El Martillo announces 150 jobs amid scrutiny over financing of acquisitions 

El Martillo Group said this week that it will be recruiting 150 people across its businesses in Gibraltar, which range from wholesale, restaurants and catering to marine services, metal recycling and waste management, cosmetics, fashion, security and property holding. 

The fourth-generation Gibraltar family business said it envisaged training for diverse roles in different sectors where it operates. 

“The new vacancies will cover a broad range of professions and trades, including accountants, administration, drivers, divers, mechanics, chefs, technicians, marine and waste specialists, security staff, engineers and tradespeople,” a group spokesperson said. 

“A key part of the programme will be learning on the job.” 

El Martillo said new recruits would work alongside experienced employees, some of whom had developed skills over four decades.  

“The aim is to make sure that experience is passed on rather than lost when long-standing members of the workforce eventually retire,” the spokesperson added. 

“The opportunities will be open across generations, from school leavers looking for their first opportunity to parents returning to work and experienced professionals and tradespeople with knowledge of their own to pass on.” 

El Martillo said it welcomed in particular interest from within the local community and said any applicants for the roles should have a strong command of spoken and written English, with Spanish considered a strong advantage. 

“For El Martillo, the message is that a skill learned locally is a skill that can remain in Gibraltar for another generation,” the spokesperson said. 

“For Gibraltar, it means 150 new jobs, more training and more opportunities for people to build their future locally.” 

ACQUISITIONS 

El Martillo has generated much interest and speculation in recent months after buying numerous companies and businesses in Gibraltar. 

The group, for example, is currently finalising the purchase of Blands Travel and already has other interests in the travel and tourism sector. 

Group chairman Elias Tapiero said many of the businesses purchased by the company had faced difficult trading conditions and that, by acquiring them and tapping into wider group synergies, there was an opportunity to turn them round, protecting jobs and creditors in the process. 

El Martillo said the deals are funded through private family finance and through lending institutions, paying premium market rates. It added that the group had never missed a loan payment. 

The Government told GBC earlier this week that no Government-owned, affiliated or controlled company had lent any money to El Martillo or companies within the group. 

But the GSD, which had previously asked questions in Parliament on this issue, said greater transparency was needed if Savings Bank funds were involved, given such investments had to be guaranteed by the Consolidated Fund should anything go wrong. 

The Government had said in answer to GSD questions in Parliament that as of last March31, £114 million had been provided by the Savings Bank via its subsidiary, the Gibraltar National Mint Limited, to a company called Community Credit Union Limited (CCU), which in turn had loaned monies to various private sector companies.  

The Government declined to disclose the names of those entities but confirmed that the funding decisions by the Savings Bank were taken against a criteria decided solely by Sir Joe Bossano, the Opposition said. 

“While the Government has not stated whether companies in El Martillo Group have received such monies, it is clear from Company House searches that a number of companies in that group have charges registered against them in favour of CCU,” the GSD added.  

“It is in the public interest that if the Government will not provide answers, then either CCU or El Martillo Group should consider making a voluntary disclosure of any loan amounts, rates and terms.” 

“In the absence of this, there is a clear question that remains unanswered: has any of the £114 million provided through the Savings Bank to CCU ultimately been loaned to companies within the El Martillo Group, and if so, how much?” 

“The Gibraltar public is entitled to this information.” 

CCU has not disclosed details of the loans it has made. 

In Parliament, Sir Joe has previously declined to provide details of individual loans or projects funded by Community Credit Union Limited, citing commercial sensitivity, data protection and standard industry practice. 

He said that while CCU does not have a role in the National Economic Plan, the Savings Bank invests in loan notes issued by the company which in turn provides funding to private sector projects that promote social and economic benefits to Gibraltar. 

He said the GSB had invested funds in nine moneylending entities in Gibraltar and in 36 moneylending entities in the UK, in addition to the amount invested in Community Credit Union.  

“None of these money lending entities publish a list of the customers to whom they have made loans,” Sir Joe told Parliament earlier this year, adding: “It is not normal. It is not done by anybody else.” 

Sir Joe said loan notes purchased from Community Credit Union were secured by a first charge on all company assets. 

Sir Joe said CCU was not solely dependent on the Savings Bank for funding and that funding provided by the bank to CCU was assessed first by the bank’s team and then by him for final approval. 

“If the activity is one that is funded by loan notes purchased by the Savings Bank, this can only happen because a business case has been vetted and approved,” he told Parliament during the Budget debate. 

Sir Joe said the Savings Bank had, in 2023, introduced Economic Development Debentures whose purpose was to raise money to be reinvested locally in projects that supported Gibraltar’s economy, and that just under £500m had been raised through the initiative.