Like many, Ben Grant, 26, moved to Dubai for its zero taxes and work-hard, play-hard culture.
Originally from Sunderland, he found there was a stigma in the North East, and Britain in general, around people earning good money. “People weren’t nice if you were successful; they’d say: ‘Why don’t you get a normal job?’”
Ben was working in finance as a business consultant for a UK company and decided to move to Dubai with his partner and work remotely in March 2024.
“I’d been on holiday there a few times and people were going there to make money and work hard. There was no stigma around doing well, and everyone helped each other out to earn more,” he says.
Ben’s salary in Dubai varied from year-to-year, although it was always well into the six figures. In the first 12 months, he earned £750,000, while the next year, it was £300,000 to £400,000.
“When I went over there, I was a bit naïve and thought I’d just get to keep all my money, but having stepped away from it, I know where it goes [with taxes] in the UK,” he says.
Things like healthcare, which are free here, have to be paid for in Dubai and there is, what Ben jokingly refers to as, ‘The Dubai Tax’.
“You can be sucked into living an extravagant lifestyle as there are always new restaurants and places opening that you feel like you need to try out. You spend money there when you wouldn’t in the UK,” he says.
Some everyday items were also surprisingly expensive, and, for Ben and his partner, a full weekly food shop came to £200 to £300.
“Ordering in takeaway was cheaper and it was easier to live on takeaway than make it yourself,” he says.
“Sandwiches for lunch were £5 to buy whereas, to make a sandwich from things bought at the supermarket, would be more than this. A full Indian takeaway was £12 in Dubai, and when we came back to the UK, the same order was £26.”
He found electronics were much cheaper in Dubai and a Samsung phone, which cost him £700 would be £1,400 in the UK.
Ben Grant says he enjoyed living in Dubai but missed the UK, adding he likes to be a hands-on investorIn terms of accommodation, Dubai was more expensive than the North East, but cheaper than London. Ben and his partner initially lived in a three-bedroom apartment in a new-build complex for £1,400 a month.
“We then got a dog and felt sorry for it being kept in an apartment, so moved to a villa in January 2025. Technically, this was a four-bedroom but one of the bedrooms was downstairs and was supposed to be a maid’s room. We used that for the dog.”
In Dubai, rent is paid once or twice a year, instead of monthly, and this worked out at about £50,000 annually (just over £4,000 a month) for the villa, which also had a large garden and a shared pool.Another big plus for Ben was the convenience in the city, and the fact that just about anything could be delivered to your door in 20 minutes. “When I first moved there, I was playing Call of Duty with my friends, and I ordered a PS5 and a takeaway at the same time and the PS5 arrived first,” he says.
“You could order petrol and someone would turn up to your drive and fill your car up. You would then just pay with an app, and it was the same price as if you filled up at the petrol station.”
But for all of this, Ben decided to move back to Sunderland before the war with Iran in December 2025. He left his six-figure salary to come home and start up a private equity firm. He currently isn’t paying himself anything, instead investing the money he earned abroad in the start-up.
He is using previous earnings and savings to pay for rent, bills and other outgoings.
“I’m not paying myself a salary yet,” he says. “I left my job and started from scratch as I want to focus on helping out UK businesses. Money is great, but I wanted to work with purpose. I did think about setting it up in Dubai, but I’m a hands-on investor – I like getting into businesses.”
His company, Lambton Capital Partners, is based in his native Sunderland, and unlike many private equity firms that focus on tech or software companies, it finances blue-collar businesses across the UK.
The company joins a firm as a shareholder or buys it in full, investing money to grow areas such as SEO, training and social media.
“I want to support burnt-out owners who have been working on their company for 30 years but don’t have the guidance or support,” he says. “The opportunity here is real and largely overlooked.”
His company recently funded the advertising campaign for one business, off the back of which £360,000 was generated.
In Sunderland, Ben rents a £1,500-a-month, three-bedroom house in Lambton Park and doesn’t plan to buy a property for the foreseeable future. “I don’t think houses are a good investment and I’d rather put the money towards a business,” he says.
Ben admits, with the war in Iran starting in February, he was fortunate with the timing of his move, but he doesn’t expect there to be mass exodus of expats anytime soon.
“I’ve heard from friends that not many people are leaving because of the war.”
That said, he has no regrets of swapping Dubai’s sun for Sunderland. “I missed the cold and the seasons. I missed the people and I missed the normality of life,” he says. “I would recommend other people give [living in Dubai] a shot, but for me, it’s nice to go on holiday there.”
Ben believes “Sunderland as a city has shaped me” and he wants to put something back into the city and the UK economy. “I’d rather be the person who builds something lasting in the place I grew up than chase another year of comfort abroad.”
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