Based in Gibraltar, Eva Drimmie is the PA to two local directors as well as being the Office Manager. She will celebrate her 25th anniversary working with Sovereign in May 2023. We thought it would be interesting to tell her story.
After leaving school at 17, Eva started working as assistant PA to one of the partners at a well-known Gibraltar law firm, remaining there for a decade. Following this, she joined Sovereign in the same role for a British lawyer who had just arrived in Gibraltar from Hong Kong. This young lawyer was John Hodgson, then in his mid-thirties who of course went on to become for many years Sovereign Group Legal Counsel and Group board member to this day (albeit nowadays in a non-executive capacity).
Eva worked with John throughout and from Sovereign’s Gibraltar base as the Group developed and grew, Eva saw it all. She says she learned a lot from John and will forever be grateful for the great working partnership they created together.
Nowadays Eva fulfils the same role as PA to Kyra Romano, Group Legal Counsel and Nico van Zyl the recently arrived Managing Director of Sovereign Trust (Gibraltar) Limited. Not only that but she also acts as Office Manager. She enjoys the challenges presented by managing the brand new, award winning Sovereign Place office located on Gibraltar’s Main Street. Of course, she says, she will help other directors including the Chairman when he visits, without revealing the secret as to how she finds the time to do all these things. We suspect that 25 years of doing the job has something to do with it!
No day is like another she says and that is all the motivation she needs.
Eva likes to get involved in events and the opportunity to help Ros Baron as part of the “A” team organising the Annual Conference “was a godsend”. Eva spent time at Sovereign’s 2022 Conference in Segovia where she says “it was lovely to meet so many people whose names she knew but had never met – and to put faces to the newer names too”.
Eva feels strongly that Sovereign is just one big extended family. She says that the Group’s main strength is that it is “there for you – in good times and bad – all the time”. And she has benefitted from this approach herself on several occasions over the years.
Speaking of Sovereign in this way we could tell that Eva was keen to move on to her own wonderful family. She met her partner more than twenty years ago – when he too was working at Sovereign.
But she considers her life’s greatest achievements to be her son Waide (whom she calls Waidee with at least one extra “e”!) and 14 year old daughter Ellie Rose. We should mention here that “Waidee” turns out to be a strapping 26 year old lance corporal in the Army (Gibraltar Regiment). He is also an avid Rugby player, playing for Rock Scorpions and has recently represented Gibraltar at rugby (most recently in Bermuda). Ellie is studying for her GCSEs and, to Eva’s delight, shares her mother’s passion for history. Ellie was brought into the office soon after being born and the whole team have watched her grow up as her proud mother looks on.
Eva was keen to tell us more of her family background. A proud Gibraltarian, her father was Irish and she was born in Somerset, living there until the age of four. The family moved back to Gibraltar and several members of her family have been in the army since. Eva’s eyes moisten ever so slightly when she says how proud her father would have been to see Waide doing so well.
Eva’s family are her life but she is fanatical about her interests too. Travel is a real passion and she has been to many countries worldwide. Her main interest these days is cruising with Disney Cruises having been on both Caribbean and Mediterranean trips with the famous line. It’s not all about Mickey Mouse giggles Eva, “there’s much more to it and Disney is really for adults”. Yes Eva, we believe you.
Music is another passion. Eva loves all genres although she mentions in particular Rock, Classical, 70s, 80s and Celtic music. Eclectic indeed. She remembers going to see Metallica in Marbella – her first concert.
Ireland is a really special place for Eva and her home on the northwest coast is heaven and her “dream place”. It’s a place to discover solace and peace; she describes it eloquently – like a poet.
But she reminds us, at the end of the day, Gibraltar is home. Eva looks forward to contributing to Sovereign’s success for the next 25 years! We look forward to that too and wish her, her partner, son Lance Corporal “Waidee” and daughter Ellie Rose all the very best.
Thank you Eva for sharing your delightful “Sovereign Story”.
