New digital network aims to boost business between GCC and UK

The British Council has teamed up with professional networking platform LinkedIn to create a new digital network for UK alumni from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The network will connect 5,000 UK graduates from across the GCC in a bid to help them build contacts, seek out employment and business opportunities and connect with business and trade opportunities between the two regions.

The new network was launched in February during an event at the One and Only Royal Mirage hotel in Dubai, under the theme ‘Next Generation Gulf: Global, Connected, Creative’.

Gavin Anderson, country director of the British Council UAE, explained that the new platform could help develop greater business links among graduates, leading to a growth in business opportunities.

“There are around 20,000 students from the Gulf currently studying in the UK, and while alumni groups have traditionally been the domain of independent universities, we felt that by connecting all the UK alumni in the Gulf region via a digital platform we could open up new opportunities and enable the exchange of knowledge and ideas at a national and regional level in a way that probably hasn’t happened before,” he said.

“Alumni can expand their professional networks, seek new trade and business opportunities, share ideas and support fresh graduates returning home from the UK by signing up with the British Council to be mentors.”

The British Council shares opportunities with all members via a private news feed, including education and business opportunities from the UK, fully-funded professional development workshops with UK trainers, talks with speakers visiting from the UK, networking events and opportunities to mentor younger students.

“The UK is the second largest recipient of GCC students after America, so the potential size this network could grow to is considerable,” added Anderson.