Ernst&Young, celebrating 80 years in Bahrain

Ernst&Young, celebrating 80 years in Bahrain

An interview with: Austin Rudman, Partner, Ernst & Young Middle East Austin has been with Ernst & Young for 14 years. He is married with three children and enjoys football, cricket and travelling With Ernst & Young s Middle Eastern business expanding, Bahrain is the ideal gateway to the region providing short flying times to neighbouring countries, an open economy, well-educated staff, competitive costs and a comfortable social environment. All of which helps to explain why the professional services giant has recently celebrated 80 successful years in Bahrain. From its offices in Manama s business district, leading professional services firm Ernst & Young s Middle East headquarters oversees more than 16 offices across 13 Arab-speaking countries, stretching from Libya to Oman, growing at approximately 30% every year. Of the 500 people who work out of the Bahrain office, some 30 are responsible for managing the region as a whole and overseeing support functions such as risk management, finance, IT and HR. Furthermore, a number of senior partners are based here, giving them easy access to the entire region. it takes our consultants four hours to drive from Bahrain to Riyadh for meetings and only an hour to get to the Eastern province, giving us a welcome alternative to flying

Gateway to the Middle East For any head office, you need a location that enables you ease of access and closeness to your market, remarks Austin Rudman, a Partner in the firm s Middle East office. You can get in and out of Bahrain without visas, and Gulf Air is headquartered here, which means you can fly to clients and nearby offices and back in the same day. There is also a causeway to Saudi Arabia and in a few years there will be another linking Bahrain to Qatar. For example, it takes our consultants four hours to drive from Bahrain to Riyadh for meetings and only an hour to get to the Eastern Province, giving us a welcome alternative to flying. The Qatar causeway will shave a four hour car journey down to less than an hour. It is for this reason that Ernst & Young has taken the decision to move their global energy headquarters from Houston, Texas to Bahrain. Open economy Although Ernst & Young has just celebrated its 80th year in Bahrain and was the first of the big four professional services firms to open here it took the decision to move its head office here from Dubai in the early 1990s. The firm s development across the region originally tracked the discovery of oil. Rudman says the Bahrain office was opened primarily as a business-friendly place from which to service the Saudi Arabian oil industry, and important clients such as BP. Impressive college graduates An attraction of Bahrain today is the quality of local employees. Rudman estimates the proportion of Bahrainis employed is at

40% today, compared with 20% five years ago, and notes that this includes partners and increasingly more professional staff. We get more impressed by the calibre of Bahraini college graduates every year, he says. We are recruiting very able and promising Bahraini men and women. Competitive costs Another advantage for Ernst & Young is cost. Both commercial and residential rents have soared in other Gulf countries in recent years, making Bahrain a comparatively inexpensive place to rent enough space for each worker. Office costs are 56% lower than in Dubai and 48% lower than in Doha. Comfortable living On a personal level, Rudman has found Bahrain welcoming and balanced. Socially, he plays sport. He likes the climate, which is not as hot as elsewhere. And, there are good international schools. Bahrain is a very pleasant place to live. Looking forward, he foresees an exciting future for Ernst & Young s Bahrain office, mirroring that of the Middle East as a whole. The global recession has not had as much of an impact here relative to other western developed countries. Indeed, we have significant investment plans based on the fact that GDP growth across the Middle East region will remain in the positive territory

About Ernst&Young Ernst & Young is one of the world s leading professional services companies. Its 135,000 employees across the globe provide assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. In Bahrain, it is the longest established of the professional services firms, and most recently celebrated 80 years in the country. Reasons for Bahrain Ease of access to clients Proximity to Saudi Arabia High quality, educated local staff Competitive costs Relaxed family life

About Bahrain The Gulf s rapid development is creating abundant opportunities for professional services. This includes law, accountancy, management consultancy, marketing services, engineering services and human resources. Bahrain s open economy makes it easy to do business and provides easy access to client opportunities across the region. CONTACT To find out how the Bahrain Economic Development Board can help you set up and support your business long-term, contact: The Business Development Department +973 1758 9969 invest@bahrain.com www.bahrain.com Office Hours: Sunday-Wednesday 8am-5pm Thursday 8am-2pm (GMT +3hrs)