Business partners Safi Qurashi and Mustafa Nagri snapped up ‘Great Britain’ in May 2008.

Comprising 300 man-made islands, Nakheel’s The World’ is reportedly the biggest offshore reclamation project in history, costing a huge $3bn.

Great Britain, situated off the Dubai coast, will feature some 100 luxury villas and apartments.

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So far, 175 of the islands - priced between $15m and $250m - have been sold to individual developers, each one required to start construction within five years of buying the plot.

However, although reclamation for the project was finished in early 2008, building work has yet to begin on any of the islands and there have been concerns that the liquidity crunch engulfing the UAE could prevent some developers from securing the finance they need to start construction.
Last month it emerged that some sub-developers who have bought islands on The World had missed instalments and asked Nakheel for help in funding their investments. The master developer is currently in talks with a number of banks to thrash out a solution to the current financing bottleneck.

As is to be expected with such a hefty purchase, Premier's $60m payment for Great Britain is spread over three years, but with one condition: that it is paid in hard cash. Full handover takes place once the subdeveloper has stumped up around 45 percent of the cash, something Premier hopes to have achieved for both islands before the end of 2009, so that construction work, estimated to last four years, may begin in earnest.

In addition, Premier estimates that the Great Britain island will take another $490m to develop if it is to maximise its potential, and with that in mind Qurashi refuses to rule out going to the debt markets next year to finance the project‘s significant construction costs.

"At the moment it's all financed through Premier, though we are looking now at creating some kind of equity fund for both the islands, to bring in outside investors," Qureshi explains. "We've been approached by a number of potential investors, and the next six months will be about making the right move at the right time.

"We work very closely with the team at The World, and they've been extremely good with us, and quite flexible," he continues. "The support is certainly a lot better than it's ever been, and I think Nakheel has realised that the projects needs to work, so they are supporting their subdevelopers, which perhaps is something they have learned over the years."

On Great Britain, Premier plans to build around 100 luxury villas and apartments, ranging in price from $2m to $6m, and therefore staying within the range of the very rich, not just the super-rich. The island, whose population will barely exceed 500, may also feature a small hotel together with basic amenities such as restaurants and small shops.

Both the owners are keen to own properties on the island, and reveal they may keep back 25 units from which to generate rental income. To discourage speculators - homes are being targeted at people who will actually live in the properties - Qurashi and Nagri insist sales will not begin until building has commenced.

Qurashi explains that Premier is looking at a number of "options" from British designers based both in Dubai and in the UK, and says that he wants the island to reflect the architecture of his native country.

That, as he is quick to add, means giving old designs a modern twist, rather than crossing the line into kitsch with Big Ben replicas or faux-London pubs.

"To me that is tacky. I don't want to put a Buckingham Palace or a Queen Vic pub and a Big Ben [on the island]. We're not replicating Disney," he says.

"The inspiration is coming out of the UK, whether it comes from buildings out of Central London, or the look and feel of somewhere out in Dorset, we want it to be instantly recognisable as the island of Great Britain."

When pushed to name an area in the UK the island might eventually resemble, Qurashi selects the exclusive seaside town of Sandbanks in Dorset. It is an ambitious comparison - Sandbanks is a millionaires' playground, its stunning coastline dotted with homes worth untold millions of dollars.

So what defines British culture?

To start, Qurashi points to Britain's architectural heritage, highlighting City of London skyscrapers Canary Wharf and the Swiss Re building - nicknamed ‘The Gherkin' - as two shining examples of modern British architecture.

"To me British culture is to be innovative and to lead, taking something that already exists and turning it into something very new and wacky, but knowing where the origins of the design have come from," he explains.

If Qurashi and Nagri have their way, then by the time the first tenants arrive on the island - and provided the ambitious project survives the tight years ahead - it should be far easier to distinguish Great Britain from its neighbours.

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