Businesses should prepare for the unexpected, such as fires.
Businesses should prepare for the unexpected, such as fires.

Ready for trouble is ready to do business



Business-continuity planning aims to keep your operation viable despite unexpected events, be they traffic snarls that strand employees or an earthquake. Nicola Gale spends her workdays counselling companies on the importance of planning for the unexpected. But it was not until recently that she appreciated just how crucial having such a plan could be. An electrical fire broke out in the ceiling tiles above her desk one afternoon. She dashed out of the office, looking for a fire extinguisher.
Her startled office mates told her there was only one, at the ground-floor reception. And the receptionist, the only person with access to the extinguisher, could not be found. "People were in the office fanning the flames," Ms Gale says. Luckily, the fire burnt itself out. Ms Gale, who is a part-time consultant with iON Risk Management in Dubai, has worked in the business continuity field, or helping businesses plan for the unexpected, for more than a decade.
That fire was the most personal reminder of how important such planning can be. If the fire hadn't burnt itself out, what would they have done? It's easy to see what's at stake in a fire, but what about a power cut that shuts down computer systems? Or a sandstorm that prevents workers from coming to work, or an outbreak of swine flu that afflicts key staff? About 80 per cent of businesses affected by a serious incident either never reopen or close within 18 months because the interruption hits them where it hurts the most - customer relationships, cash flow, reputation and staff morale, according to AXA Insurance UK.
One crisis familiar to many UAE residents was last year's 200-car pile up on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai road. The route used by nearly all commuters who travel between the cities was shut down for more than five hours as emergency crews tended to the injured and hauled away wreckage. Beyond the immediate concerns of the dead and injured, the motorway closure meant thousands of workers were unable to get into Dubai, leaving many businesses short of staff.
And while car crashes might be avoided with a bit of common sense, there are other disasters that cannot be anticipated, such as a militant attack or natural disaster. The UAE lies on several fault lines and was last shaken by an earthquake in 2005. The quake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, killed 10 people in Iran.Four years later, and many of those firms still don't have a plan for how to operate if such a disaster would occur again, says Ms Gale.
"Planning for business continuity is common sense but people get too bogged down in the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day running of the business," she says. But that might be starting to change. The influx of US and UK businesses opening branches in the Gulf is starting to push executives to do such planning. The home office, armed with these sorts of contingencies, wants to make sure Gulf operations comply.
Daman, the national health insurer, has been conducting a complete analysis of its business-continuity readiness for nearly two years now, according to Dr Michael Bitzer, its chief executive. "Anything from fire protection equipment but also expensive measures such as setting up a second data centre if HQ was completely destroyed," Dr Bitzer says. Dr Bitzer, who joined the organisation at its start in November 2005, has led it from when it had a staff of two, giving him an intimate knowledge of each of its departments. Today, Daman has six main clinics and employs 1,320 people.
"The biggest surprise is the little details," he says. "Which direction does a door open in case of fire? You realise weaknesses you wouldn't have noticed before." Meanwhile, Ms Gale is leading an effort to set up Business Area Recovery Sites in Abu Dhabi, which would be among the first located in the Gulf. Companies throughout MENA and India could have contracts to set up operations at these sites if they find themselves unable to work out of their home offices because of a crisis.
In order to come up with a business-continuity plan, the first thing any company or government should do is a risk assessment. The process is like sitting your company on the couch and, with a consultant playing the psychiatrist's role, drilling down to the essential elements: Who am I? What do I do? Executives are "often quite surprised what their core focus is", Ms Gale says. The process reveals what companies tend to take for granted.
Often, managers assume they will have staff working from home if they are unable to get to the office. They assume their IT operations can handle so many workers logging in from outside the system when, in reality, their systems cannot handle the traffic. Many small companies, in particular, forgo this process thinking they lack the sort of budget and staff necessary for continuity planning. But there are steps smaller firms can take, with a cost of less than $500 (Dh1,836), to make sure they are prepared for an interruption in business.
Ms Gale advises that a small firm should seek out a similar company and design an arrangement to exchange workspace with the other should one of them become unable to work out of their shop. And they should set up a call tree, with all employees' names and ways to contact them. It sounds simple but many firms do not have this information in one place. It is key to be able to alert employees quickly if a business place is inaccessible because of an incident or if they need to report to work in another location. Business owners should put together a "battle box" of items necessary for doing business. This can simply be pens, receipt books and business stationery.
This box should be stored in a location other than your business, either left with another business whose battle box you will store, or in secure storage far enough away from your business. Be sure to check the contacts of this box every three months or so. Batteries for flashlights might need to be replaced. Large or small, one key element businesses need to identify in an organisation is what is called a "single point of failure", Ms Gale advises.
Companies, especially small ones, often develop processes and procedures informally, where tasks and responsibilities are divided up. Day to day, the company functions well. But should something happen to this person or they cannot be found, then what? "Is there one woman who's been with the company for 10 years and is the only one who has a password to crucial pieces of information?" she asks. "Get that information out of her head!"
@Email:ashah@thenational.ae

End of free parking

- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18

- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued

- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket

- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200. 

- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200

- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Abu Dhabi traffic facts

Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road

The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.

Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.

The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.

The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.

Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019

 

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.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES

Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)

Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)

Wednesday

Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)

Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)

Norwich City v Everton (9pm)

Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)

Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)

Thursday

Burnley v Watford (9pm)

Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)

Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)

The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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The%20Specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELamborghini%20LM002%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205.2-litre%20V12%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20450hp%20at%206%2C800rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E500Nm%20at%204%2C500rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFive-speed%20manual%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100kph%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%209%20seconds%20(approx)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20(approx)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EYears%20built%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201986-93%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20vehicles%20built%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20328%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EValue%20today%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24300%2C000%2B%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPECS
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The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

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