Danielle Nay is the founder of Transformers, a Dubai-based event supplier that provides bespoke costume characters that make Lady Gaga look understated, as well as the latest technological gadgets and live acts. The Briton launched the venture in 2012, three years after moving to Dubai from London, where she had previously been the public relations director of Bob Geldof’s production company, Ten Alps. Ms Nay, 47, claims to be a good friend of Sir Bob’s, pulling off his 50th and 60th birthday bashes and the wedding of his late daughter Peaches – in which the couple’s puppy acted as the ring bearer.
6.30am
I get up and clear my inbox of emergency emails. I have my iPhone for phone calls and apps and my BlackBerry for email, and I’m constantly emptying inboxes. Events requests are like buses – some days there are none, then seven come along at once. I have breakfast with my husband, who I moved to Dubai to be with when we got tired of the long-distance relationship. I eat eggs for breakfast mainly, but if I’m on a fad diet it might be juice.
7.30am
I walk our dog, Freeway, who is I believe is the only löwchen living in the UAE. They were bred as footwarmers for 17th-century aristocrats, so have it hardwired into their brains to sit on your feet. Our Filipina housekeeper Joan walks him if I’m too busy. She’s a fabulous chef – I can throw The Ivy’s cookbook at her and she gets on with it.
8.30am
I go to my studio and office in Al Quoz for a catch-up with my team of six. I plan the resources, figure out who’s going to be working on which project, and assure that they know where to be and when. I get a phone call requesting our laser-cut table-centre pieces for a local wedding. We also arrange 24-carat gold leaf and silver body art for the henna party.
9.30am
I’m on site at the JW Marriott Marquis with my crew, who are setting up what’s needed for an event – in this case, a digital graffiti wall. Everybody loves technology and wants the next big thing, which is always terribly expensive. This is actually old technology, but reapplied in an interesting way. We recently provided the wall for Roche, the global pharmaceuticals company. While their president was giving a speech to his senior marketeers, an artist was filmed spray-painting the subject matter in his speech. Everyone could see him on a screen but assumed it was pre-filmed. At the end, the president revealed the artist and added his signature to the painting.
10.30am
I have a client meeting in a hotel coffee shop. In a typical meeting, a client says: “We’ve got this event, it’s a business audience, here’s what they’re trying to communicate. What can we have?” I throw ideas at them until something sticks. I can’t draw, but I see something in my head and have a designer who reads my mind and puts it down on paper. We go back to the client with a costing and sketch.
11.30am
I have a meeting in Abu Dhabi, where I always feel completely lost, so I take a driver and work in the car en route. We’ve got a booking for a troupe of synchronised swimmers for a pool party at Yas Viceroy Hotel. I check the pool is deep enough for the swimmers and where they can get changed. We’re also supplying Formula One-themed hostesses and racing car simulators, so I check the simulators will fit in the lifts.
3pm
I meet our clients from Flash for lunch to discuss the family-orientated urban art project on Abu Dhabi’s Corniche beach that we’re doing for the Yasalam Festival. I get calls and emails throughout the day, asking for astronaut and deep-sea diver costumes, a harpist, six bagpipers and a London guard costume.
6pm
Back in the studio, I watch our costume characters being dressed and having their crazy hair and makeup done, before being taken in a minibus to the venue. Tonight, it’s The Dubai Mall. We fill their trays with candy and send them out to interact with customers. My favourite character is the human lantern.
7.30pm
I attend a gala dinner with an acoustic band we’ve brought over called the London Essentials, who get in among the crowd and create a great ambience. They’ve done parties for Richard Branson and his family. I don’t eat at these events because clients often forget to feed us, so there’s a bit of petrol station action for dinner. Sometimes we work through the night. We’re not allowed to go into a mall to set up an installation until it closes at 10, or midnight at weekends, and it has to be ready by 8am the next morning.
Midnight or later
Before bed I pack for a trip to Doha the next day to visit our clients at the Doha Film Institute. People ask me if I ever run out of ideas. But thinking up ideas is the easy bit. It’s figuring out how to get stuff made and how much it’s going to cost that’s tricky. When I show people what we do, their eyes always light up.
business@thenational.ae
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Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
KINGDOM%20OF%20THE%20PLANET%20OF%20THE%20APES
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Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
Australia men's Test cricket fixtures 2021/22
One-off Test v Afghanistan:
Nov 27-Dec 1: Blundstone Arena, Hobart
The Ashes v England:
Dec 8-12: 1st Test, Gabba, Brisbane
Dec 16-20: 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (day/night)
Dec 26-30: 3rd Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Jan 5-9, 2022: 4th Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Jan 14-18: 5th Test, Optus Stadium, Perth
RIVER%20SPIRIT
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELeila%20Aboulela%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Saqi%20Books%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Barbie
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded