Courtesy of the British Government’s Gateway to Global Growth Programme of which we are a part of, I, as international ambassador of m2r Ltd, travelled for free, top deck of a 747 to Dubai on the 16th October this year. The aim was to spend 1 day working in Dubai, 1 day in Abu Dhabi and then fly to Bahrain for 5 days.

So, day 1:

Friday 0ctober 16^th

After a relaxing business class flight from Heathrow to Dubai I arrived at the Al Murooj Rotana, opposite Dubai Mall with time to spare. So a couple of beers to relax followed by organising my work notes for the two days in the UAE seemed like a good plan.

Saturday October 17^th

Dubai Mall was strangely quiet. I know Dubai is going through troubled times but with the reduction in hotel prices I thought that the tourist trade would have increased. The roads are still jammed so the mass emigration that people have been harping on about has not had that much effect to the traffic. Anyway, a quiet mall means I could do my ‘daughter shopping’ at my leisure and without stress. By the way, I was shopping for presents for my daughter, not literally for a daughter. I always ensure I have one day off before working in the Middle East, through bitter experience I have realised that getting off a plane into 7 days of meetings is not the best idea.

Sunday October 18^th

First day of work. I have to quickly get in into my head that today, although being Sunday, is effectively Monday, but it isn’t, it’s Sunday. If you see what I mean. 5 meetings today, spread across Dubai. All with current clients but it is important to maintain the relationships, especially as we are coming up to budget time. Our clients In Dubai really appreciate me coming over, although it is quiet on the recruitment front, it will kick off again and I want to ensure m2r is still at the forefront of their minds. With so many companies in my market doing a disappearing act from Dubai, this is an ideal opportunity to cement some relationships and instil confidence with our clients that we are not going the same way. So, all in all, a productive day.

Monday October 19^th

Very very early start today. Going to Abu Dhabi for 2 meetings, first one at 9am, meaning having to leave Dubai at 5.30am. I was privileged to have a meeting at Al Yas Circuit, home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was fascinating to see it, one week prior to the race. 15000 workers all frantically making sure the circuit was ready. Ferrari world looks great, as does Yas Hotel. It begs the question why I turned up a week before the race and not actually for the race, but such is life. Who wants to party on Branson’s yacht anyway!!! As I am writing this in December, it is plain to see that the circuit was ready and they did a fantastic job. The second meeting was with a government owned company, very interesting and I am sure we will be working with them early 2010. By the way, October in the UK, cold. October in the UAE, 35 degrees. Bring it on!!

After this meeting it was a hot foot to the airport (3hrs away) to catch the flight to Bahrain. I was able to visit 3 more Emirates before I flew so I have now been to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain. All very different! I bet that I am the only recruiter from Wakefield, West Yorkshire that can boast visiting all of these places for work!

Landed in Bahrain early evening, feel home again. I love Bahrain. This is my third visit this year, all for work. I think that says it all. We are getting a very good reputation in the Kingdom and I am delighted with this. I am proud to work with the clients we have and long may this continue. Anyway, enough of the saccharin. As m2r is now working in the hospitality market, I was invited to stay with a client. Beautiful hotel, only opened a few months ago. Slap bang in Seef to commuting is dead easy. Martin, my driver of old, was a welcome face as well. He is a good lad.

Tuesday October 20^th

3 meetings today plus the BBBF luncheon. I am also having dinner with our partner company, Elite Recruitment based in Tubli. These meetings are a mix of new business and existing client visits and with our new initiatives in the region, they all should go well. The BBBF networking luncheon at the Golden Tulip is always fun, this will be my third one, probably more than some of the local members have been to! It was great to walk in, on my own, and be greeting with welcome faces and lots of hand shaking. I am beginning to be accepted here and this is the first step to establishing some good business relationships. I even had business people coming up to me saying they knew I was coming and wanted to say hello! Fantastic! I arranged to meet some current clients there also, it was great that some managed to turn up, it was also nice to know that they were there specifically to meet me. BBBF lunches are always good, the food is great and the company is top notch. I am hoping to be an associate member, time will tell……..

Wednesday October 21^st

Well, I never made it to dinner last night. In hindsight arranging to go for a Kerala curry a few hours after a 5 course BBBF lunch was not the greatest idea. However, I did go to Elite’s offices and then to Sherlocks for some beers with them. Yazied and Ranjeeta are great people, very driven but down to earth with it. I cannot believe how fast Ranjeeta drives but that’s a different story. I am sure this is the start of a great relationship between m2r and Elite.

Today 7 meetings are arranged. Due to some ‘technical hitches’ I arranged for Elite to attend a couple of these meetings which they did. I spent the day with one of the Bahraini trading companies that I work for. I was introduced to some very influential people. Several projects were discussed and they appreciated my refreshing approach. Looking forward to working with / for them. The evening was spent in the British club, lovely place with cheap beer. Just what you want after a hard days work.

Thursday October 22^nd

Final day before the weekend. (Today is Friday, no Thursday but it feels like Friday etc etc). Another 6 meetings today. 1 of them is with a client who has flown specially from Qatar to see me, this is a tremendous honour. All go really well. I was very impressed with the fish at Chico’s in Adliya, the cigars were very good too. I never realised that Castro himself used to go there. However not being used to smoking fat cigars, I did think my head was going to fall off after a while. All in all it has been a profitable if extremely tiring trip. I can look forward to an evening off followed by a relaxing day before the red eye back to Heathrow.

Friday October 23^rd

Had a good night with Yazied last night, saw a typical Arabian bar, gets me set for Saudi in March! Today, being Friday (Saturday, Friday, you get the gist) I am doing nothing. A bit of shopping followed by spending the afternoon at my mate’s villa in Janusan. It is important that I see a local expat villa as how UK recruitment companies can offer an expatriation service without seeing firsthand the type of accommodation you can live in beats me. If you remember, on my last trip, I actually stayed in an apartment as opposed to a hotel for the same reason. Another USP me thinks…..

So goodbye Bahrain / UAE until March 2010 at least.

Good trip?

Well……

·         30 meetings.

·         Vacancies ranging from CEO to Accounts Assistant.

·         Reputation increased / cemented.

·         Partner company met, vetted and relationship being built.

So yes, all in all, a great trip.

I can’t stay away….

So, on the 16th October I return to Dubai for 2 days and then onto Bahrain for 5. As part of the Gateway to Global Growth Programme I am flying BA Club World FOC! Well, it is not as if I am going on holiday….

The usual diary will be up and running, I wonder what the latest Bahraini fad will be. 150 varieties of banana? 207 species of cat? The mind boggles.

Looking forward to meeting our clients in Dubai, I have not been for 12 months, a lot has happened in Dubai during this time. I am sure I don’t have to go into detail on this one. I will get to spend some time with my first overseas Consultant, Kelly. She is doing a sterling job.

So, if anyone wants to meet me between the 16th and 23rd October in Dubai or Bahrain, get in touch!

Over 400 000 Uk citizens leave the UK every year in search of a new life. For the majority this move is career and lifestyle driven. If you are not talking to these people, then you are missing out on a great revenue making opportunity, but mud slingers beware, you will quickly ruin your reputation if you enter this half hearted.

There is a wealth of information out there, from the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) website to expat blogs, all are valuable sources and all should be looked at.

If you were moving abroad, what would you want to know? Make sure you know these answers.
Exporting recruitment services is not for the lazy. This requires effort and commitment. Don’t think for one minute that overseas trips are nice jollys, they are really, really hard work.

Working with different cultures and in different surroundings is exciting and challenging and can reap rewards. Just make sure you do it properly.

So, what should you do to ensure you enter the export market in the most professional manner possible?

1. Do your research!!! Don’t just rely on a few holiday snaps and your drunken memories from years ago. Visit the market, understand the culture and decide whether you feel comfortable sending your candidates there. I appreciate that this is not always feasible but it will set up apart from the rest, trust me.
2. Utilise the UKTI website and arrange to meet a Trade Advisor. This is essential as they will unlock a huge wealth of information. Go on the Passport to Export training course, look at the research UKTI can offer and make use of it. The contacts they can supply could be invaluable.
3. Make sure you understand the culture of the country. Not everyone likes a hard cold call with a quick close. Ensure you learn how business works before you jump in feet first.
4. Read, read and then read some more. The more knowledgeable you are about the market you are about to enter, especially about current events the better. Too many UK recruiters have tried to enter overseas markets and failed, therefore you may be tarnished with the same brush at first.
5. If the country’s first language is not English, then do your best to learn the local language. Even the odd word will work wonders.
6. Pretend you are moving to the country in question. How easy is it?

The more information you have, the more credible you will be in front of clients and candidates. Remember, they have probably seen / heard it all before……

So, what makes what I say credible? 4 Overseas trips, clients and partner companies across the globe, awards success and international recognition.

If you were to speak to 9 out of 10 recruiters they would paint a very bleak picture about jobs in the Gulf. You would be told to stay put, no one is recruiting, jump off the Burj etc etc. Now, this is not entirely true. Admittedly there has been a massive recruitment downturn and jobs are harder to come by, but all this means is that companies will only hire exceptional applicants instead of maybe ‘taking a flier’. For you, the exceptional applicant, this will come a good news as the number of exceptional applicants is greatly overshadowed by the FILTH (Failed in London, tried Hong Kong) in the Gulf.

The Gulf will become a much more professional place, all the wannabees, pseudo business execs will all go back to Surrey leaving the professionals to get on with their jobs.

We are currently handling executive roles in Bahrain, Saudi and the UAE and I see vacancies at this level in the rest of the GCC also. Key areas are still finance, IT and construction. Hospitality has taken a battering but we still have senior roles in this market, media is suffering but again, we have some vacancies. You just have to look for them!

We have candidates who have 5 interviews with 5 different companies arranges, companies are still expatriating and recruiting locally but they are just more cautious. Basically, if you are a blagger, don’t bother. If you are honest, professional and legitimate, you will get a job.

This market is an excuse for the lazy to become lazier. The energetic and proactive will thrive which can only be a benefit for us all. So, don’t give up after the ninth recruiter fobs you off as the tenth will probably be the one…

So much negative press at the moment. The British press are climbing over themselves to ‘expose’ Dubai. Having spent a vast majority of my time in the Emirate, I have seen first hand the good and bad of the place.

There was a letter in the Independent on the weekend, I wish I had kept it. It was from a Dubai journalist (not) discussing the underbelly of Britain and how he was (not) going to talk about our cultural frailties.

Before anyone complains, I am not bashing any country or way of life etc. But there are always 2 sides to every story.

In Dubai, which was until very recently, just sand, foreign workers were needed to construct not just a few buildings, but an entire Emirate. Walking past the workers in their blue overalls, I was left with a sense of pride and also pity. I remember a day when I got lost having taken a short cut through a building site and 2 site workers gave me a hard hat and helped me find my way back to my hotel! I struggle to imagine the same in the UK. I felt pity as seeing them all at the side of the road eating curry and rice from a small bag, but I also felt pride as these hardworking soles were prepared to do the jobs and take the salary that most of us would turn our nose up to. So, when I saw a few workers being harassed in a shop on the marina, I felt ashamed. If it wasn’t for these workers, Dubai would not be the thriving cosmopolitan place it is today and no one should forget that.

My simplistic view of life is probably not up there with the hacks and their hard hitting stories but so what? This is my view and I don’t think I am saying anything wrong.

In the UK we are not exactly innocent in the exploitation of foreign workers yet it isn’t really focussed on anymore. Dubai is the PR dream, if you can’t beat them, knock them down.

I love Dubai, but as I was once told, you cannot judge the Middle East through Western eyes.