Chamber welcomes Christian Hernandez as new President

At the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting held at the Elliott Hotel the members welcomed the election of Mr Christian Hernandez as the new Chamber President.  He takes over from Mr Nicholas Russo who had announced his intention to step down as President after serving for seven years as head of the business organisation.

In his departing address to the members attending, Mr Russo said that although trading continued to be tough he believed that Gibraltar was holding its own compared with many other economies in Europe.  He welcomed Mr Hernandez as incoming President and promised him every support as he remains on the board.

In his inaugural address as President Mr Hernandez said that he wished to thank Mr Russo for his good stewardship of the Chamber over several years. One of his first priorities as President will be to work towards reducing the cost of doing business in Gibraltar and to ensure a level playing field exists for members. As part of this process Mr Hernandez intends to work with the government to clamp down on unregistered and illegal labour as well as businesses engaging in unfair trading practices.

Mr Hernandez said that he also wished to thank Mr George Olivera, who was stepping down as Honorary Treasurer, for his 15 year service on the board.  Mr George Dyke put himself forward to stand as a board member and was duly appointed.  The new board is as follows: