Ian Palmer is the general manager of Capital Club, a private members’ club in the Gate Village in the Dubai International Financial Centre popular with UAE businesspeople. Previously at UK establishments The Club at Café Royal, The Arts Club, Savoy Group and Devonshire Club, the Briton, 43, started his current role earlier this year. He lives close to DIFC with his wife Jean, a marketing director; his nine-year-old daughter is at a UK boarding school.
7am
I get up, have 20 minutes in the pool and then get ready for work. I have a juice from a NutriBullet, then ginger tea and biscuits at work. We’ve a very good pastry chef [at the club] so there’s always something new to taste.
7.45am
I walk to work in 10 minutes, meet all the staff; at any given time there are 40 to 50 in the building. If they need anything I make that part of my plan. Their day is just as important; if they don’t have the tools or support they need how can we, as a team, bring that level of hospitality.
8am
Important emails have to be handled and I’m planning the day, making sure appointments are in line. I meet our executive team, go through what’s happening that day, talk to board members, update on how the club is doing. The club is being updated, an upgrade bringing it to where it needs to be. The club itself, its ethos, is what we’re building on, what the club is known for, which is really about the members and making the offering relevant.
10.30am
My daughter is up for school so I get on FaceTime. We go through what she’s been doing and sometimes do homework together. It’s my opportunity to catch up so we don’t miss each other as much.
11am
We have a team briefing that considers the previous day’s business and we go through our event order for the day, which VIPs we’ve coming in – royalty, celebrities – and overseas guests that visit our members. We have a list of everybody coming. It’s a very personal service.
1pm
At lunchtime I try to keep everything light; a green salad or beef carpaccio, if possible, on the Club Table. That’s a tradition started in the 19th century in Pall Mall private members’ clubs in London. The rule is you sit next to the last person that sat down, so you always meet someone interesting. A club is about connecting people. If I’m on the Club Table with two people who haven’t met and I put them together, quite often they end up doing business. The club provides that private environment. Discretion is No 1; there are many business deals done here. They almost use the club as an incubator.
2.30pm
I walk around DIFC, see what everyone else is doing, check out other restaurants. We know each other. Part of the day is talking with DIFC about what’s changing. Capital Club is a hub; even though the DIFC is our landlord, they look to us to attract other businesses. We’re seen as a selling point.
4pm
We have a meeting about the newsletter, what we’re going to tell members. And we have an events meeting about what’s happening the following week.
5pm
We go through memberships – see who is up for renewal or who is coming in. We look at everything, background, how they’ve been introduced, who has proposed them and who seconded them. It’s about that member joining the community. Do you want to sit and have a conversation with this person? That’s how you create an exclusive and likeable environment. It’s not about net worth – we get entrepreneurs who are starting out.
6pm
Between now and 8pm everybody is coming in. I’m here to greet them. Members are using meeting rooms for private events and public events to which members are invited. We have a tradition every Tuesday that one of our members sponsors an event for all and they showcase their business. I will say a few words to welcome them.
8pm
You’ll often find me in the restaurant. This is the favourite time people come for dinner. Certain members like certain things so we’ll see who is in and send surprises, different amuse bouches. I’m front of house, introducing people. I’ll probably have dinner here. I’ll often say “send whatever you think is going to be good”. I like trying new things – it helps develop the menu.
10pm
I arrive home. Often we're connecting with friends on Facebook. One guilty pleasure is Netflix; you can't beat a bit of Blackadder. If I haven't had time, I go through the news. Because a lot of what we do is about business, we react to what's in the news and often create events around it. With Brexit we had a panel discussion.
Midnight
Bedtime depends on what’s happening here. It will be between midnight and 1am.
business@thenational.ae
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Race card:
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m.
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m.
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m.
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m.
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m.
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Results
6.30pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes Group Three US$200,000 (Turf) 2,000m; Winner: Ghaiyyath, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Cliffs Of Capri, Tadhg O’Shea, Jamie Osborne.
7.40pm: UAE Oaks Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.15pm: Zabeel Mile Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Zakouski, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby.
8.50pm: Meydan Sprint Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,000m; Winner: Waady, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
Spain drain
CONVICTED
Lionel Messi Found guilty in 2016 of of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying €4.1m in taxes on income earned from image rights. Sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined more than €2m. But prison sentence has since been replaced by another fine of €252,000.
Javier Mascherano Accepted one-year suspended sentence in January 2016 for tax fraud after found guilty of failing to pay €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012. Unlike Messi he avoided trial by admitting to tax evasion.
Angel di Maria Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Angel di Maria was fined and given a 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud during his time at Real Madrid. But he is unlikely to go to prison as is normal in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying sentence of less than two years.
SUSPECTED
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's star striker, accused of evading €14.7m in taxes, appears in court on Monday. Portuguese star faces four charges of fraud through offshore companies.
Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager accused of evading €3.3m in tax in 2011 and 2012, during time in charge at Real Madrid. But Gestifute, which represents him, says he has already settled matter with Spanish tax authorities.
Samuel Eto'o In November 2016, Spanish prosecutors sought jail sentence of 10 years and fines totalling €18m for Cameroonian, accused of failing to pay €3.9m in taxes during time at Barcelona from 2004 to 2009.
Radamel Falcao Colombian striker Falcao suspected of failing to correctly declare €7.4m of income earned from image rights between 2012 and 2013 while at Atletico Madrid. He has since paid €8.2m to Spanish tax authorities, a sum that includes interest on the original amount.
Jorge Mendes Portuguese super-agent put under official investigation last month by Spanish court investigating alleged tax evasion by Falcao, a client of his. He defended himself, telling closed-door hearing he "never" advised players in tax matters.
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UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
