltar government signed a tax agreement with the Dutch government in April. Furthermore, PWC Gibraltar notes that following a recent development in the Dutch Dividend With-holding Tax Act 1965, dividend payments made to a Gibraltar parent company can now be paid without suffering withholding tax on distribution in the Netherlands.

Dividends and capital gains derived from Gibraltar-registered companies are tax exempt in the Netherlands as long as the qualifying subsidiary is intended not to be held as a mere portfolio investment.
Based on the Parent Subsidiary Regulations 2008, dividends and capital gains are not subject to taxation in Gibraltar subject to certain conditions and as a result no tax is withheld on outbound dividends.
Gibraltar does not levy withholding tax on interest where the interest payment itself is not subject to taxation in Gibraltar. In the Netherlands, no withholding tax on outbound interest is levied.

Local financial institution, Turicum Private Bank is this year sponsoring a Ferrari F430 in the Italian GT3 championship. Drivers Brian Lavio and Stefano Gatuso of the Kessel Racing team were victorious at the championships held at the Vallelunga circuit close to Rome.
Ben Moss of Turicum Private Bank who was at the meet said that “despite Brian (Lavio) being new to the GT3 championship – following on from his rallying career – he’s proving to be very quick, consistently recording fast lap times and ultimately keeping the car in front. We’re very happy with the result, and will remain keen supporters throughout the year keeping a close eye on Brian’s career”.
These races are fervently followed in Italy attracting close to one million television viewers, and being a Ferrari, the Turicum sponsored car is bound to meet the approval of the Tifosi!
Mario Fabbri, Chief Investment Officer of Turicum Private Bank, which is Italian in origin, said that “there are plenty of shared values between the Ferrari brand and Turicum; the first to come to mind are exclusivity and performance”. He added that “it’s also great to be part of something this spectacular, and to be able to spread the word about our beloved Gibraltar”. Although the season still has a long way to go with races at the famed circuits of Monza, Mugello and Imola, the Turicum car has had an excellent start and promising results; one to be watched by racing fans in Gibraltar!
Turicum Private Bank is a privately-owned bank and asset management company founded in Gibraltar in 1993. Its shareholders include lawyers, bankers, asset and fund managers. Turicum is the Latin name given to the city of Zurich by the Romans when they founded the city in 15 BC.

Many Gibraltar businesses suffered from a major power outage on 28th April following an incident in the vicinity of the dockyard. This had a knock-on effect on telecommunications including mobile and internet services. The impact on small/medium businesses was considerable with the retail sector particularly exposed on a day when there were two cruise ships in port.
However, many of the global businesses based in Gibraltar, in particular online gaming and financial services operators, benefited from having previously identified this type of risk with proper mitigation in their business resumption plans, as well as utilising premium services provided by specialist local suppliers.
Whether through their own facilities or services delivered – e.g. by external suppliers or landlords – big business in Gibraltar generally kept operating as normal. Offices in the Europort commercial complex were not affected by the power outage thanks to considerable investment in uninterruptable power supply and generators. Internet companies who rely on Gibraltar having resilient telecommunications were also mostly unaffected as, although Gibtelecom services went down (with damaged hardware delaying any chance of a quick resolution for some), Sapphire Networks’ customers were not disrupted.
Sapphire, who specialise in resilient services for this industry sector, were also able to quickly support customers requiring extra short-term capacity to cover for Gibtelecom’s problems with their recently-launched Event Bursting service. “Event Bursting was designed specifically to help betting companies with major sporting events as well as this type of disaster scenario” said Lawrence Isola, Sapphire’s Managing Director.

After eight years on Gibraltar’s party circuit, Casemates’ Lord Nelson has recently undergone a major makeover. Not only does the Bar Brasserie now have new decor, a new audiovisual system and a new menu, it also has a brand new management team – let’s introduce them.

Stuart & Gareth lead at the Lord Nelson

Gareth and Stuart, despite only being in their early 30s, bring a wealth of experience to the table. Both have been in key management roles for leading pub operators in the UK gaining a plethora of plaudits and qualifications. Their most successful venture was the Anchor in Bedford where they held the license for three years and did a roaring local trade in food and beverage. High standards of customer service come as second nature to both, particularly for Gareth who served dignitaries and royals as part of Concorde’s cabin crew, winning an Award for Excellence in the process.
Gareth comments, “Our vision for the Lord Nelson is to retain its fantastic atmosphere and reputation then increase food sales with our fresh looking menu, instil excellent standards throughout via continuous staff training and achieve targets set by our Directors. We’ll of course stay true to our ‘Live Music Venue of the Year’ reputation. In short, we hope that every guest who visits the Lordy goes on to spread the word about how good it was.”
The strictly over 18s venue which is the official home to Gibraltar Rugby Club is gearing up for a fantastically busy summer. Each Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Lord Nelson will have Live Music featuring both ‘home-grown’ and ‘imported’ talent. A new menu will include homemade pizzas, jacket potatoes, burritos, a selection of sizzlers, prime steaks and paninis all freshly prepared on the premises. Meanwhile, an extensive wine list, six draught beers and plenty of imported bottled varieties will keep every thirst quenched – and they’re still also offering tea or coffee for £1.20 with complimentary newspapers.
Gareth finishes, “Stuart and I are delighted that we made the move from the UK to Gibraltar. We’ve fallen in love with the Gibraltarian culture and relaxed way of life and can’t wait to continue the Lord Nelson’s reign as number one bar in Casemates”.
The pub’s Directors John and Andy Hunter have been part of the Gibraltar hospitality scene for 20 years and have five bars under their stewardship – Gibraltar Arms, The Star Bar, Lord Nelson, O’Reilly’s Irish Pub and the Britannia Bar within the Cruise Terminal.

Gibraltarian Dayle Rowbottom has joined NatWest’s Treasury and Investor Solutions team as Treasury Associate.

Educated locally and a former Gibraltar Scholar, Dayle obtained an honours degree in economics from the University of York. He also holds the Securities and Investment Institute Level 3 certificates in Securities and Derivatives as well as the ACI Dealing Certificate.
His banking career with the Group began in Jersey in 2008 where he joined the Treasury & Investors Solutions team. His most recent role was within the Corporate Risk Solutions team focusing on foreign exchange risk management for corporate clients.
Dayle has now returned to Gibraltar to take on a similar post with NatWest working directly with clients to understand their needs and create solutions to meet their underlying financial market requirements.
He is specialising in developing foreign exchange risk management strategies for corporate clients facing currency exposure. Dayle brings a wealth of experience with him from his time in Jersey where a high level of sophisticated treasury services are provided to a broad range of clients.
Dayle commented “I am delighted to be joining the Gibraltar business after my spell in Jersey. We are focussed on providing a high quality service to our clients in the areas of money markets, foreign exchange, interest rates and structured investment requirements. What makes the Bank’s approach stand out is its clear commitment to having a thorough understanding of its clients’ foreign exchange risk management needs and then investing time and effort in creating solutions tailored to those business needs”.
Welcoming Dayle back to Gibraltar and to the bank’s team, Gerald Rodriguez, Director, Corporate Treasury Solutions, commented:  “Dayle’s arrival will provide my team with much needed resources. His time in Jersey has provided him with invaluable experience and he will be able to use this to promote the FX hedging side of the business. In Gibraltar we live in a dual currency environment and therefore many of our businesses are exposed to currency fluctuations on a day-to-day basis. Dayle will focus on providing risk management solutions for clients facing this risk. I am sure he will be very successful in this role”.