Speaker Profile

Ramzy Abdul-Majeed

Founder & Managing Director, Whissle Hospitality Group

Ramzy is the in-demand numbers man with the “Midas touch” with over 28 years of unparalleled multi-disciplinarycomplex deal structuring in sectors including hospitality, telecom, media and banking. A dual British and Jordaniancitizen, Ramzy perfectly epitomizes the balance between both cultures. He attended boarding school in England, University in Boston and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the 1990s with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in London.

Subsequently, as a private equity fund manager for Société Générale in London, he successfully managed US$ 300million of publicly listed funds focusing on Eastern European and Middle East. Thereafter, Ramzy spent four years asGeneral Manager - Investments & Risk Management for Xenel Industries - one of the largest family conglomerates inSaudi Arabia. In 2004 Ramzy moved to Dubai heading up the Strategy team at National Bank of Dubai and in 2005, he left to focus on growing Big On Group, his diversified holding company encompassing various sectors.

Since then, Ramzy was instrumental in successfully launching Blackberry in the Middle East and involved in the real estate, children’s products, technology and education sectors.

As part of his vision to diversify the Big On Group, he founded Big On Hospitality in 2005 to alter the future of Hospitality. He identified a gap in the market to create brands in Dubai for expansion around the world. This started with the multi award-winning Japanese concept OKKU which opened its doors in early 2009.

Ramzy is a frequent speaker at F&B industry conferences and one of the key people behind founding the Restaurant Association of the Middle East with its base in Dubai, to be launched officially in Q1 2020.

Ramzy holds a B.A. Economics & B.Sc. in Business and Accounting and is a Fellow of the Institute of CharteredAccountants in England & Wales.