THE NEWS OF AL HABTOOR LEIGHTON GROUP Dubai - UAE ...

NEW Perspecti
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
A Chat with Crawford Dunn
Up Close and Personal attempts to get to know the
person behind the designation. This month we have
chosen Crawford Dunn, the Commercial, Legal and
Risk Director for the Al Habtoor Leighton Group. Many do not
know that, outside of his work, he is also a dedicated sportsman.
In this feature we actually see how one man’s passion for sport
and the outdoors has made his whole family go getters and
individuals who push their limits for the sports that they love.
Tell us about your childhood and your family
I was born in Northumberland in the North of England, and went
to school in Newcastle upon Tyne. My father was a butcher
with a chain of businesses throughout the Newcastle area. My
mother ran the business during the Second World War and
later went on to be a passionate golfer, playing her last round
three months before she died at the age of 89. I have a brother,
Maxie, who is two years older than me, and a sister, Judy, who
is nine years older than me.
I met my wife, Barbra in 1970 while I was competing on the
Scottish International Rally and we married in 1974. She is
a horse-riding and skiing enthusiast. We had our first child,
Amanda, in February of 1976, and she was just nine months
old when we first moved to Dubai. A qualified physiotherapist,
she and her husband Paul now live in New Zealand and are elite
Tri-athletes, both competing at the highest level with a number
of top placings at all distances including Hawaiian Ironman. Our
son Fraser was born in 1979. He is consumed by speed and
in his early years represented Great Britain in downhill skiing.
Having qualified as an automotive engineer he now follows
a more sedate life with Aston Martin Special Operations,
developing their race cars! It’s a hard life, but someone has
to do it.
What is your educational background?
I did all my secondary education in Newcastle where I attended
Dame Allan’s School. We lived immediately behind the school
which was very useful – especially in the winter when the playing
fields were water logged and we would be sent out on a run – I
was able to nip into the house and have a cup of tea while the
rest of the guys slogged it out.
Where and when did you begin your career?
My original career was to have been in the Hotel and Catering
Industry. I had been accepted at Strathclyde University to read
Hotel Management with the outline strategy that, following
qualification, the family would purchase an hotel, which I would
run and which would be supplied by the other parts of the
family business. Just prior to taking my place at University I
was working with my father when he died suddenly at the
age of 52. My brother and sister had left home to pursue
their careers and I found myself in the difficult position of not
wishing to leave my mother on her own in what were extremely
trying circumstances. In the next five days, I found a job at a
construction company. I knew nothing at all about construction,
( some say I still don’t!) but it was a job that enabled me to stay at
home. For the next five years
I worked on a ‘block-release’
programme, whereby I
would work for two months
and study for one month.
The downside of these
programmes is, of course,
while you are away at college
nobody else covers your
work, so there is a lot of
catching up to do when you
return to the site. Eventually,
in 1972, I qualified as a
Chartered Surveyor.
Chart out for us the career
path that you have taken
The first company I worked
for was Brims, a small to
medium size contractor
based in Newcastle. I was
at first involved in heavy civil
10 AKHBAR ALDAR - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2007