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Costain mulls plans to expand
Costain is weighing plans to expand its presence in the Gulf to include its key areas of highways, marine, water and wastewater work, focused on Abu Dhabi.
At present, the firm carries out only oil and gas projects in Abu Dhabi, through its Costain Oil, Gas & Process (COGAP) arm.
The idea, contained in the firm’s proposed business plan for 2009 to 2011, has reached the second stage of discussion on the Costain executive board and could get the green light by the end of the first quarter of 2009.
Hatched by chief executive Andrew Wyllie and group strategy and business development director Stephen Wells, the plan would involve concentrating on Abu Dhabi rather than Dubai.
Two years ago, Wyllie shut Costain’s international division, with the closure of a number of offices in Dubai, but Wells said that Abu Dhabi’s reputation as a growing economy had forced the firm to rethink its strategy in the region.
He said: “Andrew and I said ‘Let’s look at the UAE and take a careful look at which sectors we can transport back to the Middle East’.
“It’s better to concentrate on an emerging market like Abu Dhabi rather than Dubai where there are already a lot of contractors out there. Abu Dhabi has got a masterplan that’s very comprehensive.”
COGAP employs around 1,000 people in the region - including site workers - and Wells said some UK staff will probably relocate to Abu Dhabi if the move gets the go-ahead from the board.
Costain is already talking to its local partners in Abu Dhabi about staffing up its office for an assault on the market. Wells added: “We’re looking at a balance of expat expertise and local people.”
Costain is already talking to its local partners in Abu Dhabi about staffing up its office for an assault on the market. Wells added: “We’re looking at a balance of expat expertise and local people.”(This article was originally published in Building magazine, in London)
Rolls-Royce MoU on nuclear power
Rolls-Royce plc have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, ENEC, to work together to assess Abu Dhabi’s industrial capabilities to support a potential civil nuclear power programme.
When formally established, ENEC will be the vehicle of the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi responsible for the development and overseeing of potential nuclear energy development.
Commenting on the agreement, Sir John Rose, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce plc, said: “Rolls-Royce has been involved in the nuclear industry for over 50 years and is well placed to respond to the growing, world-wide interest in civil nuclear. We look forward to applying our expertise to help Abu Dhabi assess its civil nuclear capability. “
In early 2008, Rolls-Royce announced the establishment of a new business unit to address the global market for civil nuclear power. The civil nuclear market is currently worth around £30 billion a year and the company expects this to grow to £50 billion a year in 15 years’ time.
Rolls-Royce has the largest nuclear skills base in the UK, with an existing supply chain of 260 companies, and can support several of the key phases of a civil nuclear programme, including providing advice to governments and operators, and technical engineering support.
The company also has a growing presence in the Middle East across all its business sectors. In Abu Dhabi it has a number of agreements with companies affiliated to the Mubadala Development Company and is involved in the philanthropic work of the Emirates Foundation.
It powers Etihad aircraft and works with Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies and Abu Dhabi Ship Building. Rolls-Royce also participates in the Masdar vision to position Abu Dhabi as a world-class research and development hub for new energy technologies.
ADNOC, Shell sign MoU on offshore gas
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, and Shell Abu Dhabi signed a Memorandum of Understanding during November’s ADIPEC conference and exhibition under which Shell will evaluate potential joint exploration, development and production with ADNOC of offshore deep gas fields prospects in Abu Dhabi. Once the evaluation is completed, Shell hopes to move forward rapidly with final agreements in order to quickly begin joint exploration and development activities.
While no details of the agreement were made available, it is understood to cover the whole of the offshore areas of the Emirate. In those areas where concessions already exist, the new MoU will only apply to deep gas prospects that lie beneath oil and gas reservoirs that are already being exploited or have been identified.
The MoU marks Shell’s first venture into the offshore areas of the Emirate. Onshore, it is a Joint Venture partner with ADNOC in the Abu Dhabi Onshore Company, ADCO, with an interest of 9.5% and in Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd, GASCO, with an interest of 15%.
Shell’s involvement in Abu Dhabi began in January 1939 when, as a shareholder, along with a number of other international companies, including BP, in Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd it signed an oil exploration concession agreement covering the whole of the Abu Dhabi onshore.
British Museum for Abu Dhabi?
The British Museum in London is in talks with the Tourist Development and Investment Company, TDIC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, ADTA, on ways in which it can have a presence in the new Cultural District on Sa’adiyat Island, according to TDIC CEO Lee Tabler.
Unlike the Louvre, from Paris, and the Guggenheim, the British Museum will not be establishing an outpost on Sa’adiyat that will carry its own name but will be working with TDIC on other museum projects.
One of the oldest-established museums in the world, the British Museum has extensive collections of artifacts from the Middle East and is also the location for the annual Seminar for Arabian Studies, the world’s leading yearly international conference on the archaeology of the Arabian peninsula.
ADNEC launches ExCeL London Phase 2
The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, ADNEC, has commenced the Phase 2 expansion of its ExCel Loondon exhibition and conference centre.
Scheduled for completion in Spring 2010, the Phase 2 development Excel London will see the venue increase its event space by 50% to become one of Europe’s largest exhibition centres.
According to Simon Horgan, ADNEC Group CEO, “The official launch of ExCeL London Phase 2 is evidence of Abu Dhabi’s commitment to establishing the venue as the leading European event centre. The extension will enable ExCeL London to stage a huge array of international events and compete with cities such as New York, Paris and Tokyo on an equal level.
“This investment, together with the development of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, is a key component in ADNEC Group’s strategy to become the world’s leading venue provider to the international exhibitions, conferences and live events industries by providing consistently high standards of venue facilities, management and client relationships and capitalising on the synergies which exist within a global venue network, thus bringing direct benefits back to Abu Dhabi.”
ExCeL London is one of Europe’s busiest exhibition centres having staged over 2,000 events since it opened in 2000, the venue will also play a significant role in the London 2012 Olympics staging at least 7 Olympic & 5 Paralympic events.
ADNEC purchased ExCel in May 2008 in a deal said to be worth more than Dh 2.3 billion.
Police laboratories accredited
Abu Dhabi Police’s forensic laboratories have been awarded a UK accreditation recognising the quality of their performance.
The force’s Criminal Evidence Section had been assessed by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) before being given the distinction, the police said yesterday.
Abu Dhabi Police is the first police department in the region to be given the accreditation after the UKAS found that its forensic testing labs met international standards.
Major General Nasser Al Nuaimi, the general secretary of the Interior Ministry, said: “This will enhance the trust of our clients and meet our aspirations. To have the UKAS name attached to our laboratories’ reports is in and of itself an achievement.”
The accreditation was the result of reforms and modernisation over the past three years, Al Nuaimi said.
Colonel Abdul Rahman al Hamadi, the head of the criminal evidence section, said it would apply to the UKAS next year for accreditation of other facilities, such as its fingerprinting laboratory.
“This is part of the initial commitment of Abu Dhabi Police to comply with the international standards of investigation and evidence,” he said.
The UKAS team arrived in the UAE in June. Final assessments were conducted in November.
To gain the accreditation, two committees were formed, one to supervise the progress of the training provided to the laboratory workers, and the other to ensure the quality of performance.
He said experts and technicians in the department’s poisons, drugs and alcohol laboratories have been trained in Germany for two years.
biz-events open Abu Dhabi office
biz events, the Dubai-based professional team-building company, has launched operations in Abu Dhabi to permit it to service more closely its rapidly-expanding base of clients in the capital city. The new office is headed by Senior Events Manager Andy Fieldhouse, who has ten years experience in the UK corporate events and team building market, working with multinational companies such as Microsoft, Barclays, Honda and Group 4 Securicor.
He says that team building is a high-impact tool to harness the power of people performance, to drive an organisation forward and a main focus of attention for him will be to raise awareness of team-building as a critical tool for business alignment and peak performance.
“biz-events delivers business benefits in one of the most fun, interactive and high-impact ways for businesses wanting to promote and encourage optimum people performance,” Fieldhouse claims. “Abu Dhabi companies with a focus on world’s best practice are increasingly seeing the value that professional team-building can provide to employee performance and their bottom line.”
Recent Abu Dhabi clients have included ADCO, Emirates Aluminium (EMAL), ADMA and ALDAR.
biz-events is a sister business of biz-ability - business and people performance specialists who work with organisations to accelerate business growth by optimising a company’s purpose, people and performance.
Herbert Smith appoints first Abu Dhabi managing partner
Herbert Smith has confirmed its commitment to its Middle East operations with the appointment of the firm’s first managing partner for the Abu Dhabi office. Andrew Newbery will relocate to the region in spring 2009, and will work alongside Neil Brimson, who has strategic responsibility for the firm’s Middle East practice.
Andrew already has significant experience in Abu Dhabi having successfully advised on major deals in the power and water sector there for the last decade. He has been consistently ranked as one of a small number of leading lawyers in the power market by Chambers UK and Chambers Global, whilst a recent edition of Legal 500 highlights his role in leading the legal team which advised an international consortium on a US$3 billion acquisition and project financing of a power project in Abu Dhabi – a deal which another publication commented was “undoubtedly the most innovative financing” of the year.
The office, which opened in May 2008, plans to build on the existing strengths of the Dubai office which currently boasts the region’s leading private equity practice and a renowned Islamic finance practice, as well as strong reputations in energy, projects and disputes. Finance lawyers based in Abu Dhabi will be able to work alongside colleagues in Dubai to help the firm’s private equity clients leverage their acquisitions and developments via the regional and, when they revitalise, international debt and capital markets.
Herbert Smith now has approximately 50 lawyers permanently in the region, with offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as lawyers in three Saudi Arabian cities seconded to local practices.
Kudsi recruit Trew
Locally-based Kudsi Law Firm have recruited former BBG Chairman Anthony Trew as a consultant, luring him out of a short-lived retirement back in Britain. Trew first came to Abu Dhabi in the late 1970s. His wife, Sheila, taught for many years at the International School of Choueifat. Quite why they wish to exchange a home on the edge of Ashdown Forest, south of London, and with its own wood full of bluebells, for a flat in Khalidiya escapes us, but it’s a pleasure to see them back!
Trowers and Hamlins open new office
Trowers & Hamlins has marked its 15th year in Abu Dhabi with a move into new offices at Al Bateen Towers, by the Central Bank. As part of its commitment to the capital, Trowers & Hamlins’ Abu Dhabi office has made a number of key lateral hires during 2008 to bolster its already successful project finance and corporate teams, advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, capital markets, commercial and IT contracts, real estate, projects, banking and finance and generally on doing business in the UAE.
Certifying Educational Documents
The British Council and the British Embassy recently issued joint guidance for the benefit of those needing to get their educational documents certified for presentation in the UAE.
Unfortunately the process is relatively complex and expensive, generally involving a trip to both the British Council and the Embassy, and couriering documents to the UK and back again. Each step of this process is currently a requirement by the relevant local authorities, and while the Embassy continues to make representations to allow for a simplification of the process, no majoir changes are anticipated in the short term.
The joint guidance is an effort at least to clarify the process and to provide one document which gives all the salient information needed.
A key feature of the process at the UAE end is that it is necessary for first-hand confirmation to be obtained from the issuing institution of the accuracy of the data shown on the documents. This is in order to combat any possibility of fraud. The British Council has an extensive database of the principal institutions concerned, and is working closely with them to streamline this process, but of course the procedure inevitably takes some time and is resource intensive.
The British Council and the Emhassy understand that there is at least one company in the UAE who offer to take care of the whole process for a fee, and, if appropriate, details will be added to the guidance in the future.
For further information please contact:
British Embassy Consular Section, email consularenquiries.ad@fco.gov.uk,
www.ukinuae.fco.gov.uk
British Council, tel 800 225522, email attestations.auh@ae.britishcouncil.org, www.britishcouncil.org/me
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