I would first like to welcome you all back after the summer. Having said that, I know many of you may not have managed a break due to the increasing buzz around Abu Dhabi at the moment. Gone are the days when summer gave us unrestricted parking at Spinneys and unreserved access to our favourite restaurants. Nor did Ramadan see the usual drop in activity that we saw as recently as three years ago. Abu Dhabi really seems to be taking off in an unprecedented manner.

We at the Embassy have had a busy summer but, thankfully, most staff have managed to take a summer break. Sadly we lost two of our senior commercial staff, Soni Prashanth and Anna Kovoor, who have moved on to pastures new. This leaves a considerable gap in our collective knowledge but we are confident we will be ready for the winter challenges! I would like to introduce you to Graeme Mullin, a new member of the team. Graeme brings a great deal of experience in the environment and oil and gas sectors and will be getting to know a lot of you over the coming months. Some of you may already know him from BBG meetings.

The summer months saw the visits of Malcolm Wicks, the UK Energy Minister and Sir Digby Jones, the Trade Minister, whom we remember for his stirring speech at the BBG lunch. We also had a number of other visitors, some of whom were looking at setting up operations in Abu Dhabi. One thing that strikes me is the amount of legal firms and architects that are new to Abu Dhabi. A sure sign of successful times, I suspect. Another pointer is the interest we have noticed from recruitment companies. One important UAE-related event in Britain during the summer was a large conference, held at Buckingham Palace, to promote the Masdar initiative, and to explore how Britain can become more closely involved with this exciting project.

The news of the purchase of Manchester City Football Club has attracted most attention, of course. Following this, I read with some amusement that the Newcastle United owner had hurried over, albeit fruitlessly, to the Emirates! I am sure Manchester United fans will welcome the competition.

The coming months see the ADIPEC exhibition, to which the Energy Industries Council will bring the usual high quality British group, the MEED conference, and various other events and exhibitions. We are also expecting a very senior visitor at that time, together with at least three other senior visitors before Christmas. Together with this, we have a number of events and trade missions, notably the Scottish Development group and other regional missions. Further on the horizon, the World Future Energy Summit is taking place in January with the Lord Mayor of London, the City’s Financial Ambassador, (sadly not the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson), due in February. Before then, there will be the annual Poppy Ball, UAE National Day, Eid al-Fitr, Christmas and New Year. All in all, a very busy schedule.

We at the UKTI section in the Embassy are happy to discuss any of the events mentioned above or indeed, anything related to UK plc and investments or exports to Abu Dhabi. We have a vast amount of local knowledge and are happy to share it (unless it is a chargeable service!) with British businessmen on the ground. Through our Emirati colleague, Omar, we are also able to provide some tips on doing business in Abu Dhabi and hints that may just give you the edge over a competitor. Please keep in touch with us.