EC Harris moves staff to avoid stalled contracts



The Dubai office of EC Harris, a UK-based project management and consultancy firm for the construction sector, is transferring staff to projects elsewhere in the region in an attempt to avoid redundancies brought on by stalled contracts. The move comes after the company's chief executive, Philip Youell, told the UK trade magazine Building last week that job cuts were "inevitable" as part of the firm's restructuring in light of a slowdown in the UK construction industry. A shortage of finance in the Dubai market has caused developers to rethink project plans, prompting construction consultants and contractors to search for ways of easing the blow to their order books. Michael Cairney, a director at EC Harris's Dubai office, said the company would re-assign its workforce across areas where demand was highest. EC Harris has a workforce of about 3,000 worldwide, of which more than 200 are in the UAE. "We're still in the process of doing what we can to avoid redundancies," he said. "We will consistently review the market as per the demands of our clients, and if those change then we will have to be flexible. There is going to be a severe slowdown for a while, and who knows how long it will last. "Fortunately, we're active in Fujairah, Al Ain and Abu Dhabi, which are riding the storm reasonably well, to the point where one of the options would be to ask people to go and work in one of these areas." Mr Cairney added that the company - which also has a presence in Qatar and Saudi Arabia - faced uncertainty with some contracts, leading it to set up a team to review contract conditions with clients on jobs that might be delayed. "It's pretty obvious to all that large-scale developers are slowing down projects or realigning them. Some of our contracts are roaring ahead with no issues - in fact we're taking advantage of lower prices. But other clients are saying they want to hold on to us for the next few months, and not to start anything fresh. "But if a client wants to bide some time on an existing contract, there's quite an involved process in stalling the work contractually. So we've got a team which assists clients who want to carry out that action successfully, because it's a contractual nightmare." He added that the company's joint-venture deal with Sama Dubai last year, which saw the creation of a project management company, was still "in play". Meanwhile, the order books of contractors are also expected to take a hit in the next few months, raising concern for their workers and the potential for transfer of staff to more profitable areas in the region. "Things have changed dramatically in the past few months," said Grahame McCaig, the general manager at Dutco Balfour Beatty. "The cost escalation issues we faced four or five months ago are no longer relevant. Now it's about cash management, liquidity and making sure our people are working. If a project gets pushed back by three or four months, that can affect your financial turnover for the year." agiuffrida@thenational.ae

Breast cancer in men: the facts

1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.

2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash. 

3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible. 

4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key. 

5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor

 

BRIEF SCORES

England 353 and 313-8 dec
(B Stokes 112, A Cook 88; M Morkel 3-70, K Rabada 3-85)  
(J Bairstow 63, T Westley 59, J Root 50; K Maharaj 3-50)
South Africa 175 and 252
(T Bavuma 52; T Roland-Jones 5-57, J Anderson 3-25)
(D Elgar 136; M Ali 4-45, T Roland-Jones 3-72)

Result: England won by 239 runs
England lead four-match series 2-1

Results

STAGE

1 . Filippo Ganna (Ineos) - 0:13:56

2. Stefan Bissegger (Education-Nippo) - 0:00:14

3. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:21

4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:24

5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) - 0:00:30

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

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2. Joao Almeida (QuickStep) - 0:00:05

3. Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep) - 0:00:18

4. Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) - 0:00:33

5. Adam Yates (Ineos) - 0:00:39

Stree

Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
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Barcelona 4 (Messi 23' pen, 45 1', 48', Busquets 85')

Celta Vigo 1 (Olaza 42')

Game Changer

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Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

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The biog

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France is her favourite country to visit

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Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country

The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns

Her motto is to never stop working for the country

Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:

Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm

Thursday April 25:  Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm

Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm

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THE BIO

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New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field

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Dream interviewee - Che Guevara

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Xpanceo

Started: 2018

Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov

Based: Dubai, UAE

Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality

Funding: $40 million

Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)

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Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.

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Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff 

May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'

Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff 

Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson 

Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party

Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters 

Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz 

Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party 

German intelligence warnings
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  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

ETFs explained

Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

Brief scores:

Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first

Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)

Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15

Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)

Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49

Squid Game season two

Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk 

Stars:  Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun

Rating: 4.5/5