Training boss set to launch operation in Middle East

Aug 19 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

TRAINING company boss Glenn Ridsdale is giving up his management role on Teesside to launch a new arm of his company in Dubai.

The managing director of Wynyard-based Apix Consulting is to start Apix ME (Middle East) to give advice to builders on the world’s largest manmade development.

The new business will run a training centre on behalf of developer Nakheel, which owns a 51% stake in a Waterfront scheme which will extend Dubai’s coastline by 492 miles with artificial islands strung out in the shape of a palm tree. It is aimed to transform 81 million square metres of desert and sea into a new community.

Apix ME will provide training for Nakheel staff on health and safety and environmental issues relating to large-scale construction developments and regeneration projects.

Ridsdale plans to add 10 people to his staff of five by Christmas.

“You only have to go to Dubai to see the sheer enormity of its potential. The volume of construction work is set to continue for at least the next 20 years,” he said.

“It will be a huge change but I’m looking forward to it. There will be a different culture and language to overcome but Dubai is winning the hearts and minds of people all over the world.”

The new business will operate in conjunction with the Teesside company, Apix Consulting, which was established in 2006, employs 13 staff and has an annual turnover of around £1m.

The company provides safety, health and environmental consultancy services to the chemical and pharmaceutical, power, gas processing and bio-fuel industries.

The Dubai Waterfront scheme will consist of a series of zones with mixed use including commercial, residential, resort, and amenity areas, described as “a world-class destination for residents, visitors and businesses in the world’s fastest growing city”.