Our History

Creative Word, previously known as Kwintessential Arabia was founded in 2004 in London. Having identified training requirements for multinationals it offered a range of courses meeting the challenging demands of corporations conducting international business. Being a customer centric business, it quickly expanded its services to include localization, translation and consultancy to assist its clients.

 

Creative Word opened its Dubai office in 2010 and its Beirut office in 2014 and today specialises in a variety of training courses in areas such Legal, Finance, Leadership and Cultural awareness with offices globally in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

About Us

At Creative Word, we are always customer centric, offering a range of comprehensive courses and services. Ensuring we are aware of market trends we offer innovative solutions to our clients and in many cases form strong partnerships so that we become a seamless function for our clients. Our partnerships with Dubai Tourism and the Dubai Legal Affairs Department have demonstrated our flexibility and success in offering the best services in the Industry. These partnerships not only enable us to offer accredited courses but form the benchmark for training in the industry.

 

Our multilingual team of trainers, administrators, customers service professionals and lawyers are always working hard to offer training solutions according to economic developments, innovation and our clients requirements. From e-learning and virtual classrooms to class room-based learning we have the best to offer.

MEET THE TEAM

The Creative Word Team

Sahar Al Ali
Administration Coordinator

Sahar is an Administrative Coordinator in the Training business. She joined the team in 2017 and has quickly integrated into the team. Her work includes customer service, providing support to managers and legal consultants and assisting in general administrative activities.  

Joanne Morris
Project Manager

Jo studied Law and gained extensive knowledge and work experience in the legal industry in the UK before moving to Dubai and joining the UAE Team as Project Manager in 2017.  Jo works on many key projects, ensuring effective evaluation and rollout as well as assisting with aspects of the CLPD Programme including recruitment, communications, marketing and data analysis.

Soha Assali
Senior Relationship Manager

Soha works across the Training and Translation businesses ensuring clients always receive nothing but the best service. With over 4 years of experience in the translation industry, she is one of the key Relationship Managers for UAE clients. 

Paris Duffy
Relationship Manager

Paris is the first point of call for her clients. Her job involves regular meetings with clients, understanding customer needs and handling operational processes. Paris is also multilingual and speaks 7 languages.

Lina Borisova
Project Coordinator

Lina is the Accounts and Finance Manager since May 2017 and ensures all payments, processes and reports are diligently completed within a timely manner. As the first employee of the UAE office Lina has been involved in all aspects of the business since 2011 and has been instrumental in its success.

Wennie Chua
Administrative Coordinator

Wennie is an Administrative Coordinator in the Training  business. She has worked in customer service and financial analysis and reporting since 2016.  Her relationships with the Legal Affairs Department and Law firms have been pivotal in the success of the CLPD programme.

Claire Wang
Relationship Manager

Claire is an RM for the UAE Business and a qualified English <> Chinese translator. Having worked in the Translation and Localisation industry for 7 years, she offers her clients expert advice in the way they manage their International and local business.

Chiara Anzalone
Senior Project Manager

Chiara is a Senior Project Manager who joined the team in 2012.  She manages a team of 260 plus professionals working on training, translation and interpreting projects. She is also a qualified English/Spanish/Italian translator.

Kathinka Ottenbreit
Project Manager

Kathinka joined Creative Word in 2016 as Project Manager. She manages linguists and production team for the UAE and UK business, which covers translation, training and interpreting services. With a degree in translation studies, she speaks German, English and French and is an intercultural expert.

Joy Abastillas
Admin Manager

Joy is the Administration Manager in the Training business and she manages the admin and customer service team on the CLPD Programme. Her expertise includes business administration, business process implementation and customer management.

Lucy Beales
Training Manager

Lucy is the Training and Ops Manager of the Training Business. She works closely with the Dubai Government Legal Affairs Department and oversees the CLPD scheme. Lucy is a 2009 UK qualified Solicitor who has strong commercial and sales acumen developed during her tenure at a FTSE 250 organisation. She manages the team in the UAE and is a key point for relationships in the Middle East.

Pippa Hearn
Operations Manager
Asif Afzal
Executive Director

Having worked in the GCC for the last 16 years, Asif opened the Middle East office in 2010, for the company known at that time, as Kwintessential Arabia. Over the last 8 years, Asif has rebranded the company to Creative Word, opened further International offices, expanded the company services to include professional training across industry sectors and set up partnerships with Dubai and Abu Dhabi governments entities as well as many corporate and Legal firms. His passion for learning and development continue to be at the center of the companies ambitions and growth.