Made in Dubai with Spencer Lodge

Technology is changing the way hotels operate, from how guests choose where to stay to how businesses manage pricing and performance. But as Raki Phillips explains, hospitality still comes down to the experience guests have and whether they want to come back.

Raki Phillips also shares his perspective on protecting room rates during periods of disruption, the resilience of the UAE's tourism industry, and the growth opportunities across the Middle East and Africa.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction 4:05 How hotel groups decide where to open new properties 7:34 The opportunities and risks of investing in Africa 14:50 Why the guest experience matters more than the numbers 16:20 How the UAE's tourism industry is handling disruption 28:49 Hotel occupancy, profitability and protecting room rates 32:02 What UAE travel figures reveal about the industry's recovery 40:32 How AI is changing the way people book hotels 41:26 Will hotel brands still matter when AI chooses where you stay? 43:55 Why hospitality still needs a personal touch 45:15 How technology could transform the hotel guest experience 48:25 Why hotel pricing needs to change 51:39 The difference between being an entrepreneur and a corporate leader 1:01:18 Why Rakki Phillips believes in the UAE's long-term future 1:03:01 How hotels can adapt and generate revenue during a crisis 1:08:52 What makes guests choose one hotel over another 1:10:04 Where Rakki Phillips would invest $500 million in hospitality 1:12:19 Why Africa could be the future of hospitality growth

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From alternative ports and rerouting cargo to rising freight costs, limited capacity and the importance of keeping essential goods moving, Ayman explains how logistics companies adapt when the usual routes are no longer available.

Ayman Kabbara also discusses pharmaceuticals, global trade, AI, blockchain and preparing for future supply chain disruptions.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction 1:08 What happens when Jebel Ali is disrupted 14:22 How the UAE keeps goods moving through alternative routes 21:48 Why freight and air freight costs can rise during a crisis 27:04 How logistics companies prioritise essential and life-saving goods 30:49 Why supply chain disruptions affect businesses far beyond shipping 33:24 Why blockchain could transform global logistics 36:36 How AI is changing freight forwarding 39:45 Preparing for the next "black swan" event 52:29 Why logistics is the engine behind global trade 55:17 What businesses should look for in a freight forwarding company

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Reda Raad has spent the last 20 years shaping how one of the world's biggest car brands is seen across this region, and picked up international recognition along the way for his work putting the Louvre Abu Dhabi on the map.

He talks to Spencer about the discipline he says most people are losing in the age of AI, and why some brands earn decades of trust in this region while others never get close.

Timestamps

02:00 – Starting a new podcast and personal motivations

03:07 – Working with his father and their early professional relationship

08:06 – Childhood memories, growing up in Dubai, and family dynamics

13:07 – Starting at the bottom as an Assistant Account Executive

22:50 – A humbling lesson from his father about consistency

26:33 – Nissan's long-standing history and brand loyalty in the GCC region

33:23 – Founding TBWA and gaining Nissan's trust

39:48 – Understanding agency identity: "The Disruption Company"

45:00 – The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in advertising and thinking

56:56 – Specific AI tools used in business (Omni, Claude, ChatGPT)

59:01 – Outdoor advertising and the Louvre Abu Dhabi case study

01:06:11 – Five key things to look for when choosing an advertising agency

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Dean McGrail has spent over two decades building his career in the Gulf, and today he leads WSP's operations across the Middle East and Asia.

He talks to Spencer about the humbling start that shaped his entire career, his approach to leading his team, and what it's actually taken, personally and professionally, to get to where he is now.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction 0:28 What WSP actually does 1:45 The landmarks across the region, Ain Dubai, Royal Atlantis, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and more 3:26 "We've been part of building a nation" 4:14 The scope of his role 5:47 Does he feel presidential 6:39 Imposter syndrome 7:39 Growing up in Aldershot 8:44 Rejected from the RAF and told he was "socially inadequate" 10:19 How he ended up studying fire engineering by chance 11:47 His first job overseas in Hong Kong 13:19 Joining WSP and his dad's reaction 19:01 His two mentors, Chris Cole and Norman Curtis 29:23 Why you can't fake thirty years of trust in ten 31:22 His warning to newcomers arriving in the Gulf 34:33 The hardest conversation he's had with his mentor 40:11 Would he give someone a blueprint for his job 41:06 Build your network, get uncomfortable 44:34 "Quality is the absolute cornerstone of everything we do" 46:20 What he's sacrificed for his career 48:58 Was it a price worth paying 50:07 Does he feel guilt 53:41 Who is Dean McGrail without the title 55:29 What AI has actually changed at WSP 1:00:00 What he'd tell himself at 19

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Jon Marchant is Group President at Memac Ogilvy, part of WPP, leading 450 people across one of the region's biggest advertising networks after 27 years in the industry.

Jon explains why he believes the real threat to the advertising industry isn't AI, it's mediocrity, and what that means for agencies trying to stay relevant. He also opens up about why he believes vulnerability builds more trust in leadership than authority ever will, and how his own definition of success has changed over nearly three decades at the top.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction and imposter syndrome about the guest list 1:07 Moving to Dubai and running an international agency for the first time 2:01 "Dubai is not a city, it's an attitude" 3:25 Temping as a secretary and falling in love with advertising 4:23 Fighting for a job on the Manchester United account 5:21 The 1999 treble shoot and sneaking in with the European Cup 9:06 What mental availability actually means 9:45 Why billboards still work in a digital world 14:36 Getting inspiration and using AI as a spark, not a replacement 15:32 "The enemy is not AI, the enemy is mediocrity" 21:07 Why being an introvert is an advantage in leadership 22:46 The call to the hospital and the hole in one that changed everything 24:41 His father was 45 29:01 The car accident that reminded him who he does it for 30:32 Redefining success: is the ladder leaning against the right wall 41:00 The misconceptions Brits have about working in the Middle East 43:00 Dubai as the shop window, Abu Dhabi as the strategic engine 46:31 Never been fired, but he has had to fire people 47:57 Three things that make a good leader 49:19 From British fell running champion to endurance sport as de-stressing 55:03 Running the Lebanon office during the conflict 1:00:01 What roles AI will actually replace 1:11:10 The Go Compare story 1:12:15 End

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Nick Watson is a former Royal Marine who moved to Dubai in the late 1990s and later founded Team Angel Wolf, a nonprofit built around his son Rio, who is 23 and lives with a rare chromosome condition. The wider mission behind Team Angel Wolf, teaching communities and schools across the UAE what real inclusion looks like.

Timestamps

0:57 Nick and Spencer meet after 21 years of near misses 2:12 Why Nick says the timing wasn't right before now 2:56 Growing up in Cornwall and his parents' cafe in Falmouth 4:06 Leaving school at 16 and the family's move to central France 5:38 Discovering art and the dream of designing cars 6:31 Finding triathlon and building a community in Toulouse 9:56 Choosing the Royal Marines over art school 10:35 Joining the Marines at 21 13:19 The hardest decision of his career, stay or leave 14:50 Meeting his wife Delphine on a personal training course 16:15 The conversation that led them to Dubai 16:56 Arriving in Dubai in 1996 with £850 to his name 18:41 What Dubai looked like before the Marina and the Burj Khalifa 22:06 Rio is born in 2003 23:44 "Something's not right" 24:18 The first time Rio stopped breathing in the bath 26:05 It happens again, and the hospital sends them home a second time 27:16 The four and a half year search for a diagnosis 29:41 The call from Paris confirming Rio's chromosome deletion 30:08 What Rio lives with today at 23 38:02 Holidays, and the last one they took 10 years ago 39:19 Delphine, the backbone of the family 40:30 Tia, and her bond with her brother 41:43 A day in the life of the family 44:37 Why Team Angel Wolf was founded in 2016 46:24 What inclusion actually means to him 47:56 Whether organisations are genuinely inclusive or just ticking boxes 48:44 The four step plan behind Team Angel Wolf 53:01 What it would take to fund the mission properly 55:56 Three practical tips to become more inclusive 58:29 Whether he sees himself as successful 1:00:22 How hard it is to ask for help 1:01:41 A brush with clinical depression 1:05:44 The conversations he has with Tia about the future 1:07:00 What he'd ask of Spencer's audience 1:09:37 How to follow and support Team Angel Wolf 1:11:38 The advice he'd give himself, looking back 1:12:58 End

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Dr. Hasan Alogaily is a global expert in longevity, and he's here to cut through the noise. Peptides, supplement stacks and expensive therapies dominate the conversation online, but he says none of it matters if the basics aren't in place first.

In this conversation, Hasan explains why lifestyle is the real foundation of a longer life, how often you should actually be getting your bloods checked, and why skipping your annual health check is a bigger risk than most people realise.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

00:09 Longevity vs health span: what is the actual difference?

04:00 The longevity pyramid and why Dubai has it upside down

06:41 The patient on 37 supplements who was still smoking

07:29 Peptides, RCT evidence, and what the science actually supports

09:30 Blue zones: movement and food as a cultural norm

11:06 "Lifestyle doesn't sell. It's not sexy enough till you're 80."

11:28 Why the blue zones data may not be what we think it is

14:06 Mental well-being and why no supplement addresses it

15:25 What health span medicine actually challenges about standard practice

16:01 "In my medical school, I was never taught to write an exercise prescription."

18:00 Ozempic, BPC157, and what the peptide space actually looks like

19:17 1 in 3 people in this region have fatty liver

22:10 Why even 10 minutes in the gym changes your mortality risk

23:13 Why muscle mass is a bank account you draw from later

24:29 Zone 2 cardio and the Maffetone formula

25:51 Why walking uphill on a treadmill might be all you need

29:29 "If you have an Emirates ID card, I guarantee you've got vitamin D deficiency."

33:13 Spencer's Harley Street story: two surgeons, one MRI, opposite advice

35:10 Spencer reveals his own lifestyle and Dr Hasan says it's really good, then asks the one question that reframes everything.

38:19 Sleep in Dubai and what the Arabic language reveals about why it matters

39:27 Wearables: the only two metrics that actually tell you anything

44:40 Spencer's 4:30am wake-up and whether he is getting enough sleep

47:08 Spencer books his health check at the clinic

48:49 "Do not pass go unless you've done a health check once a year."

50:03 End

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She grew up in a community that Nepal doesn't count. Below all 126 castes. Girls in her village had no access to education, healthcare, or transport. From the age of 11, they were sold.

Hannah Badi was nearly trafficked at 9 years old. She escaped at midnight with 32 girls and a stone in her hand. She went on to rescue 682 children. Her sister is now a minister of Nepal.

This is one of the most powerful conversations Spencer has ever had.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction 01:13 Hannah's childhood in far west Nepal 02:52 No food, no water, no school: what survival looked like 05:00 How the Badi community made money: selling daughters 08:03 What the Badi community is not allowed to do 10:18 There is no age: when girls are sold 14:15 A baby bought before she was born 16:36 Price tags on girls: Hannah's personal story 22:50 She collapsed. Her father took her to hospital for the first time. 25:25 What the doctor did 27:51 Her father's instruction: say nothing 28:14 The moment she realised it was wrong 28:31 Uncle Raju arrives in the village 29:48 Nobody believed him 31:20 The midnight gathering in the jungle 32:37 32 girls, one bus, a stone in her hand 33:41 Arriving in Kathmandu for the first time 38:50 Seeing a toilet for the first time 43:17 How long it took to change their mindset 44:41 At 13: her first rescue 46:11 682 children rescued 46:50 From that first group: doctors, bankers, a minister 47:18 Hannah's sister is now a minister of Nepal 51:06 Spencer's visit to Nepal and the documentary 52:00 Meeting the president of Nepal 53:54 The caste system: where the Badi sit within it 56:36 Below all 126 castes: not even counted 58:43 Hannah's message to the world

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Her son was 12. While she was on the waiting list for a donor liver, he went home and Googled everything she was too scared to search. She came through the surgery. And then sat with a question that stopped everyone in that room.

Dr. Kaiser Raja, her surgeon at King's College Hospital Dubai, is also in this conversation. And Spencer does something in this episode that Nadia did not know was coming.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction 00:17 Why Nadia chose to share her story 02:12 When the diagnosis changed everything 07:21 Waiting for a donor: the school run she will never forget 11:30 The operating theatre and what her son said before she went in 17:16 Did I really deserve this second chance? 28:06 Her first steps back: 30 seconds at a time 34:26 Living with someone else's liver: the fear of rejection 42:23 What Dr Kaiser means to her 43:22 The moment Spencer brought Dr Kaiser into the room 55:38 Dr Kaiser on the reality of liver transplant surgery 1:08:00 Quick fire with Dr Kaiser Raja

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Most people in the UAE assume their company medical plan is there to look after them. Sam Douglas has spent 13 years on the other side of that assumption. This is one of those conversations that changes the way you think about something you assumed was straightforward. Sam is honest, specific, and genuinely good at explaining a world most employees never get to see inside. Time stamps 0:00 Introduction 3:03 Corporate wellness: why it almost never moves the needle on claims 9:12 What an insurance broker actually does (and why everyone gets this wrong) 13:03 He works in insurance. He still couldn't claim. 23:30 The real reason he stayed in the industry for 13 years 36:03 Your company sees every medical claim you have ever made. You don't. 43:00 The single expensive claim that changes your entire team's renewal 52:43 Why insurance companies need brokers more than brokers need them 1:05:48 Mental health claims: the number companies aren't looking at 1:14:35 The questions you should ask before you hire an insurance broker 1:16:00 Quick Fire with Sam Douglas

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