Ronald Barrott

'The IPO did attract my attention at the time,' says Mr. Barrott, sitting in his temporary offices in Abu Dhabi this week. 'Then later on I was approached by the chairman, Mr. Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, who was looking for very experienced management to meet the high expectations of his shareholders.'

But why did Mr. Barrott choose to come to Abu Dhabi when his own career in the UK and European property sector has left him a very wealthy man indeed, even by the standards of Abu Dhabi?

'After selling Stannifer I stayed to oversee the change of ownership until April 2005, and then needed a new challenge. It is true I had a number of interesting offers in the UK, but Abu Dhabi is a new market and this is what interests me.'

Mr. Barrott has considerable experience of taking property companies from an early stage and growing them. But what else does he hope to achieve in Abu Dhabi with Aldar?

'This job is an opportunity to make an impression on Abu Dhabi and deliver quality developments of excellent design. Abu Dhabi is going to go through controlled growth and has the potential to become one of the world's best cities.

'What we have to ensure is that development activity does not affect the city's infrastructure too greatly, and that you can still cross it in 20 minutes as today. We will use international best practice and create an international public company with a magnificent property portfolio.'

Does that mean then that foreign shareholders are going to be admitted?

'We are working on that for the future, and this is a part of our strategy to take Aldar overseas. I am putting the necessary changes in place, and in order to become a dominant player we will need international institutional investors.

'But our main focus is on Abu Dhabi and to build a very robust company for the UAE. Overseas expansion takes a lot of time if you want to do it properly and can quickly go wrong otherwise, as I know from experience.'

However, Mr. Barrott is unlikely to offer property investors the prospect of a quick profit when apartment sales start on the $14.7 billion Al Raha Beach project early next year. He notes that selling at a discount means that shareholders are missing out on profits.

'I don't understand why a developer would do that. We will focus on delivering a quality product and creating a sustainable community of the highest standard. But it is my duty to maximize returns to the shareholders.'