Travel and Tourism

Dubai sets a place for The Ivy restaurant

A branch of The Ivy, the London restaurant that is a popular celebrity hangout in which it is notoriously difficult to get a table, is to open in Dubai next spring.

Rebecca Bundhun

November 10, 2010

A branch of The Ivy, the London restaurant that is a popular celebrity hangout where it is notoriously difficult to get a table, is to open in Dubai next spring.

Jumeirah Group, which has the regional rights to the brand and manages hotels including the Burj Al Arab, made the announcement yesterday. The restaurant will be located in Emirates Towers, replacing Scarlett's, which will close from January 1 as construction on the new property begins.

"Clearly it will be like The Ivy and feel like The Ivy, but it will be a restaurant in its own right," said David O'Brien, the operations director at Caprice Holdings.

The Ivy and brands such as Le Caprice and Scott's are owned by Caprice Holdings, which is headed by the British restaurateur Richard Caring.

Jumeirah in September took over the Middle East rights for the brands from Tatweer, which, like Jumeirah, is also part of Dubai Holding. The Dubai restaurant will be designed by the London designer Martin Brudnizki, who will replicate the look and feel of the West End property, Jumeirah Group said.

Jumeirah declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal and the cost of developing the restaurant in Dubai.

"It is an expensive brand to build and there will be [a] high-end feel to it," said Phil Broad, the managing director of Jumeirah Restaurants. "It will be the green leather."

Mr Broad said Jumeirah was evaluating opportunities to launch the other Caprice brands in the region.

"We've got access to some amazing brands and not just The Ivy," he said. "We have no confirmed plans for any locations yet."

Mr O'Brien said The Ivy in London only took bookings a month in advance because of the strong demand. The restaurant receives between 1,200 and 1,300 calls a day for booking requests.

Jumeirah Restaurants's own brands include the Noodle House, which has licence agreements already signed in 11 countries.

For Caprice Holdings, the latest announcement is a continuation of its international expansion plans, with its brands already established in the US and Barbados.

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.”

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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