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Our annual report on women in business reveals that introducing policies alone is not enough to drive real progress, and that gender diversity gaps remain at a leadership level. If policy is not driving more women to the top, despite widespread use, then what will?

A report by Grant Thornton has found that, like their global counterparts, the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), highlights two key features of regional labour markets.

With VAT implementation taking effect in under six months, the Ministry of Finance are now providing further clarifications of the rules which will be imposed in respect of VAT within the UAE, furthermore we have seen updates across Saudi Arabia recently, with announcements being made in respect of the registration process. This short alert summarises the recent clarifications which the UAE have announced, alongside the registration elements required within Saudi Arabia.

The gender diversity issue has been on the business agenda for many years now, yet a third of businesses still have no women at a senior management level. We know that significant performance benefits come with having a diverse leadership team and there are certainly a large number of women capable of joining such teams.

There is no debating the vast level of change which an organisation will need to go through in order to prepare for its growth journey. To guide you through the process we outline the key considerations which you will need to take, alongside providing you with a comprehensive solution of services which Grant Thornton are well-versed in offering. To discuss how Grant Thornton can work with you during this phase, please contact us.

Hotels have largely been dismissive of any threats to their core business model over the past five years. But by 2020, the exponential growth of various online platforms will have forced them to change and innovate. The good news is that traditional hotels have numerous options at their disposal: rethinking the experience they offer, unbundling pricing, setting up new partnerships and more.

In 2017, leadership teams are grappling with new conditions of global risk. With few predicting the happenings of recent years, businesses around the world are striving to prepare for the further possibility of inconceivable events.

The future of the insurance landscape is changing and the impact of strategy on mid-market companies is increasing. The Insurance sector in the UAE has recently shown signs of being impacted by the challenging economic environment and lowering oil prices. With new regulation being introduced in January 2015 by the UAE Insurance Authority, insurance companies are still going through the challenge of adapting to the new regulation whilst aiming to remain resilient to economic conditions.

Almost 20 years since the dot-com era, the Nasdaq is reaching levels last seen during the previous boom. At the same time, we are witnessing business model changes driven by architectural transformations which could disrupt the global technology and media industry.

This alert follows on from the update in September 2015 and is intended to provide a brief synopsis of the impending Corporate Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT). To discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact us.

As consumers use online intermediaries to find the most economical rooms in a convenient location for their trip, hotels face a future in which the strength of their brand has dwindling influence over customer choice. But the hotels that can get branding right in a digital era face a clear opportunity to grow market share.

At the end of November 2013, Dubai was chosen to be the host city of the World Expo 2020. Dubai is the first Middle Eastern city to host an Expo. Official comments from the governments of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and almost all coverage in the mainstream media has been overwhelmingly positive. However, one of the most important questions can only be answered with research that is proprietary, original and systematic. It is: what do the people who live and work in the UAE really think about Dubai Expo 2020? Drawing on data and research from Insight Discovery, this report looks at the themes and trends arising as a result of the win.

With the Expo 2020 set to add $24 billion to the UAE economy and create innumerable opportunities due to the increased demand in various sectors namely leisure and tourism (with an estimated 25 million visitors expected to arrive), the need for hoteliers to change and implement emerging technology has never been needed more so than now.

24%: that is the proportion of women holding the most senior roles in businesses across the globe.