omair85

Dear All,

I would really appreciate some words of wisdom on our plan to move back to the UK. We have two possible options:

1. Move in Aug 17

2. Move when the eldest kid is 7 (to start grammar school) which wil be in 2021

We have two kids aged 2 nad 3 and are currently able to save around GBP 50k per year. So plan 2 looks fantastic from a cashflow perspective but our priority is children's education and providing them with fantastic opportunities. Bearing in mind that once we are back in the UK our living expenses and mortgage would mean our savings will be at least 50% less than what they are at the moment.

I would love to hear the pros and cons of delaying this potential move to 2021.

Potential impact on:

A. Career ( I am 31 a qualified accountant and work as Financial Controller for an investment bank in DXB)

B. Kids - In terms of their ability to settle due to change in school, friends and social circle

Thank you all once again.

DXBtoDOH

If you're happy in Dubai, stay in Dubai till eldest is 7 and then move back. That's, what, 200k quid in savings over the next four years. No brainer.

I wouldn't worry about children's abilities to move and settle and meet friends, especially at that age. They always manage to cope

carcajou

Agree with DXBtoDOH. Take the cash. The eldest, at age 7, will easily change and cope. I am not sure what "fantastic opportunities" the UK provides kids younger than that, which will substantially improve their life outlook.

omair85

Thanks folks for the input -makes perfect sense. Just wondering now about how the transition would turn out to be from a career perspective.

Hopefully some of you could share your experiences and help me make the best decision

Johnnyboy11

Other options worth considering:

3. Send the wife and kids back to the UK when the eldest reaches 5 years old and enroll in state school, or preferably private school. You stay in Dubai and keep earning.

4. Send the kids to a UK private boarding school when they reach 5 years old. You and the wife stay in Dubai and keep earning.

5. Educate the kids in Dubai, until they reach age 12, then send them to secondary school in the UK.

carcajou

Omair85, we left two years ago, on good terms with both my company and the country as a whole.

I have multiple citizenship and could go to the US or Australia in addition to Europe; we did come to Australia.

Financially, in my field, the salary is substantially more than what one would make in the UK, and a lot more compared to Continental Europe. But not compared to the US, and only about 10% more compared to Australia. So financially we didn't give up a whole lot by leaving.

The difference is, you could save a lot more in the Middle East, even if you weren't making a lot more. But we were there for five years, and we are quite outdoorsy, and got tired of recreation at the shopping malls, produce in the supermarkets that was chemically ripened etc. We do not have kids yet but I would not consider sending them to schools there beyond kindergarten or maybe Grade 1; even the best private schools there are only comparable to a mid-level Australian or US school though in the Middle East they charge through the roof.

From a career perspective - we are in very different fields but I was a manager in the Middle East and many of my colleagues were very unhappy and wanted out, but they thought they could parlay their position in the ME to a promotional position back in the UK or US - which they could not as employers in my field don't care what you have done overseas. So a lot of them were frustrated as they did not want to start again from where they were back home, but could not get promotional spots back home, and advancement in the ME is very difficult. One termed the Middle East as "a professional cul-de-sac."

I did take a step backwards when I left, but chose to go down a different path in my field anyways, and within a few months we were within about 10% of what we were making in the Middle East, and will pass it shortly.

For recruiters, successful Middle Eastern experience is worth its weight in gold, and I know I can go back at any time. Many of my western colleagues who have moved on, would also hire me if I wanted jobs with them in their new locales.

So my advice to you would be to keep up your network, especially with people who have left, since they may be in a position to help you when you decide to leave (your network in the ME won't be). Expect to take a step back when you go to the UK, at least initially, if your field is anything like mine.

Sorry for the ramble. Hope it helps!

scot47

In some fields, having ME experience is NOT an advantage. Quite the opposite. Not sure about Accountancy or Management, but in Education that is definitely the case.

carcajou

scot47, definitely correct. I don't know if it's a disadvantage but it certainly will not help in any way.

DXBtoDOH

Whether or not ME experience is useful depends on your occupation and employer, as well as the projects you worked on.

If you worked for Mohammed Al Fayer Al Jabir and Sons Group of Companies (in other words, a company no one knows anything about) it's not going to help you. And will likely hurt you compared to had you remained at home.

If you worked for a major multinational that is a recognised name in your industry, it won't hurt you to have worked in the ME for a few years. But it won't give you a leg up either.

There are people who are brought out at senior roles to perform specific functions - take over a failing project, start up a local branch office, regroup a struggling market for their company. They whip everything back in shape, and move on in a few years and those are the ones who gain from their Middle East experience.

If you spend too much time in the Middle East, it will likely hurt you regardless of employer and occupation. I'd say 4 years is the most you'd want to spend away from the UK if you don't want to hurt your career. 4-5 years away, you can still manage to slide back into the same level or something close to it. More than that it gets much harder. Which is why no matter what happens I'm going back to the UK in two years' time for that will mark four years in the Gulf for this stint.

sicklyman

as DXBtoDOH has pointed out, he's not "definitely correct." He's only correct in certain circumstances. It very much depends on who you work for and what you do to make the ME stint on your CV look like a progression from what you did prior.

Unfortunately, for many, it can be a regression leaving you with no choice but to stay, but it's not guaranteed.

carcajou

sicklyman, if you read scot47's post, you will see that he or she was speaking about one field in particular, which I concurred with. Not every field in general. In that particular field, he is correct.

omair85

Thank you all for taking the time out to share much needed advice and opinions.

I am going to bear in mind some of the points that you all have raised.

The fact that I have worked for an international bank should probably help and as an Accountant the professional landscape in the UK is not massively different for me bearing in mind past experience in the UK.

Thanks a lot once again!!

Millhouse

I was thinking exactly that. A balance sheet is a balance sheet.

Do what makes you happy. The kids will be ok. And the schools here are better than what whining expats make them out to be - especially when you compare to the options at home in many cases.

omair85

Thanks for the encouragement. I am not too concerned about the academic aspect of education in Dxb as I believe that sports could also play a significant role in shaping the habbits and life style of children. So hopefully back in the UK they would see people playing and enagaging in all sorts of different sports which is not usually the case in Dubai due to weather restricitons etc. I am edging closer to keeping the move on hold until my eldest one is 7.

scrubbedexpat141

Sports? At Primary Schools in the UK?

Stay here. Kids and parents seem to forget very quickly how lucky they are.