Business Bites: Covid-19 Pandemic and precarious Economies: Risk and Value in existing business models and the change required for recovery

Professor John Bryson from the University of Birmingham Dubai and Sarah Bartlett, Director at KEKST CNC Dubai discuss the effectiveness of existing business models during the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes that businesses may need to consider during the post COVID-19 recovery period.

To register for this webinar please email Lynne Saint, Business Development Manager

Meet our Experts

John R. Bryson, Professor of Enterprise and Economic Geography, Birmingham Business School, The University of Birmingham

Professor John R. Bryson (BA (Hons) TCD, PhD Leic., FAcSS, FRGS, FHEA, FeRSA) has held research and teaching posts at the Universities of St Andrews, Cambridge, Wales and most recently at the University of Birmingham where he is Professor of Enterprise and Economic Geography. An economic geographer whose research focuses on understanding people and organisations in place and space and the ways in which place-based adaptation occurs including understanding barriers and enablers to adaptation. He has made significant contributions to understanding and explaining the complex ways in which production is organised through space and in place and via a variety of forms of enterprise. Much of his research has focused on developing an integrated approach to understanding city-regions. One of his cross-cutting research interests including understanding rapid adaptation during times of disruptive and radical change. This includes citizen-led end-user innovation, the development of alternative solutions including research on responsible managerial practices. 

Sarah L. Bartlett, Director of KEKST CNC

Sarah is a Director at leading strategic communications advisory firm Kekst CNC. She has lived in the UAE for the last 13 years.

A seasoned reputation strategist with more than 25 years’ experience, Sarah has spent much of her career advising large corporates in Europe and MENA on corporate citizenship strategies designed to maximise stakeholder value. Projects have included the introduction of ‘sustainable coffee’ and capsule recycling at Nestlé Nespresso, ethical cocoa bean buying at Cadbury Schweppes, low-income community support strategies in KSA for a Saudi Aramco joint venture and, most latterly, involvement in Majid Al Futtaim’s recent announcement to commit to the eradication of single-use plastics from its entire business by 2025, a project she was involved with for almost three years. She has also advised a number of environmental NGOs and related government entities in the UAE and further afield.

Sarah has a fundamental belief that effective sustainability and social responsibility policies create significantly enhanced organisational health and longevity. She advises on the impact and linkages of such investments with the corporate reputation, the customer brand, the Employer Value Proposition, financing benefits and the organisation’s ‘licence to operate’ overall.

Sarah is a graduate in European languages with separate postgraduate qualifications in strategic marketing and boardroom leadership. She is currently studying for an MBA at a German university and has guest lectured at Zayed University and INSEAD. Sarah has a particular passion for the marine environment, which led her to qualify as a Marine Mammal Paramedic and undertake volunteer work with the Marine Conservation Society of Hong Kong.