Dubai made the latest move in a sweeping management shake-up of its state-linked companies this week, announcing a number of changes at Dubai Holding’s hotel business, Jumeirah Group.
Dubai Holding, owned by the ruler of Dubai, installed a new non-executive chairman and board for Jumeirah Group, one of the emirate’s most successful businesses.
Stephen Murphy, the former group chief executive of Virgin Group, was appointed non-executive chairman, while his predecessor Gerald Lawless was made president and group chief executive of Jumeirah, Dubai Holding said in a statement. Other appointments to the new board included executives from Hilton, the state-owned discount airline Flydubai, and Dubai Holding itself.
Jumeirah has been central to the emirate’s ambitions as an international tourism hub. As Dubai battled to turn around its debt crisis of 2009, it worked to shore up creditor confidence by strengthening corporate governance at its biggest firms. The emirate has needed to regain lenders’ trust after repeated debt restructuring. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012)