If you ever required an example of the antithesis of sibling rivalry – in business at least – then CEO Event Management could qualify.
The company provides personnel for some of the nation’s biggest sporting fixtures and was founded by Charlotte Oliver after she visited Dubai for a holiday and stayed.
Before long, her younger sister Lucy was helping during UK university breaks and two years later joined the Barsha Heights business created in coffee shops full-time.
“I was fresh out of uni with a degree in business and fashion, didn’t know what I wanted to do and came with Dh2,500 to my name,” recalls Charlotte, 35, the managing director of CEO Event Management and a mother.
“After I’d spent that money I started to do work for a promotional company. While I was working an event someone approached me to help at another event.
“It grew from there; there was a gap for quality event staffing in the region and I decided to take a risk.”
Lucy, a law graduate working with London’s Financial Ombudsman Service, brought different skills to the business.
“Any holiday I’d come out and help,” says Lucy, now living in Dubai Marina with their brother Michael.
"Then I worked in London, dispute resolution, was commuting from home - it wasn't really for me. I loved being a financial ombudsman but it wasn't quite the career path I thought I was going down. I wanted to be a lawyer; I got into it thinking it was going to be [like the star in the movie] Legally Blonde.
“I missed my sister as well. Charlotte wanted to grow the business, at that point where I wasn’t happy. It slotted into place.”
Lucy became a director, involved in the daily management and strategic responsibilities of the company.
Now with 10 full-time employees, CEO Events Management – taking the initials of its founder – is celebrating 10 years.
Mostly involved in corporate hospitality, it has staffed everything from product launches, Al Ain Zoo’s birthday, Art Dubai, gala dinners and lavish weddings – “some want you to be bridesmaids”, says Lucy - to major events, including the Rugby Sevens, the Etihad Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Success largely sprang from those sports events becoming regular clients.
“The business snowballed in the boom period,” says Charlotte, who lives in Jumeirah Golf Estates.
____________
Read more:
Coach who overcame every hurdle passes on the wisdom she acquired
Week in the Life: Tara Young, the artistic director who brings La Perle in Dubai to life
____________
“We’d done small golf events, very corporate. Our first big event was the Barclay’s [now Dubai Duty Free] Tennis Championships, at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
“We love sports and I worked out from a business perspective, property launches come and go but the main sports events happen year on year - with those we had a foundation to build on.”
Now the English sisters activate up to 600 part-timers when needed, training and providing temporary work for recent graduates, wives or mums seeking part-time work, others between jobs.
“We want people to have brand knowledge, can hold a conversation, who are intelligent,” says Lucy.
Clients include HSBC, Chanel, Mubadala, Sony and Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority. CEO also ensured the Expo 2020 team successfully reached Dubai’s showcase locations in what became a winning bid.
“Most of it is on a scale. Rugby Sevens, for example, you’ve got a premier suite you staff from start to finish, so they have a bigger budget.
“We have 25 staff at the tennis [supporting existing venue employees]. We design uniforms, source tailoring; guests arrive for the opening hospitality, you sign them off, show them their seats. There’s a hospitality suite. We make sure who is meant to be there is, meetings happen.”
Adds Lucy: “Guests come and we meet them, itinerary for the day, any questions.
“Most CEOs are invited to most things. In the end you know them all; they know we’re part of it and can get them where they need to be.”
With some evidence of a tougher economic climate, the Olivers are optimistic but realistic.
“It’s a very different market now. It’s evolved, very competitive,” says Charlotte, who says she got the entrepreneurial bug from her father.
“I didn’t have any fear back then [in 2008]. It was a very immature market. I really believed in myself; we were in the right place at the right time. As years go you see different challenges.
“We’ve been lucky to ride difficult periods of economic uncertainty as we have a very loyal client base.
“We’ve never lost clients. Sponsorship stops or changes, for example Barclays with the tennis, budgets change or don’t have so much activation.”
With brother Michael also in Dubai and Lucy lending intuitive sisterly expertise, there’s a familial strength to the company.
“I’m really grateful I work with my sister; I’ll be having anxiety about something and she’s, ‘we’ve done this for years, pull yourself together.’
“Events are fun, but you do get some challenging situations, especially when people want to get to a certain area, police are saying they can’t and you’re the buffer. Lucy’s good at defusing the situation.
“We’ve done everything on gut feel, but we’re specialist in what we do. We’re not the cheapest, nor the most expensive, but we’re very hands on. For us it’s roll up your sleeves and hard work.
Occasionally, even, when they should be elsewhere. “I was nine months pregnant and at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship,” adds Charlotte. “They thought I was going to go into labour at the 18th hole.”
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
Biggest%20applause
%3Cp%3EAsked%20to%20rate%20Boris%20Johnson's%20leadership%20out%20of%2010%2C%20Mr%20Sunak%20awarded%20a%20full%2010%20for%20delivering%20Brexit%20%E2%80%94%20remarks%20that%20earned%20him%20his%20biggest%20round%20of%20applause%20of%20the%20night.%20%22My%20views%20are%20clear%2C%20when%20he%20was%20great%20he%20was%20great%20and%20it%20got%20to%20a%20point%20where%20we%20need%20to%20move%20forward.%20In%20delivering%20a%20solution%20to%20Brexit%20and%20winning%20an%20election%20that's%20a%2010%2F10%20-%20you've%20got%20to%20give%20the%20guy%20credit%20for%20that%2C%20no-one%20else%20could%20probably%20have%20done%20that.%22%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: Automatic
Power: 530bhp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh535,000
On sale: Now
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5