The announcement in May 2006 that Michael Prophet was to set up a Morson branch in the United Arab Emirates, based in Dubai, has proved to be a winner in the short time that Michael has been there.

The brief was simple, Michael, as the newly appointed representative for the Middle East area, was tasked to investigate the possibilities of expansion in Dubai for both the Permanent and Contract side of Morson. 

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Now we are in 2007 and nine months into the project, how are things out there in the Middle East ?

Michael reports.

"My homework, before I left the UK, was to secure a couple of meetings with essential people who could help me.  My first  meeting was at the Embassy, situated on the creek in downtown Dubai. This proved an invaluable meeting, providing a whole ream of ideas to work on and of course, competitor analysis.

The second meeting was with a company called Links, who could give me all the answers to setting up and legalising operations out in Dubai. The laws of the Emirates are totally different from the UK and of course, the cultural differences are immense.

From the Morson point of view, it is well known that the level of Construction activity in Dubai, the adjoining Emirates and throughout the Middle East is vast.  Wherever you look, there are buildings shooting up to satisfy both the Commercial and Industrial sectors.  There is also a huge residential program which has led to some magnificent developments such as the Palm Islands and the Burj Dubai, which will be the world's tallest building when it is completed in 2008. (it is up to one hundred and two floors at present).

I am delighted to announce that the developers of these two projects are now our clients with Arabtec, a preferred business partner.

In addition to the Middle Eastern companies aforementioned, we have also secured the custom of Drake & Scull, who have a large base in Dubai controlling their operations and joint ventures throughout the Middle East region.

Endemic in the Gulf is boat building. the ancient dhow design goes back thousands of years and the sea remains a source of livelihood for many emiratees to this day. These days, the ancient art of dhow building is still flourishing, hand in hand with the ultra modern technical designed of the modern ocean racer.

The famous racing yacht builders and designers, V1-Tech are just about to begin operations at their new boatyard and office complex north of Dubai. Once again, Morson will be working with them to recruit key indidividuals.

Oil and Gas are of course, a major element here in the Gulf, and although Dubai city is not a major hub of the industry, many companies are headquartered here. Once again Morson are proud to have secured contracts with two customers, with whom we are liaising closely with on their expansion and development plans all over the Middle East and beyond."