I arrived in Dubai on the evening of July 15 1983. It was the eve of my 40th birthday and I recalled the wave of intense heat that hit me as I was walking down the steps of the aircraft. I had never experienced anything like it in my life.

I was part of a team from Aer Rianta [the Irish Airport Authority] who had been contracted to set up Dubai Duty Free. I remember being met by Norman Turnbull from Dubai Airport and we went to the International Hotel near the airport now Le Meridien. The airline had lost my luggage so I went the next lunchtime to Al Ghurair Centre to buy a new shirt and so on but did not realise that they closed between 1pm and 4pm in those days so was standing outside waiting for the shops to re-open and I remember thinking what sort of place is this!

Colm McLoughlin and Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum with Frontier Awards in 1986. - Supplied photo Luckily my meetings with the then Director-General of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority Mohi-din Binhendi went very well and we were given the go ahead to set up the duty free operation in the basement of the existing terminal where there had been a former kitchen. We had barely six months to do everything from working with contractors on the construction to hiring staff to buying stock everything.

I certainly got a sense right from the start that things had to move quickly in Dubai and I liked that. I very quickly got the sense as well that everything had to be of a very high standard and that the Ruling family and in particular His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai who was the Minister of Defence at that time were the driving force behind the development of Dubai to a modern and vibrant city. We are very fortunate to have Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as our Chairman and of course he is overall head of Dubai Airports as well as Emirates Airline. I report directly to Shaikh Ahmed and he is such a hard-working man as well as being extremely approachable and down to earth.

From my personal life > Social media: I am not active on Social media but I do know how to take a Selfie!

> Best advice: To stay normal keep your feet on the ground and to look after people and they will reward you tenfold - given by my father.

> Golden rule: Keep it simple work hard and be honest.

> Advice for newcomers in UAE: The UAE has plenty of opportunities for people but it does not happen overnight. So you have to work hard and work honestly and you will gain the rewards

> Favourite leader: Nelson Mandela

> Preferred book: The Great Hunger (about the Irish famine)

> Best movie: Random Harvest

> Favourite place: Ireland

'Can do' attitude

From the very start I liked the welcoming and courteous nature of the people in Dubai both the UAE nationals and expatriates. The 'can do' attitude was very much in evidence even in those days and everyone was willing to help or to point you in the right direction. Back in 1983 the population of Dubai was 250000 and traffic through Dubai International Airport was three million. You got to know everyone very quickly and met up at the same functions. Nowadays if you know a handful of people at events you are doing well.

When my wife Breeda joined me in Dubai we along with my colleagues enjoyed the social life in Dubai and as I was a keen golfer I joined the Country Club where you played golf on the sand. You walked around with a piece of astro turf for teeing off and you had to brush the sand back in shape when you had played your shot. When the Emirates Golf Club opened in 1988 it was very exciting and now of course we have so many courses which are world class and we have tournaments that attract the top golfers in the world.

Being Irish we became involved with the Dubai Irish Society (DIS) which is the oldest society in Dubai and I was chair in 1988-99. We organised the St. Patrick's Day ball and practically everyone Irish attended. I am glad to see that the DIS is joined by the Irish Business Network (IBN) the Dubai Irish Golf Society (DIGS) and the Dubai Celts.

Starting Dubai Duty Free

We had a very short lead time before the opening of Dubai Duty Free and had to learn a good deal in that time. I remember recruiting our first batch of staff from the Philippines and conducting a training programme the day before we opened. I was standing on a plank which was balanced on two oil barrels and I was showing the staff a photocopy of a US dollar note as most of them had never seen a dollar at that time! There was a great sense of camaraderie as we all were in this together and had to work long hours in order to be ready for the big day on December 20.

Our first day of sales was $44000 and the first year we took $20 million which was good.

Of the 100 original staff employed in 1983 I am happy to say that we still have 32 of the team which is something I am very proud of.

After the opening of Dubai Duty Free on December 20 1983 I was asked to stay on as general manager which I did and later became managing director before becoming executive vice-chairman. My deputy George Horan also stayed on along with another colleague John Sutcliffe and we were known as the Irish Trinity. George is still here and is president of the operation John who was the youngest retired a couple of years ago.

First batch of Dubai Duty Free staff with Colm McLoughlin in 1983. Of the 100 original staff joined the organisation in 1983 32 are still with the Dubai Duty Free says the executive vice-chairman. Business yesterday vs today

In addition to the hard work in the setting up of the business we had to learn a good deal about doing business in Dubai. The very first thing that we did was to get hold of a copy of the Dubai business directory from the chamber of commerce and look up local distributors of products that we wanted to stock. We eventually chose our suppliers and we still have many of the same to this day and have a great relationship with them.

If I compare today's business environment in Dubai with 35-40 years back when I landed in the UAE of course it is very different now. Our sales in 2015 reached $1.888 billion making us the No. 1 airport retailer in the world in terms of turnover. When we first went to the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) exhibition in Cannes back in the 1980's no one there wanted to do business with us as they did not know where Dubai was. Now when the team go to Cannes we are inundated with meeting requests from suppliers who are trying to sell to us Dubai is known by everyone.

As told to Muzaffar Rizvi