Chairman's UAE Visit: Driving Sustainability and Nuclear Partnerships

Our Chairman Martin Blackburn recently visited the UAE, heading a delegation of LRQA colleagues that held meetings with various clients, local partners, as well as internal work meetings with the Assessments and Inspection teams.

For their first stop on the visit, they met with UK’s Ambassador to the UAE, Edward Hobart CMG to work closely with the British Embassy UAE and Department for Business and Trade as we collectively support the UAE’s year of sustainability.

In addition, the team met with both existing and potential clients like Nawah, an energy company focused on harnessing the power of nuclear energy to provide a safe, reliable, clean, and sustainable supply of low-carbon electricity. We met with Craig Wilson, Commercial Vice President and Lulian Apostolie, Industrial Development Manager to discuss opportunities for us to work together given LRQA’s expertise in the nuclear sector across the whole lifecycle of projects from design to decommissioning.

Martin accompanied by Luis Cunha, Regional Director and Ayman Ktaily, Country Lead attended a ceremony hosted by H.E. Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, Director General, General Administration of Customs. 24 certifications from LRQA were on display that Abu Dhabi Customs has achieved for their management systems across Quality, Cyber Security, Asset Integrity, Human Resources Management, Facilities and Project Management, and Innovation Management. This is a unique feat that shows LRQA and the client’s commitment to excellence in such a critical role enabling trade between Abu Dhabi and the world.

Martin reiterated how proud LRQA is to partner with Abu Dhabi Customs as we look forward to build on this relationship to further support the continuous improvement journey of the client on topics so important such as cyber security and ESG, using our unique experience in Assessments, Cyber security and Advisory.  

Another client that the team met was Etisalat by e&, a major telecommunications provider which is reinventing itself into a digital innovative company. After years of successful collaboration, we charted a path, with Etisalat business excellence and strategy leadership team, on how LRQA can manage risk during and after this period of transformation. Our Cyber, Assurance, ESG offering is going to be instrumental to branch our services increasingly out of the UAE to Etisalat’s new business divisions and international operations.

As working with a local partner is key to any organization's success in the Middle East, we thank Khalid Al-Qubaisi for his assistance. He is involved in multiple capacities with several UAE companies, and we look forward to strengthening our relationship.

Speaking about his visit to the UAE, Martin said: “It was a huge privilege to spend time with our fantastic clients and team.  LRQA is uniquely placed to support the Middle East in becoming the next hub for sustainability and renewable energy by bringing global best practices to the region through our unmatched expertise in Assessments, Cybersecurity, Inspection, and Advisory. Our Middle East growth plan, and the hard work of our teams, are going to be instrumental in transforming our business in this region.”