Monday 16 December 2013

Welcome to the Wild West

This week's blog entry is a little different, in that it doesn't appear on my blog page at the moment, instead it can be found here. I have been persuaded to put it forward for the "Expat Blog Awards 2013".

The contest runs for the next few days, and the winner for each country will apparently be the person with most (positive) comments on their post. So, the reason for my entry here is to ask very nicely if you (or those of you who weren't offended by my rant last week!) would mind popping over to the competition site and leaving a comment on my entry.

The organizers are looking for more than just comments saying "great", they are asking for at least ten words. For example, if you were to cut and paste one of the following it would meet their criteria ;)

"This is a wonderfully entertaining blog post, I loved it"

"Very informative, I feel like I understand the UAE much more now"

"A masterpiece of writing, this man should be published immediately"

You get the idea!!

Of course, if you see fit to ask your family, friends, long lost cousins, family pets, etc to do the same I wouldn't complain!

So, once again, the entry can be found here, or you can click on the rosette that says "Entry" to the right.

Thanks in advance to anyone who is kind enough to comment.


Sunday 15 December 2013

Blast from the Past

Jo was looking for this video earlier today I think: seven years ago, my goodness how times change!


Saturday 7 December 2013

Doing Business in the UAE: Part 1

I'm conscious I haven't blogged much about life at work in recent weeks, so thought I would remedy that this evening, with a few reflections on my first three months with BDO (cannot believe how quickly time is passing).

The first thing to report is that everything is going well, and despite the odd frustration, I am very much enjoying the role. It goes without saying that I'll always be grateful to PwC, because I learnt a huge amount there which is helping me now, but I have to say it is refreshing to have respect for, and feel appreciated by, those I report too, and good to wake up in the morning looking forward to work (most mornings). It seems Jo was right (how annoying!) when she used to tell me I'd be happier in a smaller firm.

Turning to the "odd frustration", the main one is the approach to procurement in some public entities. In theory everything is done strictly by the book to ensure that no firm is given an advantage. In reality it is clear that once bids are in, in some (many?) cases the incumbent (usually one of the big four who have dominated the market for many years) is given every opportunity to reduce its fee as far as is needed to keep hold of the work. Why they would want to do this given how low some of the fees must be, I don't know, but they clearly have their reasons. Of course this was not unknown back in the UK, but it is definitely worse here.

Despite this I'm pleased to say that we have a steady stream of work coming in, and lots in the pipeline, so there is plenty to keep myself and the team busy.

Like in the UK, the key to success is winning work outside of formal procurement processes, and the key to that is having great relationships with potential clients. Relationships are critical wherever you are in the world, but I suspect few places more so than the UAE. For example, it is hard to get meetings with many senior officials unless you have someone who can introduce you, and when you do get in front of someone, it is important to invest time in earning their trust rather than going for a hard sell too quickly. It can sometimes be the fourth or fifth meeting before you can really start talking business.

The first meeting usually includes some local customs, especially if it is with an Emirati. First you exchange business cards, I have never given or received so many! And it is not a matter of just taking someone's card and putting it in your pocket, you must treat it with respect by showing a genuine interest in it. Most cards are in both English and Arabic, and I had an embarrassing moment in my early days when my host informed me that the Arabic translation of "Lead Partner, Abu Dhabi" was incorrect, although he didn't tell me what it actually said (I dread to think!).

At the same time you will be offered some Arabic coffee, served in small cups. Even if you hate coffee, you shouldn't refuse or your host could take offence. It is quite bitter to taste but I'm getting quite partial to it now, it is caffeine at the end of the day! Your cup will be refilled until you indicate you have had enough, which it is fine (I think) to do after just one cup.

The rest of the meeting will then consist of chit chat, in my case mainly asking how I am settling into the UAE and subjects like that, and only right at the end - if at all - will talk turn to business. If it does turn to business, this is a good sign, and usually means a deal can be done pretty quickly.

It seems that time has caught up with me, and I need to stop for this evening. I'm not sure if I'll get chance to add more to this post this week so I will publish it, and do another work post sometime soon.

As always, thanks for reading.

 

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Happy National Day

I shouldn't let National Day pass without a brief post on the subject.

National Day is celebrated from 2nd December each year in the UAE for two days or more (usually the 2nd and 3rd). It marks the UAE's formal nationalisation from the British Protectorate Treaties which ended on December 1, 1971 and the eventual, federal unification of the seven emirates in 1971 which combined to form the modern-day country, headed by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the federation's first president.

The occasion is marked by much celebration if this year is anything to go by. For days beforehand people are hard at work decorating their cars, homes and offices. Some people do seem to get a little carried away.....

Turning to houses, in the same way that some people go overboard decorating the outside of their houses for Christmas, some people get a little carried away. As we walked out onto the main road to get a taxi at the weekend we discovered that one of the Emirati families that lives on the compound had hired a crane to come and put a huge flag up.

Flossie counted the UAE flags that we saw on the way to dinner that same evening. We were only going a few miles but it didn't take long to get to well over 100, especially as she seemed to reset to 40 every time she got to 79!

Thankfully she didn't count them on the way to Al Ain on Sunday. We must have passed thousands, including this gentleman riding his bike up the hard shoulder of the highway.

The celebrations normally culminate with big firework displays on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, and other locations. We gave them a miss this year as apparently the city centre gets gridlocked and it can take more than two hours to complete the journey home (a journey which normally shouldn't take much more than 30 minutes). One for next year I think.

How many flags?

Thanks for reading.

 

Monday 2 December 2013

Al Ain Aerobatics Show

A few photos from Al Ain Aerobatic Show yesterday. Al Ain is a 90 minute drive from us, although still in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It's a two or three lane highway most of the way so we made good time, and arrived with plenty of time to collect our tickets (no repeat of the "hunt the ticket counter" that we had at the car park drift competition a few weeks ago) and have a quick look round the static display before taking our seats in the grandstand.

What followed over the next five and a half hours was an entertaining program of various aerobatic displays, fly pasts, and other entertainment, including a rocket powered bus and the UAE's strongest man pulling a fire engine in a fetching outfit that looked like it had been made out of the hide of a cheetah.

We may be biased, but the highlight was of course our very own (and I still allowed to say that?) Red Arrows, who have been touring the Middle East over the last few weeks. Archie in particular was mesmerized by them, and can describe every move that they did, including the names that the commentator gave them.

We didn't think we would last to the end, but a couple of runs for provisions (again very reasonable prices, no getting fleeced here) kept us going, and just as the signs of boredom were starting to appear the next display would start.

The show finished as dusk fell, with a couple of displays where the planes were lit up with LED lights, were shining lasers, and firing off the odd firework.

We've had a few surreal moments since arriving in the UAE, and for me another one to add to the list was watching a brightly lit plane doing a routine to Nessum Dorma as dusk fell over the desert we were sat facing. Can't say that I imagined I would be doing that a year ago!

 

As always thanks for reading.

 

Henry's video of our recent trip to Dubai