An Edinburgh-born entrepreneur is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his Dubai-based property venture which now has some 600 staff on its books.
White & Co Real Estate, founded by Calum White, has also reported record turnover equivalent to some $79 million for 2025. The company has enjoyed five years of successive growth since being set up by the 32-year-old in January 2021, with the most recent financial period seeing revenue jump by 75 per cent. Profits, meanwhile, have increased to about $11.7m.
With staffing numbers now sitting at 600 – 90 per cent are from the UK – White & Co Real Estate is now ranked as the largest Western brokerage business in Dubai, having opened its doors for the first time with just eight employees. Around 400 brokers work on a commission-only basis, while there are 200 salaried staff in one of the region’s fastest-growing property firms.
White, who grew up in the Scottish capital, said: “I knew we were going to do well, I just didn’t know quickly we would get there. We have had five years of sustained growth, invested a lot into the expansion of the company, and it’s pleasing to see the results.
“Growing up in Scotland, I was determined to get out into the world. I had become disillusioned with life in the UK and wanted to leave so moved to Dubai ten years ago initially as a leasing broker.
“There’s a blame culture in the UK with too many people dragging each other down and that doesn’t exist in Dubai. In my opinion the UK is set up for business owners not to be successful. It’s effectively based on experience and length of time served whereas in Dubai it’s based on performance.”
White is eyeing further growth in the coming year, with a revenue target equivalent to £83m. The business now occupies four floors of 56,000 square feet of office space in Control Tower in its Motor City headquarters.
“Dubai real estate is a brilliant sector to be involved in at the moment,” White noted. “More and more people are coming here and seeing success quicker than ever before as the market is so strong.
“We are now easily the biggest Western brokerage in Dubai, eclipsing some businesses which have been here for 20 years. We have ambitious targets for the coming year but they are ones I’m confident of hitting.
“The population is growing 10 per cent each year and people still need houses to live in. With the infrastructure and plans for the future, there is no chance of the real estate sector slowing down soon.
“The common thought is that Dubai is full of property investors but there are a lot of people setting down roots and buying their first proper home,” he added. “We do sell to a lot of investors and we are seeing an increasing number of first-time buyers as well.”
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