On each of the 20 tables in the lobby of the Yas Hotel, a single deep pink rose sits in a small, boat-shaped glass vase. Each is wrapped in a delicate piece of paper that matches the colour of the petals exactly, and tied by a dainty piece of wire. Each sits perfectly in its vase at exactly the same angle as the 19 others.
In the corner of the lobby, tall glass cylinders of gladioli, roses and Asiatic lilies in vivid pinks and purples create an eye-catching centrepiece on the white grand piano, while across the room, a row of six elegant white orchids leads the eye down the pristine white corridor to the lifts.
Admiring guests are having their photographs taken by the flamboyant display on the piano. Tamara Monaghan, the hotel's in-house floral designer, looks on. For her, this is job satisfaction. "I love it when I see people taking pleasure in what I make," she says. "It's the best part of the job."
Tamara, originally from Adelaide, Australia, has been working with flowers for 22 years (she began when she was 15), and has been with the hotel since it opened. Her job is to dress the lobby, walkways, six restaurants and numerous bars and lounges - in fact almost every corner of the vast hotel - in fresh floral arrangements.
Each display lasts just five or six days, ("You will never see a dead flower in this hotel," she promises), which means the pruning, primping and spraying is an almost ceaseless task. Yet there is nothing mass produced about her creations. Drawing inspiration from the hotel's remarkable architectural features and contemporary, minimalist interiors, Tamara says each design is unique, never the same as anything she has done previously or, she says, will replicate again.
Each display is also coordinated with its immediate environment (especially its backdrop), so the flowers can make the maximum visual impact and complement their surroundings. "You don't want to confuse the eye," she explains. "Often, a single flower can be more striking than something bigger."
She says the challenge of creating something from scratch, often with limited supplies and time (she sometimes is given just 48 hours notice to fill a room), is something she thrives on, that she would get bored making the same thing every day.
The limitation of flower varieties means that she relies heavily on decorative accessories such as coloured water, beads and pearls, and she gets inventive with greenery.
Another challenge of the job is obtaining a consistent, substantial supply of flowers, which come from Kenya, Ethiopia, Thailand or China, having first been sent to distribution companies in Holland. Not all of them survive the journey. "I can open up boxes of flowers and have to send them all back to my suppliers. Sometimes they're dead, or sometimes just the wrong colour completely. When I have a last-minute huge function to cater for, it can get stressful."
During the hot summer months, the varieties available to buy dwindles considerably. Tamara is usually left to work with orchids, roses and, surprisingly, carnations. Often regarded as the low-budget flower, they're actually very underrated, she says. "They are incredibly versatile and cheap to use, of course. There is an Australian variety called Moon series (in a light, dusky mauve), which I use a lot."
Can a flower go out of fashion? It seems so. "Phalaenopsis orchids are a little passé now. They're seen and used everywhere. Before that, it was roses." She adds that she cringes at the thought of the flowers she did for her own wedding 20 years ago. "There was a lot of ribbon," she grimaces. "I thought I knew everything about flower arranging, but after just two years of training you really don't."
As part of her daily tasks, Tamara, who has previously worked with Britain's top floral designer, Jane Packer, creates all the table decorations for the hotel's restaurants and private functions. Dressing a table, she explains, requires certain rules: don't make a display too high (so that it obscures the face of your guests) and consider any scent sensitivities. Lilies, for example, aren't liked by everyone, often because of the association their strong scent has with funerals. It's also better, she says, to stick to no more than three colours in a design. Any more and it could look too busy.
If you're looking to really impress your dinner guests, however, Tamara also makes arrangements to order. Call the hotel, give her a budget and she'll make something special just for you. It's a service also on offer to the hotel's guests.
After the success of a floral design class she held at the hotel earlier this year, Tamara is looking to offer classes regularly. The pleasures gleaned from being creative with flowers is something she is clearly passionate about, and eager to share. "When I'm feeling low, I make a bouquet and everything's all right with the world," she smiles.
After giving me a practical demonstration (she is an excellent teacher), she presents me with an armful of roses and orchids so I can make my own display. I do, and not only does it look great, but it's also far easier than anticipated. And, she's right: it's also very therapeutic.
To view more of Tamara's creations visit www.theyashotel.com/photo-gallery. To order a floral arrangement, call 02 656 0000 or email tmonaghan@theyashotel.com.
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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Company%20Profile
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Specs%3A%202024%20McLaren%20Artura%20Spider
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Persuasion
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Company%20profile
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Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The%20specs
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Company%20Profile
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
