Paris Norriss, a 30-year old Dubai-based entrepreneur, says he was left with €3 (Dh11) in his pocket and flight back home to the United Kingdom three weeks into his first attempt at building a business.
It was 2008, and having abandoned any hope of getting a dream job at Goldman Sachs, Mr Norriss had decided to throw himself head-first into a venture in Dubai that would involve selling financial products straight after graduating from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
“I left university in 2008 when the financial crisis happened,” says Mr Norriss. “Everybody I spoke to in the city, they’d all just fired 8,000 people. I told myself: Doo you really think you are going to get a job? So it forced me into thinking a bit more about entrepreneurship and setting up businesses because I realised getting a job in the banking sector wasn’t going to work.”
More than a dozen ventures later, which involved him selling insurance in Oman, and failing at many others, Mr Norriss found himself back in Dubai in 2012, a city which from the start he had pinned his hopes on as a gateway for growth. In his latest venture as the founder and partner in the regional branch of the teacher recruitment agency Coba Education, Mr Norriss says he has distilled the lessons learnt from watching the financial crisis unfurl before him.
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“Education is growing every year,” he says. “When the next 2008 happens and banks are going bust, when the equivalent of Lehman Brothers happens, people will still be educating their children. It’s always growing and growing with population.”
And the proof, he says, is in the pudding at a time when the UAE economy is beginning to show signs of strain amid the biggest drop in the price of oil since 2008. Since last year, Coba Education has struck partnerships with 30 schools in the UAE and has found jobs for more than 60 teachers. And business is set to get even better after the company landed a government contract to supply 150 teachers.
Investment in education is an activity that is taken very seriously in the UAE and it is an area that the federal government continues to spend on despite the drop in oil revenues. Private schools are also mushrooming as investors see an opportunity to capitalise on a keenly felt shortage of school places.
A record 21 private schools will open in Dubai for the next academic year, more than the total for the past two years, according to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority. The private school regulator said there was enough demand for the schools, but they would need to find their own niches to succeed.
The Abu Dhabi Education Council’s private school master plan projects a pupil population growth of about 5 per cent annually, reaching about 280,000 in 2020. About 230,000 pupils are registered in 187 private schools across the emirate this academic year.
As well as supporting education, the government is keen to support small and medium-sized enterprises such as the one Mr Norriss runs. But while companies can benefit from tax-free status and relatively cheap office space, Mr Norriss says that start-up costs are too onerous and incorporation turnaround time is too long, especially for entrepreneurs with little seed capital who need to start businesses as quickly as possible. He says he spent Dh55,000 to incorporate Coba Education and that it took him six months to get the business up and running. And once up and running, Mr Norriss says he had to spend about Dh13,000 for each employee, mostly for visa and medical insurance costs as well as for a desk and computer. In the UK, he said it would take him the equivalent of Dh1,000 and 45 minutes to get incorporated.
“If you applied those costs to Mark Zuckerberg when he set up, Facebook wouldn’t exist because they didn’t have that money. They were students and they started it with mates in a dorm room. So for SMEs, for the idea of getting something started from nothing, you can’t do that. You need a certain amount of money.”
Still, Mr Norriss isn’t too concerned as he has been fortunate to overcome the hurdles to get his business going, even though he feels that younger people trying to cut their teeth should be given more of a chance to succeed, considering how vital SMEs are for the local economy.
So fast is Mr Norriss’s own business growing – a company that is in essence itself a franchise of a UK-based firm – that he is setting his sights on further regional and then global growth. He also has a vision of a day when teachers can easily access opportunities around the world via a single online resource.
“There needs to be a global network of teachers,” he said. “So teachers in the US can go teach English in Beijing and a teacher in Mandarin can go teach in the UAE. At the moment, we cover a few countries, but my vision is to have an office in most of the major countries of the world.”
mkassem@thenational.ae
We are on the lookout for SME success stories. If you want to have your business profiled, contact us at business@thenational.ae.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2 (Heaton (og) 42', Lindelof 64')
Aston Villa 2 (Grealish 11', Mings 66')
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FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
India squads
Test squad against Afghanistan: Rahane (c), Dhawan, Vijay, Rahul, Pujara, Karun, Saha, Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Umesh, Shami, Pandya, Ishant, Thakur.
T20 squad against Ireland and England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Raina, Pandey, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh.
ODI squad against England: Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Shreyas, Rayudu, Dhoni, Karthik, Chahal, Kuldeep, Sundar, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya, Kaul, Umesh
How to donate
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Genesis G80 2020 5.0-litre Royal Specs
Engine: 5-litre V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 505Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L/100km
Price: Dh260,500
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
Teams in the EHL
White Bears, Al Ain Theebs, Dubai Mighty Camels, Abu Dhabi Storms, Abu Dhabi Scorpions and Vipers
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Freezer tips
- Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
- If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
- Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
- The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
Squads
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Babar Azam (vc), Abid Ali, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hasnain, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz
Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Minod Bhanuka, Angelo Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara
PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday
AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)
Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)
Benevento v Parma (5pm)
Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)
Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)
Lazio v Spezia (5pm)
Napoli v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)
Torino v Juventus (8pm)
Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)
RACE RESULTS
1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1hr 21min 48.527sec
2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) at 0.658sec
3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 6.012
4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 7.430
5. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN/Ferrari) 20.370
6. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) 1:13.160
7. Sergio Pérez (MEX/Force India) 1 lap
8. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Force India) 1 lap
9. Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) 1 lap
10. Lance Stroll (CAN/Williams) 1 lap
11. Jolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault) 1 lap
12. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/McLaren) 1 lap
13. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Renault) 1 lap
14. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Sauber) 1 lap
15. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber) 2 laps
16. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) 3 laps
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
