About

One of Reza Zaidi’s interesting roles prior to his current one, and one which he ranks among his favourites, came with start-up Gatehouse Bank in London: ‘I was employee number two in a start-up team, setting up a Sharia wholesale bank in the UK which taught me the ability to roll up my sleeves and work across functions rather than silos. Working in an environment where answers are not available but need to be developed was challenging yet extremely informative, as was obtaining regulatory approvals during the financial crisis’. More recently, Zaidi mentions his merging of the compliance and legal functions at Marsh Middle East, where he has been since 2013, as among his main achievements with the company. ‘This provided increased value to the business and as well as exceptional development opportunities for team members’, Zaidi explains. ‘Acting as mentor for team members throughout the process, to ensure appropriate support and guidance was provided, was also highly rewarding’. Having worked on the company’s market entry in new territories as well as major integration activities in the UAE and Bahrain as part of a global multi-billion dollar transaction, Zaidi has enjoyed contributing to and being part of much of the company’s recent success. He credits having ‘a strong will to challenge myself and my team and a desire to ensure value is added to the business in a tangible way’ as having been responsible for this.