The Gibraltar Advantage

For start-ups and established companies alike, technology testing and other pilot studies is an important milestone prior to mass marketing. Companies who wish to enter the European markets often want to test their technologies in an EU compliant environment under European standards and regulation. Gibraltar has some unique features which have made it the ideal testing ground for new technologies:

Economies of Small Scale: Gibraltar is a small contained economy (measuring 7sq kilometres), making it easier to administer and run pilot testing schemes and be in close geographical proximity to all test sites.
Moreover, most start-ups have limited financial and human resources which impedes on their ability to test trial their technology in the large countries thereby creating a barrier to entry; for example,
testing a certain mobile application in the UK may require the resources to simultaneously support millions of concurrent users, while doing the same in Gibraltar with its 33,000 inhabitants, would
be much less demanding.

Lower bureaucracy: due to its small size, Gibraltar has fewer bureaucratic layers than most other countries, making access to key decision makers, both in Government and in industry much simpler and quicker. Thus, there are much fewer bureaucratic hurdles in Gibraltar for companies to get approvals, licenses or certification than in bigger countries. In countries such as the UK, Germany or France, in order to get to the national level, a company may first need to pass the municipal and then the regional/country level, making it a longer and often more costly process.

British standards and EU Regulations: being a British Overseas Territory, and a member of the EU (since 1973, through the UK), Gibraltar adheres to high standards of service, and complies with all
applicable EU Directives, which facilitates marketing to the rest of Europe. In particular, FinTech companies enjoy the benefit of becoming regulated in Gibraltar and then “passporting” their
license to the rest of the EU.

Low profile: Gibraltar is often not under the radar of the world media which means that if a company’s test trial fails, probably no one would hear about it outside Gibraltar. In a big country (such as the UK or Germany), such failure may attract negative media coverage which may cause some reputational damage with the associated risk of losing a target market of 60 or 70 million potential users. In Gibraltar, the risk is of losing a market of only 33,000 people. However, if the technology trial is successful, it is easy to get exposure in the local media and then showcase the success to the
bigger markets in Europe.

English language and legal system: Gibraltar applies the English Common Law legal system and English language, thereby removing the language barrier for non-EU companies, which often impedes on conducting technology trials.

“Las Vegas” of the Online Gaming industry: Gibraltar is home to 35 of the biggest names in the online gaming industry. Being close to these top operators, acts a magnate to related support services and software development companies who wish to enter this lucrative market.

Cosmopolitan population: Gibraltar provides employment for people from a wide cross-section of the European population, meaning that it has a representative population rather than a homogenous one, which is important for a company looking to appeal to the wider European markets.

Most attractive tax package in the EU: no list of Gibraltar’s advantages is complete without mentioning its tax benefits. Companies choosing Gibraltar as their gateway to the European markets enjoy Corporate Tax of 10%, no VAT, no Capital Gains Tax, no Dividends Tax and plenty of other tax incentives, making marketing and technology testing from Gibraltar, a highly tax efficient operation.