Hugh Bigley is the general manager of Deco Emirates, a retail fit-out business based in Dubai Investments Park. The Briton, 53, who has lived in the UAE for 15 years, has 30 years’ experience in the construction industry working his way up from a blue-collar worker in the United Kingdom to company manager in Dubai.
Describe your financial journey so far.
I was a blue-collar worker in the UK and coming to the UAE gave me the chance to manage and run a company. It wasn’t an overnight transition but I showed what I could do and found that the management and motivation of men came quite easily to me. Financially, I had left the UK from a position of nervousness and job insecurity. There I had lived and worked through two recessions; at least here we have only had one, which few on the planet avoided. Therefore, any money I ever had saved for a rainy day was always spent as it always seemed to be raining. However, as a journey, I started in a second-hand Toyota Corolla and now drive a new Porsche Cayenne, although sometimes it does seem like I’m financing my own Formula One team.
Are you a spender or a saver?
I’m a saver or I would have liked to have been in the position to save. Since I arrived here I have made goals and I like to achieve them. I find that living here does offer up distractions that one may normally avoid in your home country and that can be a deterrent to saving. Financial security is very important to me and now I am at an age that the distractions do not play so heavily on my mind I can save and invest for the things that matter to me.
Is money important to you?
Money is very important to me mostly because of my age. Once I turned 50, money became far more important. Financial security has become my key concern and my number one priority. I have invested in property in the UK, the UAE and elsewhere. My investments here have done remarkably well as I was an original investor in the property market. Those investments were a possible risk at first as there was nothing certain as to how the market may work, but I trust Dubai and believe it to be well managed, looking to enhance its perception and status. Also my property generates an income and I know it’s there should there be any future shocks.
Have you made financial mistakes?
I bought an apartment in the Caribbean six years ago and it is still being built. It puts the UAE’s problems into perspective. I now realise one has to be very careful about the area you invest. Of course, in 2007 the globe was a very different place. I bought in St Lucia thinking the sun, sea and relaxed atmosphere would be a winner to one and all, but the development is still a long way from being finished, and there are no guarantees. I was concerned about my UAE properties but now I am seeing strong returns.
What is your philosophy towards money?
Do not get overleveraged; do not live beyond your means. Stay sensible, do not see everything as a chance of more returns and don’t ever use a credit card. If you can’t buy it out of your current account, wait until you can.
What has been your biggest financial lesson?
Recessions are part of life. You have to make sure you are braced for it. Interest rates can kill you; I have seen them jump to ridiculous levels, between 12 and 15 per cent. I nearly had to leave my job in England once because the interest rates went so high; I was better unemployed and relying on welfare. You have to hold on and batten down the hatches; you have to be employable and willing to work so that once the chance comes, it doesn’t go to someone else, it comes to you.
What do you like to spend your money on?
Watching cricket mostly. I’m off to Australia on December 23 for a couple of weeks to see The Ashes.
ascott@thenational.ae
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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The%C2%A0specs%20
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Schedule:
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
MATCH DETAILS
Barcelona 0
Slavia Prague 0
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
Rating: 4/5
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
Company%20Profile
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Jawan
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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.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Company%20Profile
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Company%20Profile
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.