Finalta has physical presence in Dubai since 2019. What is the story behind Finalta office in Dubai and why did you decide to relocate there?
My first study at Finalta was the first ever benchmarking study in the Middle East, and since then there hasn’t been an engagement in the region that I haven’t been involved in. The region has a unique pull that keeps me interested and energised. We knew early on that the Middle East was best served with a local presence (and that the overnight flights back from Riyadh to London had to stop at some point!), so moving to Dubai was something that was on my radar from very early on in my Finalta tenure. When the opportunity was confirmed in late 2018, it was a challenge I was thrilled to take on.
How have you grown at Finalta and what skills have helped you during your journey?
I joined Finalta as a fresh faced post graduate with an eagerness to learn, a strong work ethic and lots of curiosity. These skills matched up well with Finalta’s willingness to provide opportunities and responsibilities, and I’ve surprised myself on how rapidly I have grown both professionally and personally. Problem solving has always been a core strength of mine and I’ve sharpened this further since joining Finalta; but the area of steepest growth for me has been the effectiveness of my communication and relationship building. The work we do has the most impact when we’ve built trust based relationships with our teams and clients, and Finalta has re-affirmed the importance of the people experience (as well as the analysis) through great coaching and training.
What support do you get from the Firm and Finalta to develop your career journey?
Mentorship and guidance. It’s been so important to my journey – getting honest advice from Finalta and Firm leadership is something I’ll always be grateful for.
Which projects are you most proud of and why?
Almost impossible to pick one! All of our Middle East work fills me with a sense of pride – we’ve built our presence from scratch and now have a local office, an exciting growth plan and a growing team! If I HAD to pick one – we worked on a large proposal for a Middle Eastern bank for 3 weeks which combined Finalta’s granular insights, with the McKinsey team’s deep client and market knowledge. The client was impressed and we’ve been well embedded in the organisation since.
