- Just Pizza & Pasta owner says island government is ‘overstaffed’ and ‘bloated’
- Claims one worker had four managers in ‘ridiculous’ set-up
- Attacks promotions into jobs people are ‘not qualified for’
- Warns Moneyval grey listing could have ‘serious consequences’ for island
Weeks after declaring he ‘couldn’t stand by and watch it be destroyed’, the restaurateur behind Just Pizza & Pasta has turned his fire directly on what he calls a bloated, unaccountable Manx state – and warned that mismanagement could push the Isle of Man towards a damaging Moneyval grey listing.
In the second part of his interview series, Isle of Man First founder Mitch Sorbie claims the public sector has grown far beyond what the island needs – and that the culture inside government bears little resemblance to the pressures faced by private businesses.
‘The island is slightly overstaffed in terms of the government. The government’s a bit bloated, as everyone that you speak to, will tell. I think the government likes to mollycoddle people a bit more than it should do.’
For Sorbie, the real scandal is the absence of consequence when things go wrong.
As he puts it, bad decisions show up fast in the accounts of businesses – and managers have to answer for them.
‘You have people running the show (in government) that aren’t qualified. I think one of the crazy things I heard one time was one employee had four managers. That’s just ridiculous.’
Despite the harsh assessment, he insists the situation can be turned around if there is the political courage to act.
‘Everything’s fixable. You just need to have the will and you will find a way to fix it. And that’s where I think most governments don’t have the will to actually do things and make changes.’
Change, he says, must be properly managed rather than announced in slogans.
‘You need to manage it, manage the change, have a goal, have an endpoint that you need to get to, and that’s where you focus. Everything you do goes towards that endpoint.’
Without the right leadership, the machine becomes both heavy-handed and ineffective.
‘People can be incompetent and not be held to account……’
Sorbie is particularly scathing about what he sees as a widening gap between the public and private sectors.
‘The government is better paid than the private sector, has more perks than the private sector…..
Official figures show the government salary bill has risen sharply in recent years, even as businesses warn that higher costs and weak growth are squeezing the wider economy.
‘They move people up the chain because they want more money, not because they’re qualified for the role. That’s just disastrous.’ He adds: ‘You have certain pay grades, people are promoted into jobs they’re not qualified for just to earn more money.’
For him, this is not a new problem but one that has spiralled over the last decade.
‘From 2012 to now, government’s just gone nuts. They’re not paying peanuts, and the structures are bloated.’
He also attacks the way ministers and senior officials lean on outside advice. ‘Governments go to consultancy firms as an abdication of responsibility… if it doesn’t work, they hide behind the report.’
On wages, Sorbie insists that trying to force up pay from the top down ignores basic economics.
‘For every pound the government can force onto wages, they don’t look at the knock-on effect. People spend money in the economy, it grows naturally. That’s basic economics 101.’
His most serious warning, however, is reserved for the island’s standing with international watchdogs.
With a full MONEYVAL mutual evaluation of the Isle of Man scheduled for October 2026, regulators and ministers have already stressed that securing a positive outcome is critical to protecting the island’s reputation as a finance centre.
Sorbie fears that poor governance and knee-jerk rule-making could put that at risk.‘
If you get a grey listing with Moneyval, it could have serious consequences for the island… and that’s a big part of government oversight and regulation.’
Global research on the FATF ‘grey list’ – which underpins Moneyval’s system – suggests that being placed under increased monitoring can restrict cross-border transactions, damage reputation and cut foreign investment, with an IMF working paper finding that capital inflows typically decline significantly after grey-listing.
A later analysis by an international law firm concluded that countries on the list see average falls in capital inflows equivalent to several percentage points of GDP.
For Sorbie, the answer is not to abandon rules but to get the balance right. ‘It’s a fine balance between regulation and free market. One way you choke the living daylights out of business, it’ll go elsewhere.’
That, he argues, comes back to political culture.
He claims many voters share his frustration with the current system.
In his view, that has left the Isle of Man with a state that is far too big for its population and far too insulated from scrutiny.
As Isle of Man First gears up for the next election, Sorbie’s message from his Douglas restaurant is clear: unless the island finds the will to slim down government, restore accountability and navigate Moneyval successfully, it risks paying a heavy economic price – and missing the chance, as he sees it, to secure the prosperous future he has been campaigning for.
