Relocating Your Business to Dubai from the UK: Entrepreneur FAQ

When Mark Coles moved his family from North London to Dubai two years ago, he didn't just pack his bags and hop on a plane. The 47-year-old fitness entrepreneur sold his gym, left behind everything familiar, and started completely fresh in a new country.



I sat down with Mark to get the honest answers about what it's really like to relocate your business to Dubai, including the near-disasters, the unexpected challenges, and whether it's actually worth it.

Why did you decide to leave the UK and relocate your business to Dubai?

For the longest time, I never even considered leaving the UK. Everything was locked down there. I had a gym in central Nottingham for over 10 years, my family was there, my whole life was there.

But something shifted after lockdown. My wife and I came to Dubai for a property investment and missed out on an apartment. On the flight home, we did something we always do - we wrote our vision plan for the next year. Two pages of A4, working backwards from December.

My wife said something that changed everything: "One of my dreams is to just walk in the sun with my child every day."

That was it. We put the house on the market. Not immediately, but we made the intention. Within months, we'd sold everything and moved.

The big thing for me was my dad had sadly passed away a few years before. He would have been a deciding factor to stay. But with him gone, and my wife and I being so close as a couple, we asked ourselves: what do we actually want life to look like?

Did you consider anywhere else besides Dubai?

No. Dubai was always the place.

I'd outgrown different locations throughout my life. I went from near Nottingham to the city itself, then to central London, then North London. Each time I outgrew something, I moved on.

But when we sat down and visioned where we wanted to be, everything pointed back to Dubai. We attached sounds, smells, and music to our vision. The oud, David Guetta playing on top of Burj Al Arab, specific songs we'd heard there.

As a couple, our happiest times together have been in Dubai. We'd been to Barbados once, but we wouldn't live there. Everything kept bringing us back to Dubai.

What were the biggest practical challenges when you moved?

Moving to Dubai was the hardest thing I've ever done.

The timing was a nightmare. A month before we left for Miami on business, the buyer of our London house pulled out. Then, just as we got on the plane to Miami, the person selling me the villa in Dubai said he didn't want to sell anymore and claimed my signature was fake on the contract.

We were looking at going to court. I was told people will try and play games in Dubai, so I said, "Take me to court, I'll take you down." That battle took two months.

Meanwhile, I had chronic stomach problems. I genuinely thought I'd lost everything. I'd put nearly half a million into the villa in Dubai. If the UK sale didn't come through, I couldn't complete on the Dubai property.

Luckily, someone stepped in and offered more than we expected for the London house, and they wanted a quick completion. The crazy thing is, my wife and I flew to Dubai before the completion happened. We sat in Nandos that second night, got the message that the sale had completed, and within two weeks all my digestion issues cleared up. It was all stress.

But here's what people don't realise: when you move to Dubai, you're starting from zero.

In London, I knew my accountant, my bank, my carpenter, my locksmith. I had my mate Dave around the corner. In Dubai, you don't have that.

You need an Emirates ID to get a phone. You need to build credit for two years before you can get a mortgage or borrow money. When I wanted a car, they asked about my business accounts and credit history. I'm 47 years old, had my life together in the UK, and suddenly in Dubai I had no identity, no credit history, nothing.

That was tough in the early days. It's been two years now and I'm established, but people underestimate how long that takes.

How did you build your network in Dubai?

For the first year, I kept to myself. I didn't want to waste time chatting just for the sake of it.

In London, I had friends I'd known for 10, 15, 20 years. You take those relationships for granted. They know you inside out. Someone says "Mark, you must meet this guy" and you trust it.

In Dubai, you're meeting people at face value. So I watched from afar until I was ready to say, "Okay, I like that person."

What worked for me:

My annual event. I run a big event every year, which became a platform to introduce myself to different people. Speakers at the event would then connect me with others.

Podcasting. Interviewing people I find interesting is a great way to connect. If you vibe, cool. If not, you both benefited from being on each other's podcast.

Community. In the evening, my wife takes our son Mason to the pool almost every night. She chats to all the moms. They invite each other to parties. Dubai is set up for people to meet. The sunshine, communal pools, gyms in the same building - it's designed to be inclusive.

The fitness industry. People in my industry come here, and I make an effort. I see people in gyms, get them on the podcast, and your network starts to snowball.

Which area in Dubai did you choose to live in and why?

We live in Dubai Hills, and we're moving to a villa in Tilal Al Ghaf in December.

Here's my philosophy: wherever we live is not for anybody else. A lot of people move to Dubai and want others to see where they're living. They need to be near the sea, they need the view.

For a lot of fitness coaches, four or five grand a month for a one-bed in Marina with an amazing view is going to screw their bank balance.

My wife and I had a conversation: we're moving here to feel Dubai and be part of it. We didn't want to get settled on the beachfront and then move heavily inland later. We can drive to the sea in 15 minutes on a Sunday to go to the beach.

I looked at JVC, Dubai Golf Estates, Victory Heights, Arabian Ranches. What attracted me to Dubai Hills was:

• Dubai Hills Mall - it's a beautiful mall
  
  
• The villas had the size we wanted (we're moving into a 6,000 sq ft villa)
  
  
• Community feel with pools
  
  
• Close to the gym where we train (Wellfit)
  
  
• Perfectly located for access to everything

I looked at Tilal Al Ghaf too. It didn't have all the facilities at the time, but here's what I realised: if you think about where Dubai is shifting, you've got downtown, then you've got the Palm, then Palm Jebel Ali is developing, and Expo is growing.

The centre of Dubai might end up being between Dubai Hills and Tilal Al Ghaf. That means great accessibility to all the modern parts and the new developments coming.

Downtown will be like Mayfair in London - established and expensive. But Dubai Hills and these areas will be like Highgate or Hampstead. The infrastructure is only going to improve.

 
If you’d like to see what areas in Dubai are popular for expats, check out our guide here.

Has Dubai created more business opportunities for you?

Here's my take: Dubai doesn't make you a better person. Location doesn't make you a better person.

But what Dubai has given me is a 10x better quality of life. I'm suddenly happier, I'm doing what I want, and that opens me up to thinking, "There's so much more I could achieve."

In terms of opportunities, here's what I believe: Dubai has so many people who are really trying to become something. In London, I'd probably speak to one or two in 10 who were trying to become something. Here, it's eight out of 10.

I'm not speaking to somebody who wants to hear about opportunities - I'm speaking to people who want to succeed, who love seeing you win, who want to hear that you're making money.

In England, I was very quiet about what I was doing. Here, I put out a webinar recently and was completely honest about our revenue. It's just a normal conversation. Not "what's your company doing" but "great to see you winning, great to see you succeeding."

The topic of money, opportunity, wealth, and success is rare in London. Here, people celebrate wins. If you're going to buy a Ferrari or a big new villa, good on you. That's the mindset here.

Has Dubai itself created opportunities for me? I'd say it's allowed me to be open to the people and connections I'm already making. It's Sheikh Mohammed's vision - he wanted to create a city of excellence where excellence has no finish line.

So yes, it has created opportunities. But only because I came with an open mindset and was willing to put myself in different situations. 

What about the quality of life in Dubai? What's different?

The biggest change is house help. It's completely normal here.

We have a nanny, Emma, who lives with us. She works from 8.30am to 7pm. She cleans the house - it's like a hotel all day. As soon as I'm up, within an hour the bed's made, everything's done, clothes are sorted.

When my family came over from the UK, they were shocked. But in our community, you see nannies walking children and dogs every evening. It's just culture here.

This gives my wife an incredible quality of life. I work 1-7pm every day, and I know she's got Emma helping her. Emma makes food during the day and makes our dinner at 7pm every night.

My wife doesn't do the washing or make any food apart from for Mason occasionally. We're still very active parents, but we have consistent help and support.

Some people back home might turn their nose up and say, "You're not spending time with your kids." But I believe Mason has a better quality of life because he has me relaxed when I'm with him.

If you sat with five people and asked, "If you were financially secure, would you have a nanny, a driver, someone making your food?" - most would say yes. The reality is, you still spend as much time with your children. You just have support that saves you time and mental energy.

Any final advice for people considering moving to Dubai?

Write a vision plan with your partner. Two pages of A4. Work backwards from a year from now. Ask each other: what do you want life to look like?

Don't settle. Don't let where you are now be the only option because it's comfortable.

I don't want to get 10 years down the line and think, "I stayed because of my family." I know my family are individual people. If your bond is close enough, you'll maintain it. My mom's flying out in two weeks for Mason's birthday. We'll fly back for Christmas.

When I see my family now, the quality is 10x better. We go out for meals and genuinely talk more than we did at Sunday lunch when we saw each other all the time.

Life is about the quality of experiences you have with those closest to you.

Moving to Dubai was the hardest thing I've ever done. But sitting on the beach with my wife and son now, I think: what if I hadn't done this? 

Ready to make the move to Dubai?

At Capture Accounting, we specialise in helping UK entrepreneurs, content creators, and online business owners relocate to Dubai for tax residency. We handle both sides - your UK tax exit strategy and your Dubai setup - so you avoid the costly mistakes that can come back to bite you years later.

Book a tax residency consultation to discuss how you can start your move to Dubai.