Former Leader of Local & Regional Government for the UK. Now Middle East based, advising governments and boards across the UK and the Gulf. Writing at https://xitter.cf/t.co/MC769pdYQW
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Joined April 2009
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We’ve been told for decades that office space is on the way out. In much of the West, office blocks have been converted in their droves to other uses. In the UK, permitted development gives free rein to developers to convert offices into residential WITHOUT planning permission needed.
And yet… is the tide turning?
Or is this deal more about a repositioning of where, globally, business wants to be?
Abbas Sajwani, the son of a billionaire Emirati property tycoon, is launching his second office tower in one of Dubai’s prime real estate locations in a fresh test of demand in the conflict-hit region bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The direction of travel has really is changing. Many of the large global managers now want a stake in the Gulf platforms themselves, not just Gulf money in their funds.
Marc Rowan on why Apollo has taken a $1 billion stake in Mubadala Capital thenationalnews.com/business…
47 days is quick by anyone's standards, and it shows how practised the UAE has become at these deals.
Now to ensure that exporters on both sides actually match that speed and get using it. Great work by everyone.
Today in Ottawa, alongside Prime Minister @MarkJCarney, I signed the Canada-UAE CEPA trade agreement with my counterpart, Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi. We negotiated it in a record 47 days. It was the fastest trade negotiation in Canada’s history. Signing it brings us closer to opening more of the UAE market to Canadian businesses.
Once fully implemented, the agreement will lower tariffs on 99% of current Canadian exports to the UAE. That means more opportunities for Canadian exporters in aerospace, agri-food, technology, forest products and others.
The UAE’s $700 billion economy presents real export opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses.
Same in government. Public bodies mostly buy through approved frameworks, so the supplier already on one usually beats the better product that isn't. Getting listed is half the battle.
Not nec the way it should be, but that's the way the world works!
My takeaway from the Anthropic S-1: distribution beats sales.
About 48% of revenue comes from customers buying through cloud marketplaces. Big companies buy where their budget already lives.
For founders selling to enterprises, the lesson is simple. Get listed where your buyers already spend.
The easiest deal to close is one that doesn't need a new vendor.
The beach closures in UAQ, Sharjah and RAK have taken me straight back to March 2023.
I was leading a large UK city region on England's south coast, alongside my national role leading local and regional government for the country, when the call came: "Leader, we have a problem. There's been a major oil spill in the harbour."
Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world, full of wading birds, oyster beds and protected saltmarsh. Your stomach drops, and then everyone looks to you.
What stayed with me was how cleanly government worked. One command structure, everyone knows who decides (whoever is on "gold command"), and every agency pulls towards the same outcome. No committees, no turf wars.
The damage ended up confined to a small area of one bay. That wasn't by accident. It was swift, coordinated action of a kind we rarely see in normal times 🙄
Why does it take an emergency for much of the western world to govern like that?
From what I'm seeing, the authorities here are on it, and quickly.
Thank you to everyone on the shoreline and at sea.
Last week in Egypt we took the sleeper train, and woke up at our destination with a whole day ahead of us.
As the Gulf's rail lines start to join up, I'm wondering whether there's a place for sleepers here too.
Would you take one?
Good to see the first and last mile being sorted alongside the line itself. A train is only as useful as the journey either side of it, and shuttles timed to the trains are what make a station worth using.
Shuttle service to connect Yas Island attractions to Etihad Rail station in Abu Dhabi thenationalnews.com/news/uae…
What a courageous post. Good luck in your recovery. 💪
A statement on yesterday…..
Everything I said in that interview was true. However, rest assured I’m doing my best to turn things round.
I have been in a mental health clinic for the last 10 weeks, finally discharging so I could attempt to play in Belfast
I owed that to my family, in particular my daughter to see me play for what could be the last time….. I also owed it to the fans who have supported me throughout my 21 years on tour
I also owed that to World Snooker who have been amazing from day on in all this, in particular Simon Brownell and Neil Tomkins who have remained in touch regularly, even Simon paying me a visit in the clinic itself
I’m not ok, but I’m ok in that itself. I’ve been much worse in the last few months than you saw yesterday. I literally didn’t see a future in anything…..
My daughter kept me going, the therapists, staff and all the other patients were amazing and helped me through some really dark days
I see the light now that I couldn’t see before but I do now. I also know it won’t happen overnight. I’m a work in progress!!! My fight and determination on the table has always been there for ones to see. I need to show those same fighting qualities off it now for a while
Please don’t detract anything from Jordan yesterday, he’s been aware of my struggles and that can’t have been easy to play in but he handled it with grace and skill as I knew he would. Im proud to call him a friend
I hope the rest of the event is a success and I will continue my treatments going forward and then see what’s ahead
Thank you to every single message I have received on here, instagram, Facebook, text messages and WhatsApp’s, I’ve seen them all but a bit overwhelmed to reply right now. Just know that they have helped me a lot but I’m not going anywhere just yet!!!! I have so much to live for and this is only the beginning of my new journey
Also, I was not made to do any interviews, I was simply given a choice and felt I owed it to everyone to speak. The media team at WST have been incredible through all this too
Thank you all x
Update from Guildhall: still no signing and no date, five months after the deal was agreed. But trade minister Lord Sarwar's message to business was clear: don't wait.
He's right. The money isn't waiting either. The firms sorting out approvals and local partners in the regions now will be ready the day it's signed.
The UK-GCC Strategic Dialogue is at Guildhall in London today, the first big business forum since the free trade deal was agreed in May.
For Gulf investors, an interesting number this week comes from a survey. 34% of GCC investors are considering Liverpool and 27% Birmingham, against 21% planning to invest in London.
As the country’s former leader of local and regional government, I've championed the regions for years, so it's good to see the smart money heading there too.
But the regions work differently from London. Deals rarely come ready-made, and the power to approve them is spread across more hands. So ask each city for a scheme that's ready to fund, and who locally can actually say yes. Get those two answers first and the rest gets (a little) easier.
The UK-GCC Strategic Dialogue is at Guildhall in London today, the first big business forum since the free trade deal was agreed in May.
For Gulf investors, an interesting number this week comes from a survey. 34% of GCC investors are considering Liverpool and 27% Birmingham, against 21% planning to invest in London.
As the country’s former leader of local and regional government, I've championed the regions for years, so it's good to see the smart money heading there too.
But the regions work differently from London. Deals rarely come ready-made, and the power to approve them is spread across more hands. So ask each city for a scheme that's ready to fund, and who locally can actually say yes. Get those two answers first and the rest gets (a little) easier.
Hot on the heels of TAMM Global, TAMM AutoGov has won Gartner's EMEA award for government innovation. It was built with more than 45 Abu Dhabi government entities and uses AI to finish services for people before they've had to ask. Getting 45 entities to agree on anything is the real achievement here! 😆
TAMM AutoGov, part of @dgeabudhabi's TAMM platform, has been named EMEA winner in the Government category at the 2026 Gartner Eye on Innovation Awards. Developed with more than 45 Abu Dhabi Government entities, it uses agentic AI to proactively complete government services.
Half the world's kiteboards made in Dubai is a really interesting fact, and I suspect most residents have no idea.
Good to see a manufacturer recognised, and the solar-powered production makes it even better. 🪁 🏄♀️
Congratulations to the SWS Board Technology team on winning the Dubai-it Award for Projects in the Field of Economy. From Dubai, entrepreneur Rainier Nouhra built one of the world’s largest board manufacturing businesses. Today, SWS Board Technology produces half the world’s kiteboards and wakeboards and one-third of its snowboards, with annual capacity exceeding 450,000 boards and more than 6 million sold worldwide. Trusted by leading global brands, its Dubai-made boards have been used at the Winter Olympic Games and world championships. With solar-powered production and innovative recycling solutions, SWS is also advancing sustainability in the industry.
Abu Dhabi has turned its government services app into a company, and it plans to sell it to other governments 👀
TAMM Global, from @dgeabudhabi, will license the platform behind TAMM, which puts more than 1,200 public and private services behind one front door. Satisfaction is up from 78% in 2022 to 94.5%, and the cost of running services is down 30%(!). You’ve got to admit that’s mighty impressive.
I've written before about how this region builds digital government inside government, at real speed and with security designed in from day one. This is the proof that others are finally sitting up to take notice.
Most Western governments are still arguing over which department owns the login, or data. The Gulf is now exporting the whole front door.
More on why the Gulf is ahead on this, in my pieces on bdhd.ae/writing/safeguards-y… and on bdhd.ae/writing/gcc-governme….
You can check out the official announcement here mediaoffice.abudhabi/en/gove…
Thursday's hail in Sharjah and the NCM's flash-flood warnings are a good reason to look at the least glamorous lines in Dubai's project list. 👀
Alongside the airport expansion and around 350,000 new homes, the 2.1 trillion aed of projects under way include 80b aed for the Strategic Sewerage Tunnels and 30b aed for Tasreef, which is designed to raise rainwater drainage capacity by 700% (!) when it's finished in 2033.
Towers and airports get the attention, but drains are what let those homes actually, you know, be lived in! Once they're underground their maintenance budgets are the easiest thing to forget.
Good to see them in the headline number.
Oh thank god. I thought I was the only one for whom this was ruining an otherwise exemplary show!
I am trying so hard to take the Lanterns plot seriously, but the way John Stewart pronounces "ASK" as "AKS" in literally every single episode has completely broken my brain lmao. It doesn't matter how intense or serious the scene is, the moment he says it, my mind completely clocks out of the mystery and I can't think about anything else for the next ten minutes. Please tell me someone else is noticing this.
If you're a Gulf-based business exposed to the UK - you need to know what's in and what's out.
My latest article below on what to avoid and where the opportunities are.
If you're in this world and want advice from someone who has been in the very centre of UK government and politics, reach out!
bdhd.ae/writing/britain-tax-…
My latest on the direction of travel under the UK’s new PM - wealth may be on the way out, but for savvy investors care is the new market to be redeploying capital to. bdhd.ae/writing/britain-tax-…
Burnham's first conference speech as PM made two things clear. Britain is about to tax wealth, not work. And it's about to buy a lot more care. What that means for capital exposed to the UK:
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