Who we are

Ikhlaq gained 30 years of experience as a senior executive and consultant in the Oil & Gas industry, before making his first investment in 1999 and creating the concept for Hayaat Group. He has worked across the UK, GCC, South Asian and East African markets, acquiring significant experience and understanding of assessment of investment proposals.

His role within Hayaat Group is to work across the full investment process, from concept to implementation and strategic business development. He identifies M&A and JV deal opportunities, as well as turnkey initiatives.

During the course of his career, Ikhlaq has been the driving force in the creation of more than 20 businesses as a multi-disciplinary global entrepreneur. He has also advised high ranking executives at more than 80 major multinationals on a wide range of issues, from business development to turnaround activities. In addition, he has a specialist expertise in identifying niche and high network business opportunities in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Ikhlaq first came to the Gulf region in 1996 as the Head of Middle East operations of multinational engineering contractor Kvaerner, executing some of the largest projects in the Middle East, after holding a series of senior roles in the company’s UK and Norway operations, both on and offshore.

A Corporate Member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), he is highly regarded as an authority in the Oil & Gas industry, and regularly publishes papers in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

After joining Hayaat Group in 2004, Ishtiaq quickly became one if its driving forces, masterminding one of the group’s flagship real estate ventures – The Green, a 1,026-bed student accommodation project at the University of Bradford, UK. He was also instrumental in establishing a joint venture partnership to deliver the group’s corporate housing and lifecycle support projects in the challenging emerging market of Mozambique, East Africa.

Ishtiaq has 40 years of experience in business throughout Europe and the Middle East, with areas of expertise including project management, real estate development, complex stakeholder management, retail and wholesale concept assessment and market evaluation. He is a member of the group’s investments committee and board of directors, as well as holding a series of non-executive positions with several companies in which the group has a large interest.

He spent his early career working first as a graduate trainee with British Aerospace in 1974, before entering the retail industry, first in the UK, before moving to Saudi Arabia, where one of his key achievements was introducing the concept of membership-based cash and carry.

Martyn is a senior finance and investment professional with more than 30 years of experience, working with prestigious financial organisations including Barclays Bank, Natwest Bank and Ernst & Young. With areas of expertise in corporate banking, investment banking, real estate financing and asset management, Martyn began working with Hayaat Group in 2008.

As a qualified CMA, chartered banker and member of both the Institute of Corporate Treasurers, and the Investment Institute, Martyn has spent the last 15 years focusing on healthcare and real estate financing, at both corporate and structured project levels. In 2007, he began working for the Howard de Walden family, as Finance Director of their UK-wide property development business, and Group Treasurer of their London Estate, while also focusing on other advisory and business undertakings, including his own investments in healthcare.

Prior to that, Martyn spent three years as Finance Director for one of the UK’s largest private farming and property businesses. He trained with Ernst & Young before joining the then National Westminster Bank, Corporate Banking, in the 1980s, eventually becoming Senior Director in charge of the North of England.

Junaid has 25 years of experience in investment, finance, real estate and private equity, across multiple sectors, in both start-ups and established companies. He moved to the GCC region in 2005, working as Principal of the Emerging Markets Partnership, Bahrain, managing the US$730 million Islamic Development Bank Infrastructure Fund, working in Turkey, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia in the telecommunications, aviation, power and Oil & Gas sectors.

In 2013, he set up East 50 Advisors, a niche client-focused advisory company that covers select sectors within real estate, private equity and trade finance in developed and MENA markets. He was a founding member and head of the investment team at Tadhamon Capital, an entity with more than $700 million of assets under management. He developed and set up a social infrastructure- focused strategy, investing in student accommodation, affordable housing, and the care and retirement markets in the UK, undertaking transactions valued at £200 million.

Before moving to the GCC, Junaid worked in London for 13 years, for Henderson Global Investors, JP Morgan, Fitch Ratings and KPMG. Junaid is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and holds the Financial Times Non-Executive Director Diploma certification.