Back in the roaring 1920s, a British army officer stationed in Alexandria decided he needed a change from military life.
Setting up operations in the suburbs of the Egyptian city, he first supplied provisions for railways in what was then the League of Nations mandate for Palestine.
Soon he had moved his headquarters to Haifa, then part of Palestine and one of the stops along the Palestine Railways that ran between 1920 and 1948. There he sold imported British goods ― considered a luxury at the time ― to customers as far away as Syria.
This included motor cars, with an advert in the Palestine Bulletin for October 13 , 1931 offering a “bargain” Austin 7 Saloon for sale.
Prospective buyers were invited to visit the shop on the Jaffa Road, named after this budding entrepreneur: Arthur Rawdon Spinney.
Spinneys supermarkets is just one of a number of instantly familiar retail names in the UAE. Jashanmal is another staple to the UAE. But the story of those two household names, the people behind them, and how they are woven into the history of the country, is perhaps not as well known.
Spinneys survived a bomb attack on its Jerusalem branch in 1936, and continued to expand across the Middle East, arriving in Baghdad, during the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt, and Beirut in 1948.
After the July 14 Revolution in Iraq in 1958, and the execution of King Faisal II, a decision was made to relocate the Baghdad outlet to Dubai.
The branch opened in 1962, in Al Nasr Square, with Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, Ruler of Dubai, as the first customer. He bought a bottle of grenadine syrup.
Locally, it became known as “The Frozen Chicken” because it was the only retailer to sell frozen poultry, using a chiller van.
Today, there are Spinneys supermarkets in Egypt, Jordan and Oman. In Lebanon, the brand is owned by Grey Mackenzie Retail, another trading name with deep roots in the region, and originally a shipping company founded in the 19th century. In Abu Dhabi, Grey Mackenzie still sells licensed beverages as part of Abu Dhabi Maritime and Mercantile International.
In the UAE, there are now more than 50 Spinneys supermarkets and convenience shops, with the brand name now owned by Albwardy Investments, which was founded by an Emirati businessman, Ali Albwardy.
As for Arthur Spinney, he retired in the 1960s, living in the English seaside town of Littlehampton until his death at the age of 83 in 1973.
Another familiar UAE brand very much retains its family connection. In 1919, a 24-year-old from Karachi, Rao Sahib Jashanmal, travelled to Basra in Iraq.
Like Pakistan and India, Basra was under British rule at the time, and seeing an opportunity to trade in the British Empire, he opened a store carrying the family name of Jashanmal, serving workers in the oil industry.
Oil was a major part of the Iraqi economy, and as discoveries were made in other countries in the Arabian Gulf, the Jashanmal family followed, taking advantage of this growing prosperity.
Led by Rao Sahib’s sons, Naraindas, Atma, Hiro and Mohan, Jashanmal stores could eventually be found Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai, selling high quality products from books and watches to Clarks desert boots.Tony Jashanmal, Rao Sahib’s grandson, now heads the company.
When oil was discovered in Abu Dhabi in 1958, Jashanmal set up shop at the exploration base on Das Island supplying workers, and then, later, in Abu Dhabi.
Today the fourth generation of the family is entering the business, which employs more than 5,000 people at more than 100 shops.
A version of this article was first published on September 1, 2022
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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.”
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1.600m
Winner: Miller’s House, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Kanood, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Gervais, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Important Mission, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Firnas, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Zhou Storm, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Grubtech
Founders: Mohamed Al Fayed and Mohammed Hammedi
Launched: October 2019
Employees: 50
Financing stage: Seed round (raised $2 million)
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
