UK in Bahrain Bahrainthismonth.com May 2024 29 is that you create something worthwhile and then you hand it to the next generation or to the next leadership. I put very strict governance within our group. When a person reaches the age of 65, he or she has to step down from the board and hand it to the next generation. We’ve had very successful successions within our group already because of this policy. Your family has been involved in business with the UK since the 1940s. How is the relationship more than 80 years on? Very successful. It was started by my father, Rashid, at a time when our family had always been traditionally in the pearling business. It was very hard for my father to convince my grandfather to go into other businesses because it was not customary. One of the earliest ventures that he did was to create a relationship with a brand called Austin Cars and the emerging Land Rover, and marketed them around the Gulf. From the auto industry, we expanded into so many other products such as goods, machinery, real estate, and we even recently refitted the whole grid of the UK from Scotland to Wales with Midal cables. Is there anything else to add? I would like to see many Bahrainis and foreigners reaching out to us. They will be very surprised at how much they can learn from existing information that will enhance their businesses and create new businesses for themselves. Can you explain the rationale behind the decision for the BBBF to transition to the BCOCB? During the pandemic, we set up region-wide online events between ourselves and other business groups in the region to be able to ensure we had member activity. We also set up a number of higher-level management and committee meetings. The feeling generally was that there is a definitive shift in the future direction of the business groups and that we needed to adapt particularly with a view to creating more regional and global business opportunities for our members. So, we starting speaking to the Global Network Team at The British Chambers of Commerce led by the fantastic Anne-Marie Martin and her team. Abu Dhabi were the first to make a transition in the region and Bahrain decided to follow suit. How does this transition align with the evolving needs of the business community in Bahrain and the broader region? There are probably two separate models. Businesses are very much looking outward post-pandemic. They don’t just want to come and set up in Bahrain anymore and be done with it. They want to use Bahrain as a hub or a platform to other regional opportunities and also as a link to global markets, particularly Africa and Asia. Then we have the businesses on the ground that are content to stay local, however they still want to do more business with other regional and global entities. Being a Chamber allows us to better facilitate that combination of local – regional – global business reach. What benefits or opportunities does becoming a chamber of commerce offer to existing and new members, and businesses operating in Bahrain? Well first off, the Chamber is still run by local business volunteers, the very people who have lived and worked in Bahrain for many years both Bahraini and British. We understand what frustrations and hurdles the businesses here face because we have faced them. We know what hindrances exist for incoming business because our own businesses have dealt with them. Every business is unique but we are confident that we have the breadth of experience required to help support them in their business journey. Secondly, we have amongst our own membership all of the capability and expertise required by incoming and existing business. We pride ourselves on our business networking, it’s our cornerstone, and we mobilise that network to help new businesses get established within our database and in doing so we generate new business for existing members. What initiatives or programmes does the chamber intend to introduce or expand upon in its new capacity? As a direct response to recent feedback from our members as well as a review of existing database information, we have developed a programme of more frequent business and sector-specific meetings for business support and networking. Our new programme is called ‘Meet Me @ The Hub, ’a fantastic business centre set up and managed by our strategic partner ServCorp Bahrain, located at the Bahrain Financial Harbour with the team run by the dynamic Danni Hunneyball. Anything more to add? The pandemic has shown us that the world is a very small market place and that it can be worked in a different, more efficient way. It is not just filled with global corporations but now also entrepreneurs, business incubators, angel investors, start-ups, SMEs, increasing numbers of young professionals, and of course the industry disrupters. All of this works alongside big changes that we are seeing in the professional and business services sectors. It’s a very exciting time. But businesses are different now, doing business is different now, and so we must be different. The timing of the British Chamber of Commerce could not be better.
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