And with over 55 brands and more than 2,000 stores in sixteen markets Alshaya offers great diversity of employment and a real opportunity for exposure to leading international brands and global best practice.

Last October, Alshaya indicated that it planned to open 1,250 stores over the next five years opening 250 stores a year and operating in seventeen markets. That growth is on track.

The company has expanded existing brands across its country portfolio — for example Victoria’s Secret, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids into KSA, American Eagle into Russia, Pinkberry into Oman and Turkey. And this year it has launched Shake Shack, Potbelly and Texas Roadhouse into the region.

But what about working there? Alshaya is very much a company for creative thinkers. The retail business today, led by Mohammed Alshaya, has a track record of constant innovation — for example, all-day and seven-day trading were both new concepts in the Middle East when Alshaya introduced them — and so was the concept of coffee shops.

The company has a commitment to developing its teams and the ‘Grow with us’ training programmes, offered at different stages in people’s careers, help individuals develop their skills in a structured and result-orientated way.

This year it expects to promote over 1,000 people through this and other programmes with the large majority of Ashaya’s store managers having been promoted up through the business.