Executive Grapevine, January 2007

Betty Thayer is Chief Executive of exec-appointments.com.

When 75,000 British expatriates are huddled together in less than 50 square miles it does not take long to guess that something big is happening. You may have only been to Dubai or other places in the Gulf for a beach holiday. Clean, safe, affordable. And tax free. One Resourcing Manager I know in a large bank went from a two-up two-down in Canary Wharf to a five bedroom villa with live-in staff. No wonder that top talent now has the Gulf, and particularly the UAE, on its radar screen.

And so does exec-appointments.com. Our new office at the Regus centre at the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA) opens this month. We are in good company with the likes of Korn Ferry International also establishing its presence at DAFZA. Gamal Abdulla, our Managing Director, Middle East, said after his last visit "We see phenomenal growth in the Middle East, particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Dubai provides an excellent transportation link to all places in the Gulf. And as business is conducted on a face-to-face basis, it is important to have a physical presence there. We already have a wide variety of clients in Saudi, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Abu Dhabi and Dubai."

Finding successful candidates for roles in the Middle East will require a thorough understanding of the culture and working environment of clients. Large pools of candidates are required not only in financial services, but also in construction, education and telecommunications.

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The recent launch of mba-direct.com will provide an important conduit for MBAs, particularly for those with Arabic language skills. Our relationships with the world’s top business schools means that graduates from all programmes, not just the MBA, will find out about exec-appointments.com and the excellent opportunities we advertise.

Your clients will inevitably look to the Middle East for expansion. How will you be able to find candidates from an area where you have little or no experience? We can help you tailor campaigns that pinpoint candidates from specific regions or industries - just like we do for your roles in the UK and Europe. Look up ‘middle east jobs’ on google. exec-appointments.com is right at the top of the listings which means candidates will quickly find your roles. You can sponsor specific pages - for example "financial services jobs dubai" - providing you high visibility leveraging on our excellent search engine techniques.

We have many testimonials from clients in this region. "We have found the services of exec-appointments.com very useful. We have already appointed a General Manager for our Oilfields division", said Dr Mohamed Alyousef at Omantel. We have a blue-chip client list advertising roles in the Middle East including Boyden, Hudson, Antal and Delta Partners.

Would you like to know more about how to extend your reach to this fast-growing region? Contact Gamal on +971(0)4 214 9535 or gamal.abdulla@exec-appointments.com.

Reprinted from Executive Grapevine, January 2007