H.H. Sheikh Ahmed makes inaugural call to launch new UAE Contact Centre

The opening ceremony was attended by VIP guests, including H.M. Ambassador to the UAE, Mr Richard Makepeace; British Consul General, Mr John Hawkins; Roger Johnson, Director Overseas Operations, VisitBritain; and Jo Maher, Director Operations, British Council UAE; along with an invited audience of representatives from the UAE and UK communities, who were joined at the celebration by students from the British Council.

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed made the first call to the Contact Centre - the first collaboration of its kind by the British Council and VisitBritain, anywhere in the Middle East - which is based at the British Council offices in Dubai.

Bassam Dourzi, Country Customer Services Manager for the British Council, explained the concept: "The new Contact Centre will handle all customer enquiries for both organisations in the UAE, creating a single point of contact for information and advice about the UK, and allowing our front line service staff to deal with members of the community face to face."

He explained that Contact Centre Customer Advisers will provide added value by building and enhancing relationships with the community, as well as providing information and assistance. The centre has been designed to be scaleable and flexible and may eventually broaden its scope geographically within the Middle East and possibly include other UK agencies or organisations with shared British interests.

The official opening programme included a short flute recital by UAE musician and teacher, Tala Badri. The Dubai-based flautist, who studied music in Britain, was accompanied by one of her students on the piano.

Addressing the audience at the inauguration, H.M Ambassador to the UAE, Mr Richard Makepeace, stated that the joint Contact Centre was "a significant development not just for the British Council and VisitBritain but for the entire British presence in the UAE."

Carol Maddison, Regional Marketing Manager, VisitBritain, commented: "In launching the Contact Centre, VisitBritain aims to create easier access to quality information and advice about the UK as a tourism destination, for people in the UAE. Our team of highly trained advisers will be able to assist callers with travel and tourism enquiries related to the UK. Working with the British Council, we will also be listening carefully to the community and sharing our insights to ensure we offer information and services which continue to meet the needs of the community in the UAE."

Jo Maher, Director Operations for the British Council in the UAE, explained how the Contact Centre concept fits with the British Council's strategy: "Very simply, we aim to reach out to more people in the UAE and serve them better. The Contact Centre will help us enhance our knowledge of the UAE's community, allowing us to learn more about and understand their needs. We will then be better able to anticipate and respond to these needs. This approach will help us to create stronger, more mutually beneficial relationships between the UK and the community in the UAE, which is the ultimate aim of the British Council."

The Contact Centre takes calls from all across the UAE and supports the work of the British Council's four offices in the UAE - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah - as well as VisitBritain's regional head office, in Dubai. The service will support multimedia - telephony, email, fax, internet, mail - and English and Arabic languages, as well as other commonly used languages in the UAE.