Interview with Sir Nigel Knowles, CEO of DWF Group
Sir Nigel Knowles is not afraid of a challenge. For almost twenty years, he was the Global Co-CEO and Managing Partner of the corporate law giant DLA Piper. Now, as CEO of DWF Group, a leading global provider of integrated legal and business services, he has found a new challenge. He has set his sights on Saudi Arabia and believes that the Saudi market provides unique opportunities for DWF and its clients. In this interview, Sir Nigel spoke to Inside Saudi about the experience of setting up DWF’s offices in Riyadh, the business environment in Saudi Arabia and the breathtaking scale of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030 programme.
Jack Dickens (JD) – How would you describe your experience of Saudi Arabia to those who haven’t been there?
Sir Nigel Knowles (NK) – My first visit to Saudi Arabia must have been in the late 1990s. What has been achieved in the last four or five years is just incredible. These days, I go to Saudi at least three times a year and I spend most of my time in Riyadh. When I come back and people ask me, “how was it?”, and I try to explain to them what Riyadh is like, I find that I am wholly inadequate in explaining the enormity, sophistication and commitment the Saudis have in building out their capital. It is only when more of my colleagues go to Saudi that they understand what I’m talking about, because when you see it on the ground it is just so impressive.
The last few years in Saudi Arabia have surpassed what anybody thought might be possible. It is a country with a fantastic vision for the future, which you can see in its Vision 2030 programme. What the Saudis plan to do and what they are achieving is just remarkable. We see this all the time when we go and see them and talk about what they are doing at Qiddiya Investment Company in terms of entertainment and sport, what the they are doing at Diriyah Company in terms of culture and urban living, and what they are doing at Red Sea Global in terms of leisure by creating islands and golf courses, an airport and luxury hotels. That’s before we talk about some of the enormous infrastructure and megacity projects, such as NEOM and its The Line project. The architecture, the buildings, and the quality are breathtaking. It is just incredible.
Source: General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT)
This graph compares growth rates in Saudi Arabia’s finance, insurance and business services sector (blue line) and in the Saudi crude petroleum and natural gas industry (green line) since 2016 using data from the Saudi Arabian government’s statistics authority (GASTAT). The growth rates are expressed as a percentage of overall real GDP growth using a chain-linked methodology to remove the effect of fluctuating prices. Data indicates consistently strong growth rates in the Saudi services sector since the first quarter of 2019. Saudi services grew throughout the coronavirus pandemic and the sector has continued to grow despite a sharp contraction in the oil and gas industry since the second quarter of 2023. Notably, Saudi Arabia’s services sector rebounded in 2023 and finished the year strong while the country’s oil and gas industry experienced negative growth rates.
JD – Comparing Saudi Arabia to other markets across the world where you have worked, how does Saudi compare?
NK – I have been in the legal services sector for more than forty years. I was the managing partner of DLA Piper for twenty years. Then I became chairman and now CEO of DWF Group. In all my experience, I have never seen business opportunities like those that exist in Saudi Arabia today. That is true for its own population, and for people around the world. What is most striking is the Saudis’ commitment to everything that they do. Their commitment to climate change and sustainability is remarkable. For example, King Salman Park, which is under development, is going to be seven times the size of Hyde Park and with a million trees.
Meanwhile, NEOM and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have launched a large-scale coral reef restoration programme that could be a model for saving the world’s reefs. And they are empowering young Saudi women and men with the skills and opportunities to gain meaningful employment. It’s just really impressive and we, as DWF, are committed, are investing, and are hiring people all the time. So, I’m completely sold on it. I’ll be going out again in October.
JD – How did you set up DWF in Saudi Arabia and what is your experience of the business environment there?
NK – We at DWF Group have offices in Dubai and Qatar and, through our research on the Middle East and North Africa and our commitment to service our clients in the region, we realised that Saudi Arabia was the place where we had to be. So, in October 2021, with the support of the Ministry of Investment, we became the first global legal services firm to set up its Regional Head Quarters in Riyadh. I have to say that we have been very pleased with the level of support that the Ministry of Investment has given to us in terms of helping us with the practicalities of commercial life, establishing an office, in developing the infrastructure and introducing us to potential clients. We are also lucky to have very competent Saudi professionals in our team in Riyadh, and access to young qualified Saudis who are committed to take part in the implementation of Vision 2030.
JD – So would you say that the majority of the work that you do in Saudi is related to state-funded giga-projects?
NK – It is pretty widely spread, but we’ve seen a lot of interest from the giga-projects, which are most impressive. When you are talking to so many clients who have got budgets of billions of dollars, there is nothing like that anywhere else in the world. It is really, really impressive.
What distinguishes us as a legal services firm is our technology, consulting and outsourcing solutions. With so many large scale projects to manage, our Saudi clients have paid lots of attention to our globally top-rated contract lifecycle management services, especially obligation management and related AI applications, to manage their businesses in a very proactive way.
JD – What advice would you offer to British companies seeking to establish themselves in the Saudi market?
NK – It is important to understand the way to do business in Saudi Arabia. Businesses don’t go very far if they are simply transactional in their approach. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign institutions, as well as family businesses, are interested to invest in long-term commercial relationships. This is in part why the Regional Head Quarters (RHQ) Programme works well for us, because our posture as a business is to invest in Saudi Arabia’s talent, in its growing economy and its vision for the future of the Kingdom.
For companies seeking to do work in Saudi, DWF knows the terrain and can help British companies navigate the requirements of the Saudi market. We are able to help clients navigate an unfamiliar legal and regulatory regime because we have the experience of having set up and invested in the Kingdom ourselves. We are the perfect conduit between clients around the world wanting to do work or establish themselves in Saudi, and for people in Saudi who want to do business around the world. Our value proposition is that we offer practical solutions and, where possible, introduce clients to prospective business partners. We have not been in Saudi for that long, but we’ve got real commitment to making our presence significant with staff that have extensive experience in the Kingdom.
JD – And what would you say to someone who is thinking about investing in Saudi Arabia, who is considering the opportunities out there, or who is going to work out there?
NK – I think you’ve got to do your due diligence and you’ve got to make the right choices, but there is no doubt about the opportunities that exist in Riyadh and no doubt Jeddah and other parts of Saudi, which are probably more interesting and exciting than anywhere else in the world. The opportunities are extraordinary.
JD – You highlight the importance of navigating Saudi Arabia’s unique business environment. Can you tell us about some of the challenges that you have encountered in setting up DWF Group’s office in Saudi?
NK – One of the issues I would say is that, because there are so many people wanting to do business in Saudi, hiring people is very difficult. There is high demand for each person who is available. That said, I have to say that we have got ourselves a really good office, we have got ourselves some really good people, and we are doing some really good work for our clients.
JD – You also spoke about the Saudi government’s commitment to providing jobs for Saudi nationals. What does this mean for firms establishing themselves in the country?
NK – To comply with the RHQ requirements, you have got to hire a minimum number of staff in the Kingdom, which is no doubt the right thing to do. We are now getting to our numbers. You can’t get to the numbers immediately, but we are absolutely committed to achieving those requirements.
JD – We are meeting today at the Golf Saudi Aramco Team Series in Hertfordshire. You yourself are a keen golfer. What do you think about the prospects of golf in Saudi Arabia in general?
NK – What I would say is, I am looking forward to the day when I can get to a golf resort in Saudi and enjoy the golf courses and everything that Saudi has got to offer. I’m looking forward to that. I’m going to take my boys and my wife, who doesn’t play golf, and we are going to enjoy Saudi golf before too long. I am very pro-golf and I’ve played golf for a very long time, for decades, and it is a real privilege to be a part of the event today.
JD – Thank you very much, Sir Nigel.
NK – Thank you.
CEO – Sir Nigel Knowles