David Riley's Historic Images of Dubai  & Abu Dhabi

In the Beginning! How David came to work in the Gulf

David worked for the Midland Bank in UK. He had no intention of going overseas until his Mother's cousin and her son visited.

Her son worked for the British Bank of the Middle East (BBME) in Abu Dhabi. He is believed to have opened BBME's first Abu Dhabi branch in 1959.

David was fascinated by stories of life in the Gulf.

A few months later BBME advertised for staff with banking experience to work overseas.

David couldn't resist, applied and got the job.

David spent a few months working in BBME's London office before being posted to Kuwait, arriving on 1 August 1961.

David gained experience in Kuwait, working in all their departments before being posted to Abu Dhabi in November 1962.

David Riley © UAE National Library and Archives

Mobile Banking in Abu Dhabi as it used to be Mobile Banking in Abu Dhabi as it used to be

David was to be the first Bank Accountant in Abu Dhabi primarily concerned with running the office and visiting various oil company and construction company sites dotted about Abu Dhabi.

David's main job was to oversee a mobile banking service for Construction Workers at their worksites. Bank business was done from the back of a Land Rover!

BBME sold drafts to Expats at oil and building sites, such as in Jebel Dhanna, in 1963.

It was all very basic stuff. When I arrived I shared a house with the Manager until my accommodation was built.

In those days there was no frozen food available and very little suitable fresh stuff - I think there were probably only about half a dozen Hole in the Wall shops. We used to have our food flown in from Bahrain packed in cool boxes. Initially all our drinking water came in from Dubai by barge or road tanker until they finished building the water distillation plant, which processed saltwater. Whisky was definitely cheaper than water!

Eventually Spinneys built a cold store.

I made arduous overnight journeys to Tarif and Jebel Dhanna in the Western Region. The journey to Jebel Dhanna was hell. If you weren't roasted alive in the Land Rover, you were shaken to bits, driving across a very rutted and hard-baked sabkha [salt flat]. The only way was 'foot hard down' and hang on! Happy days!"

There were no roads. We had two bank Land Rovers kept working by a full time mechanic who also looked after the bank generators.

When I went on a trip I always took a driver/mechanic plus two Indian clerks and two spare tyres! It was not unusual for the tyres to 'blow' with the heat. Before I left Abu Dhabi on a trip, we radioed the company to say we were on our way. If we didn't turn up, they would come and look for us - it happened once when we had three 'blowouts'.

I went regularly to Tarif, then onto Jebel Dhana, not far from the Qatar border where they were building an oil terminal. It was about a 5/6 hour journey on a very rutted sun baked mud road. The journey back was always the worst though as the main contractor at the time was Wimpey's. They worked 11 hour shifts but enjoyed a few beers after shift. I never made it back without a hang over!

I also flew to Das Island regularly to offer a banking service. A much more civilised trip as I stayed in the Company Guest house and had excellent food.

David Riley

Dubai as it used to be in 1963 as it used to be in 1963

I only visited Dubai on a few occasions. We had a branch there. Occasionally I would fly or drive down for a weekend.

Only person I can remember from those days is Easa Saleh Al Gurg who was always very kind to me when he came to Abu Dhabi to deputise for the Manager.

At that time Dubai was civilisation for me! Every few months BBME would also pay for me to go to Bahrain for a few days break.

David Riley Recalls

Goodbye Goodbye Abu Dhabi

I left Abu Dhabi at the end of July 1964 and returned to the UK on leave and married whilst on leave.

In December I was posted to Amman, Jordan Branch, which was quite different from what I was used to. The office had a staff of about 50, many of whom were more experienced than me. This caused a few problems with some staff resenting my presence.

We lived in a very nice house on the outskirts of Amman but some of the locals were not averse to chucking the odd stone or bottle onto our property which was unsettling. Jenny and I enjoyed the city and country but decided life was too short to put up with all the hassle so I resigned.

We returned to the UK in April 1965 where I rejoined the Midland Bank and Jenny resumed her teaching career. Even so I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Gulf and feel fortunate to have been present at such an important time in the history of a Country and its people, who were so welcoming.

BBME was taken over by the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) whilst I was in Abu Dhabi. However BBME retained its name and individuality for several years after.

At the time I was in Abu Dhabi, there were three banks - BBME , Eastern Bank and the Ottoman Bank. As far as I can recall the Eastern Bank was not taken over by the Chartered Bank until a few years later. Eventually the Chartered Bank itself was taken over and became the Standard Chartered Bank.

David Riley remembers