Increasing membership for British Business Group

The British Business Group, Dubai and Northern Emirates, is to widen its membership to reflect the many changes in the UAE business environment since the group was formed 17 years ago.

With 625 members, the BBG is one of the largest and most active business groups in the region.
The group's annual general meeting, held at the Dusit Dubai Hotel on May 26, heard that membership over the past year has grown by 7 per cent.

The meeting approved changes in the constitution which was drawn up in 1987 and had remained largely unchanged.

Chairman Jennifer Bibbings said: "We are making changes to reflect the realities of how business is done in the UAE. Commercial laws have changed since we were formed and many people now operate in free zones. We want to ensure that the BBG is representative of all those companies which have an interest in contributing towards the further expansion of UK-UAE trade and the new membership criteria should help achieve this."

Trade between the UK and the UAE is at an all-time high. Last year UK exports to the UAE topped £2 billion, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year. UAE exports to the UK were over£1 billion, an increase of 40 per cent.

Ms Bibbings reported another active year for the Group with a mixture of business, social and charity events.

The BBG is now supporting three educational projects. It has played a significant role in the establishment of The British University in Dubai, which opens in September, and also sponsors UAE students at Dubai Men's College to enable them to complete their higher education.
A new initiative is to assist with teacher training for the Tamkeen project in Dubai Knowledge Village, which was opened recently by the Crown Prince of Dubai, HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Tamkeen (Enablement) is a non-profit centre offering development programmes for the visually impaired to help them obtain skills that are vital in the workplace.

The annual meeting, which was attended by Ahmed Al-Banna, Deputy Director General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, elected committee members for the forthcoming year as follows:

Chairman, Jennifer Bibbings (Trowers & Hamlins), Vice-chairman, Nick Dutt (Air Miles), James Berry (James Berry & Associates), Ken Battye (Dubai English Speaking School), Guy Biddlecombe (HSBC Insurance), Martin Bond (Coutts & Co), Bob Collier (Al Futtaim Tibbett & Britten), Jo Maher (British Council), Steve Martin (HSBC), Elizabeth Sellwood (Real Estate Specialists), Roger Wilkinson (CompuNet 2010).