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Business
Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (GFSB)
With twenty-one years of experience the GFSB is set to face the biggest challenges of the modern world
Established in 1996, the GFSB’s main purpose is to provide support to local small businesses and to campaign for
the promotion and protection of Small & Medium-Enterprises (SMEs) in Gibraltar. Small businesses lie at the very heart of the juristiction’s economy. They vary in size from single, self-employed individuals to larger enterprises with healthy turnovers and a higher number of employees. It is through this multiplicity of SMEs that the wheels of Gibraltar’s economy turn and generate prosperity. Working closely with the Federation of Small Businesses in the UK and the European Small Business Alliance, the GFSB is a non-party political group which works to represent the interests of SMEs in a variety of ways, not least in representing these interests to government and regulatory bodies.
Promoting and Campaigning
Managed by a board of elected volunteers, who are experienced business people, the GFSB has grown over the years into a significant voice representing the needs and concerns of SMEs. The GFSB’s membership as the Business Licensing Authority, and the Tourism Advisory Board, to name just two examples, are instrumental to the organisation’s role in promoting and representing small business interests. Involvement in consultation exercises with government, lobbying and attending meetings with government and other political groups are just some of the ways in which the organisation can take the voice of small businesses into the decision-making sphere, influencing policy and interpreting and commenting on pertinent legislation and regulation.
In recent years, the GFSB’s former Chairman, Gemma Vasquez, ensured that the concerns and needs of SMEs were at the forefront of the Brexit referendum discussions
and led, in Gibraltar at least, a successful Remain campaign. This campaign gave clarity to the potential effects on small businesses of Brexit and highlighted the importance of SMEs to Gibraltar’s economy. In recent months, the GFSB has been instrumental in continuing to work with government to highlight SMEs concerns regarding the effects of the Fair Trading Act, as well as ensuring that government continues to focus on pertinent issues such as the need for greater eGovernment and private sector pensions. Communicating regularly with members via meetings, surveys and numerous events, keeps the organisation up to date, and the GFSB provides a useful forum to campaign for improvements in the business environment and the legislative framework within which it is set.
Networking
An important part of the GFSB’s portfolio of activities is that of providing members with opportunities to network and to share up to
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Gibraltar International
www.gibraltarinternational.com