UK HOUSE IN UAE

Today, the UAE and UK advertising industries came together to meet and discuss ideas. The event featured 90 minutes of high-quality discussion and presentations by leaders and innovators from both the UK and the UAE. 

First up was the Meeting of Minds panel which was moderated by Laura Swinton, Little Black Book,.  

Laura was joined by Josh Busteed, Chief Commercial Officer at Arabian Radio Network based in Dubai and Louise Roberts, MD, MullenLowe Profero UAE based in Abu Dhabi. The panel discussed the business differences in both regions even though there is less than a two-hour drive between them. In both markets, there is an ambition to continue to grow fast and embrace innovation. This is seen further by the removable to some the barriers around setting up businesses in the markets and the changes to visas as a result of the pandemic – such as the introduction of the golden visa.  

The Dubai Expo has had a positive effect on the market and in terms of the economy it is now back to 2019 levels.  

Advertising companies work with partners all around the world and often clients are looking for shops outside of the region. However, it was felt that in order to grow a company in the market you needed to have a long-term goal to have a presence.  

Natalie Amos of Four Communications who leads their lifestyle team in Dubai, presented a new white paper on the consumers driving the travel industry’s recovery and gave a fantastic presentation on the MENA traveler. Attendees learned about the recent growth within the travel industry, seeing +2.4% UAE and an even higher, +4% in Saudi – there’s a real optimism within the UAE. This is further evidenced in the fact that 80% of the people in the region are planning big budget international trips. This the highest number in the world.  

Saleem Sharma, Director of social media at Crowd presented a case study ‘Finding Ras Al Khaimah with #iFoundRAK’ which showed how to use data driven creative to reach and engage audiences. Continuing the discussion of creative excellence in the market, Thea Skelton,Festival Director at Dubai Lynx, provided an insight into Dubai Lynx, MENA’s premier festival of creativity, bringing MENA’s creative communications industry together to learn, network and celebrate the power of creativity. The festival, which is attended by many of the creative leaders within the region; is there to help the region benchmark their creativity and help the to put a spotlight on the industry globally. 

This was the last UK House event for 2021, however the UKAEG will be announcing a new series of global events in early 2022. In the meantime, you can learn more about UK House by emailing  

Aisling Conlon, International Trade Director or head to www.ukaeg.com.