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Key Personnel

Michael H. Williams

Michael H. Williams

Non-executive Chairman (Appointed to the Board 1st July 2011)
Michael Williams has a background in international banking based in London and in the Middle East. Since returning to the UK from the Gulf he has taken up a consultancy role for a major Middle Eastern Bank assisting with the business strategy and formal application process to enable the bank to open a London based subsidiary. In addition to this he is Chairman of a London based plc involved in the IT and Recruitment sectors and a Non Executive Director of a British Mutual Insurance Company and chairman of their Audit Committee.

Prior to his return to the UK, Mr Williams was CEO of a bank in Doha, Qatar and prior to that he was CEO of a bank based in Dubai, UAE.

Roles before moving to the Gulf included 6 years at Nomura Bank International plc where he was Managing Director of their European Banking business, and 25 years with the Barclays Bank Group including positions as Managing Director of Barclays Global Services and Corporate Banking Director and a Global Industry Head at Barclays Bank PLC.

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John Martin St. Valery

John Martin St. Valery

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Having founded Links Group, the company formation specialists in 2002, John has spearheaded the growth of a Partnership into the corporate structure that now exists. More than thirteen years living and working in the UAE and Qatar has given John a unique and unrivalled insight into the commercial opportunities in this rapidly developing region.

An entrepreneur who also has been recognised as a corporate governance specialist, John has been involved in the establishment and ongoing local partner services of over 250 companies ensuring that the interests and assets of the foreign party are always fully protected whilst maintaining a strict duty of care for local partners involved.

Previous senior management roles with Citibank and Kodak were preceded by an eight year period with the Metropolitan Police in London.

Today John advises many group companies at board level, particularly in the areas of entrepreneurship, corporate governance and business development.

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Julie K Irving

Julie K Irving

Chief Operating Officer
Following a main board level directorship with a major international airline, Julie relocated to Dubai in 2002 as Managing Director of an airline supply company.

After successfully completing the re-engineering of the Middle East operation, Julie formed her own consultancy focusing on small to medium business enterprises in the Middle East.

Julie joined The Links Group as Chief Operating Officer in 2006 having previously been an independent advisor to the Board for strategy planning. The operational excellence attributed to the group is a result of Julie’s firm application of Plc standards.

Julie advises a number of group companies at board level, specialising in strategy review and implementation.

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Stuart Curtis

Stuart Curtis

Group Managing Director
Following his role as Vice President of the Gulf’s Largest Private Developer and 10 years with the world’s foremost document solution provider as General Manager within Developing Markets, Stuart has joined the links group in 2010 to spearhead the UAE’s rapidly growing business.

With 16 years’ experience – 10 in the Middle East – Stuart brings a wealth of expertise in Operational Excellence, Business Development and Customer Relationship Management.

Educated to degree level majoring in Business Administration and Finance from the University of Johannesburg, and with Post Graduate studies in Business and Taxation, Stuart is also a Fellow of the Institute of Administration and Commerce (FIAC).

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