UK-based City & Guilds, one of the world’s leading vocational qualification awarding bodies, has announced plans to open a new operating hub in Dubai.

City & Guilds has been working in the Middle East and South Asia for a number of years.

The company said that the new Dubai office would help it to ‘cement’ its relationship with businesses there and in surrounding countries, as it renews its efforts to improve workforce skills in the Middle East.

Announcing the move, Amanda Kelleher, City & Guilds’ manager for the Middle East and South Asia Region, said that the new office marked a big change in the 130-year-old company’s approach to working with countries in the Middle East.

‘We’ve noted a steady increase in our sales here,’ she explained, ‘so there’s clearly an appetite for the many qualifications we offer.

‘We’ve already been working with businesses in the region for several years,’ she continued, ‘so in a sense this is only one more way for us to cement our relationship with employers and learners alike in UAE and Gulf States.

'In the Middle East there’s a strong regional emphasis on workforce development, and we’re very pleased indeed to be able to support this by helping businesses and learners to develop the skills that they need. We’re also very excited about what it means for our future in the region, and look forward to working with yet more businesses and learners in this incredibly dynamic market.'

Kelleher added that the office would oversee operations in the Middles East, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh, offering a range of qualifications in areas as diverse as teaching and training, engineering & construction, hospitality and catering, and English language skills.

City & Guilds currently operates in 81 countries, qualifying 1.6 million learners every year.

In addition to its move in Dubai, the company has also recently announced a joint venture in India with Manipal Education. The joint venture saw the launch of a new training company, IndiaSkills, which will initially operate from over 300 centres across India and Nepal.-TradeArabia News Service