Former UK MD of Jack Morton Worldwide resurfaces in Dubai

Events industry stalwart Jeremy Garbett, who left his position as UK managing director of global live marketing agency Jack Morton Worldwide last summer, has been officially unveiled as managing director of Dubai-based events and exhibitions company Action Impact.

The appointment of Garbett certainly sends a message of intent that the agency has its sights on playing a lead role in the development of the creative communications sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

I know what I Like: Garbett returns to the live
communications sector in Dubai

Garbett’s pedigree in this arena speaks for itself, having served on the boards of Spectrum Communications, Caribiner and Jack Morton since 1993, before becoming joint managing of the latter in 2005. He left Jack Morton to pursue interests outside the communications sector, but has obviously been tempted back.

An excellent opportunity
When asked why he had chosen to return to the industry, Garbett exclusively told EVENTS:review: “It was simply the excellence of the opportunity. I was contacted initially by the owners to help them with some consultancy. I liked their approach and integrity, and became persuaded to join after meeting their wider team in Dubai, viewing their work and hearing more about their vision.”

He continued: “The opportunity to be in the integral part of a privately owned entity, which has clearly defined international growth goals and, importantly, the means of investment to meet those goals is frankly rare.”

While Action Impact may have its heart set on becoming the Jack Morton for the UAE, Garbett is quick to distance himself from being placed directly in the firing line with his old employers. “I enjoyed my time with Jack Morton; I learnt many things along the way and have a high regard for the production teams there, but frankly I would not want to follow the current Jack Morton model,” he said. “There are many natural differences – not least the fact that Jack Morton is part of a much larger corporate concern with specific attendant requirements regarding growth.”

Challenges ahead
Despite being a fascinating, growth-oriented market with tremendous connections to others around the globe, working in the region brings with it its own unique set of challenges, as Garbett explained: “Building the right resource base is going to be tricky – it’s tougher here to locate with speed the appropriate skill sets to deploy across the appropriate communication channels. However, that’s certainly changing as the word begins to circulate within Europe and further afield in America and Australasia that there is enormous potential in this marketplace for the right talent.

"On top of this, it’s a ‘quicker’ communications industry than Europe – with more speed to market. That brings challenges in itself, not least in properly exploring the audience background and gaining insight into expectation levels before we design the experience.”

Finally, when asked if he thought he was ready for the challenge and whether he was the right man to take the company forward. Garbett was forthright in his response: “In a word, yes. It’s exciting, it’s different and it’s good to have the ‘richness’ of this experience of working truly internationally. I’m keen to improve upon and evolve the agency’s success and, rather grandly, I want to make a difference to the talented internal team and to our clients.”

EVENTS:review is delighted to welcome Garbett back to the industry and wishes him all the best in his new venture. This channel will be watching with interest how Action Impact develops over the coming months.