Author: adm_f_club

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Kay Gowrinath is the Founder and Managing Director of Xquisite Productions. Fuelled by immense creativity and attention to detail, the business has grown from a one-man unit modifying cars, to an award-winning full-service design and production company. Kay tells Nima Suchak about his journey from tinkering in his parents’ garage, to designing and producing the highest quality experiences for global marketing agencies and brands.

The master maker’s journey began around 20 years ago. The film Fast and Furious was all the rage, and Kay started tinkering about, building and modifying his own car in his parent’s garage. His talent shone through, and Kay quickly became known on the car scene for his builds and had queues of people wanting work done on their cars.

Realising he had a business on his hands, Kay sought out a small workshop, employed an assistant, and was soon breaking new ground winning awards for his work on clients’ cars. “I started small but rose to the top of the industry very quickly. Our reputation just grew, and our work was getting featured all around the world. At international shows, people would come to see the cars that we had brought.”

It was the outlandish nature of Kay’s work that awarded him an almost celebrity status and built a cult following. His work was featured in over 50 magazines globally, even attracting the attention of TV producers. He was a finalist in the selection process for Pimp my Ride and was eventually seen in shows such as YouTube’s Fast, Furious & Funny and E4’s Carjackers.

“It was a very competitive industry and we inspired clients with the confidence that we were a stable, high-quality business.” But though the modified car industry was big and exciting, it just wasn’t lucrative enough.

Kay says that at one point, cashflow was ‘dreadful’ and they were at rock bottom and close to folding when a phone call changed everything. A creative agency was looking for a high value job for Coca-Cola to build two vehicles for the 2012 London Olympics torch relay campaign.

“That was the lifeline for us, and it was huge for our portfolio. It dawned on me that this was to be the direction for our business.”

With the goal firmly in his mind, and the Coca-Cola project in pride of place on their portfolio, Kay actively sought out sales in experiential production through creative agencies, working for some of the biggest umbrella groups. They started creating articulated lorries, immersive experiences, exhibition stands, and new product launches for brands such as Blue E-cigarettes, Green & Blacks, Google, Cadbury’s, Coca-Cola, and more.

“The floodgates were wide open. We got big clients, and lots of work. The reason we stood out was because of our experience in building cars. Our skillset meant everything we produced was outstanding in quality…setting a new standard in event production.

“My days consisted of relentless pitching, pricing and on many occasions being down in the workshop constructing the builds. I am often in the trenches with the team in a cut-throat industry. It was not uncommon to work 17-hour days, seven days a week. Whilst all my friends were out partying and enjoying their 30’s, I spent mine creating Xquisite and getting it to be the powerhouse that it is today. To be honest, I relish the opportunity for growth and the challenges that we face really drive our creative flare.

“We had uprooted the image of an event production company and looked at the industry with fresh eyes. What set us apart was not only could we do every element of production in house, but crucially how brands were managed. Agency clients were and are comfortable to bring brands to us because we are immersive and give confidence. Yes, we produce the work, but we’re more than that. We’re part creative agency, part production, and we do everything in-house. That’s our USP.”

In 2019 Kay decided to grow the business more aggressively. He employed some key people and invested heavily into bigger premises, acquiring a new 35,000 sq ft site. Then in 2020, covid struck, and all work was lost. “Everything was cancelled,” says Kay. “I had to rapidly revisit the strategic direction of the business and pivot us accordingly.”

While the upscaling was successful, the entire events and hospitality industry has been severely impacted. There were rumblings of tiny projects for the retail industry, but Kay had to furlough most of the team. Critically, they remained operative as a business, stepping in to do project prototypes for the retail industry and supporting care packages to staff in Nightingale Hospitals.

Kay recognised his company’s role in supporting brands during the pandemic. He began to actively connect with clients to work out a diversity of ways Xquisite can get products into consumer’s hands. It was a genius move, and Xquisite led on several exciting breakthroughs, including a cocktail sampling campaign for The Ned, London, and a Pan-European experiential truck to showcase barbecues for retail giants, all whilst navigating the challenges that COVID-19 and Brexit had posed. The team were able to successfully pioneer Covid compliant experiential activity during the height of the outbreaks.

Being able to offer full services in-house that ranged from conceptual designs through to production, campaign management and even storage and sustainable disposal, served Xquisite well, and this year looks the best yet.

“We’ve really cemented our strength and have gained a reputation for thinking outside the box,” says Kay. “But there’s much more to do. We’re looking to add a digital and a strategic arm, and expand globally, in LA, Dubai and Monaco.

“I’m very ambitious, driven, and want to build an organisation that is notorious for not only how good it is, but also for the people in it. Over the pandemic, I’ve realised there is more to life than work. Yes, there are tight deadlines and lots of pressure in this industry, but our company morale is different because everyone loves being part of it. I give people free reign to do what they do.

“My aim is that every person in this organisation feels as invested as I am. I had a real perspective shift – from focusing on the clients and if they’re happy – to the team. I realised that if they are happy, my clients are happy. I had the realisation that the most important thing was the staff, otherwise it’s just a large site with computers and machinery. It’s the incredible team we have here that makes the magic work at Xquisite.

xquisitepr.com

Photographs by Jai Shah

When a road accident changed Sheena Pirbhai’s life forever, she used her experience of trauma to drive better brain health and mental health treatment into the future

Sheena Pirbhai had the world in the palm of her hand. She had just graduated from the University of Cambridge and was looking forward to starting a new job in the banking sector when it was all cut short abruptly.

The young graduate was cycling in her university city when a lorry ploughed into her. “I remember it all so clearly. I thought I was going to die.” Sheena remained conscious throughout the near-death experience, suffering intense pain and trauma which was to stay with her for many years.

There was an initial three months in hospital, followed by many more gruelling months of surgery. “Doctors had to remove the tissue and skin on the right side of my body where the lorry wheel had stopped on me.

“I couldn’t walk for months. I had knee surgery twice, and after each surgery I had to re-learn everything. There were times I just lost hope of ever walking again.”

A year after the incident, Sheena took up the job offer in banking which had been deferred while she recovered from the accident. But her underlying Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), coupled with a very stressful job, became hard to manage. “I couldn’t cope. I went to see the bosses and they said I should take a holiday. That holiday turned into extended medical leave, and I just never returned.”

Sheena started investing in treatment for PTSD, and was particularly drawn to EMDR therapy, Neurofeedback and psychiatry. She credits her doctor, Dr Michael Bott, for changing her life. “He taught me how to see life in the way I see it now – how to rationalise and process everything that I’ve been through. And he did it in a way that was completely in tune with who I am.”

As part of her recovery journey, Sheena spent time in India where she built a hugely successful company structuring finance for Indian film and television. “It gave me that last piece of the puzzle of complete independence, self-sufficiency, and responsibility for myself, for my decisions.”

She returned to London ten years later, ready to look at how she could use her trauma to help others, focussing on mental health from the perspective of the digital landscape.

“From my experience, a lot of solutions focused on cognitive function which involves logic and reasoning. But I knew from my own recovery, one of the key aspects was the treatment for the ‘emotional’ part of the brain which is not governed by logic and reasoning. When your nervous system is impacted by stress or anxiety, it impacts your ability to control that part of your brain for it to behave in a regulated manner.”

Sheena had been treated with EMDR and neurofeedback to deal with the emotional regulation part of her brain, but neurofeedback – though a very powerful treatment – was not widely available in the UK.

“I was lucky that I was able to receive treatment from some of the leading mental health professionals in the world…doctors and therapists at the top of their field. But I strongly believe that any form of treatment, even in its basic form, should not be limited to those who can afford it. Mental health is still a taboo subject, and even though we are getting better at talking about it in public forums, there are still so many people who are suffering in silence, unable to access treatment or afford the right treatment, particularly when it comes to PTSD.”

Reconnected with Dr. Bott, they came up with the idea that Neurofeedback could be incredibly effective if digitised and offered to anyone through their smartphone. Sheena reached out for a CTO, Dan Stevens, and they spent a year building a prototype for an app, and in 2019 tested it with a group of Dr. Bott’s patients, yielding incredible results. Stress Point Health had finally developed the technology to deliver digitised Neurofeedback.

Through their beta testing phase, Stress Point offered the app free to 450 users throughout the pandemic and saw meaningful improvement. “People were getting reduction in anxiety, reducing symptoms of stress, PTSD, which really gave us the confidence to take it forward.”

The full version of the app, SPHERE, was launched in 2021. Stress Point Health is currently working with clinicians, charities, corporates and organisations who want to improve mental health on a bigger scale. Sheena also works with individuals who want 121 guided sessions to work on their mental health or improve high level performance.

“We’re talking about giving people the best chance of success for long term. We have to start bringing together digital solutions in the same way that people would if they were given a treatment plan by their doctor like I was. We need to use digital therapies to make genuine meaningful improvement in the mental health pandemic that we are facing. And how brilliant that we can do that cost effectively, at home, with no waiting lists.

“For 20 years or so, I really struggled with the ‘why’. But I genuinely feel Stress Point Health was what I was destined to do. This is my life’s work. I had to go through that to be this person in the world. It started with the view that if I help one person it’s still worth it. but as that grew, and we were helping more and more people, it all suddenly made sense.

“The priority mission for us is for everyone achieve good mental health, but also for people to understand that there is a whole eco system that you need to work within to achieve long term brain health.”

stresspointhealth.com

Interview by Nima Suchak

Photographs by Rory B. Gullan

Club member and founder of Dance to Inspire, Angelique Parvez danced her way out of the pain and fear of cancer, to empower other women.

The mother, university lecturer, trained dancer and fitness instructor launched her business formerly known as D-Style Dance, in 2012, a Bollywood dance and fitness company in East London. At the end of 2019, just weeks before the country was placed in full lockdown Angelique was diagnosed with breast cancer. The battle spurred her to re-evaluate her life and use the experience to help other women.

Before being diagnosed with cancer, Angelique was overworked and stretched. The former management consultant was juggling freelance work, lecturing, raising children, all while running her business and dealing with difficult relationships and inevitably, the pressure took its toll.

“We accept stress as part of life, but we really shouldn’t,” says Angelique. “As women, we tend to run ourselves to the ground and often put ourselves last. We do not make time to relax, meditate, pray, and to keep fit and do something we enjoy. It is critical we do these things as part of our daily routine.

“I was mentally, physically, and emotionally stressed and when your mental health is not at its best, it becomes a brewing storm which leads to disease. We’re so used to running on a hamster wheel, being ‘busy’ that it affects our hormones, makes us more stressed, and eventually we’re hit with something else.”

Feeling anxious, and generally unwell, Angelique knew something was wrong. She noticed pain in her chest and eventually discovered a lump. She sought medical help and wasn’t prepared to hear the news that she had early-stage breast cancer. Angelique was shocked and in full blown anxiety for a few days, till she eventually pulled on her internal strength and started to coach herself.

“I started talking to myself and trying to justify the situation,” she says. “I reminded myself that we are all going to have to die one day, and I’ve been fortunate to be given a new lease of life. I told myself to calm down because it could be so much worse.”

Angelique turned her attention to helping herself. She looked into meditation and visualisation, and turned to her faith, petitioning God to help her through the trauma. “The more I delved, the more I learnt and realised how much I hadn’t done for myself. I had neglected to look after my mental health and had just continued to allow things that were not right for me.”

Angelique had to undergo a commanding tirade of scans, operations, radiotherapy, and hormone treatments, suffering terrible side effects at each stage. Yet, without revealing her cancer to the world, she continued teaching dance and fitness.

“Having the business was a big distraction. I hadn’t told my customers about my health issues, so was in full work mode managing the best I could with my situation.”

Just weeks later, Coronavirus gripped the world, and the country went into lockdown. Being confined to home served to assist Angelique’s recovery journey. “I could finally relax. I had my family around, I didn’t need to do school runs, and there were no physical classes.” Angelique decided to set up her dance studio at home and started to deliver her classes virtually. This is when she realised how vital it was for women to find support in each other.

“Lockdown had hit, and my clients were starting to panic—it was a scary, unpredictable time. People were struggling. I knew they were scared, but I had just been there. I realised I could make things better for them by keeping classes going and providing regularity. Dance and fitness could provide physical and mental wellbeing for women. And on top of that, it was a portal for us to talk, discuss what was going on, and just be together, albeit virtually. Yes, I helped them cope with what they were dealing with, but actually, it was them who were helping me cope. I had found a purpose which helped me focus on something outside my pain.”

The doctors were amazed at how quickly Angelique was healing due to her healthy and active lifestyle, which encouraged Angelique to eventually go public and share her cancer journey on a Facebook post. “I couldn’t be inauthentic. I am a fitness instructor, and my aim is to help others to be healthier. I was going through a huge health scare, so how could I keep that under wraps?

“It’s so important to talk. I didn’t know any women of my age who had been through the cancer journey because people – especially Asian women – tend to keep things quiet. That creates a massive problem for someone like me who didn’t know who to turn to. I wanted to get rid of the taboo of this illness, and even if I could help just one person, I would be happy.”

Angelique decided to reincarnate her dance business into the newly launched Dance to Inspire – a healthy living program aimed to help women live a happier, healthier life through dance, nutrition coaching, and good mental health practices. Dance, she believes, is the best form of exercise for mind and body health, and the proof lies in her team of coaches… Angelique’s own students help other women with their body and mind transformation. The programme teaches mental health techniques, nutrition, eating healthy, exercise, hydration to help women look and feel better, calmer, and happier. The classes are delivered virtually on Zoom, with meetings on the phone so anyone can join in globally.

“My experience has taught me that as women, we need to look after ourselves and put ourselves first, not last. When you are well only you can support your family and others. If you do, you’re stronger, happier, and 100% more productive.”

Dancetoinspire.co.uk

Photographs by Rory B Gullan

A brand new development in the heart of Chiswick, represents a rare opportunity to live in one of the capital’s most sought-after neighbourhoods.

The mix of 137 apartments, penthouses and townhouses, alongside thoughtfully designed landscaping, Chiswick Green by renowned boutique developer Great Marlborough Estates brings together a charming village-like location with the cosmopolitan lifestyle of central London.

Tucked behind Chiswick High Road, the leafy Zone 3 neighbourhood boasts beautiful green surroundings. Alongside Turnham Green, which borders the new homes at Chiswick Green, several of London’s most prestigious parks are close by – including Chiswick House & Gardens, Kew Gardens and the globally-renowned Richmond Park. The River Thames and its extensive paths are also close by for riverside walks.

Chiswick itself is home to a bustling high street with a strong community and an eclectic mix of boutique shops and everyday necessities, as well as a thriving cultural and foodie scene – from the Michelin-starred La Trompette to exclusive members’ club High Road House, part of the Soho House Group. The area has also seen an influx of new independent names in recent years, from the eco-friendly Chiswick Cinema to British-Afghan BBQ brand, Cue Point, located in Chiswick Pavilion.

Great Marlborough Estates has brought together some of the most prestigious names in the industry to bring the development to life, with architecture by the award-winning Assael and interiors by renowned designers Millier. Chiswick Green seamlessly blends within the existing townscape, drawing inspiration from the red-brick buildings and greenery of Chiswick High Road, yet with its own distinctive, contemporary twist.

Creating a beautifully-designed community of modern homes, the range of one, two and three-bedroom apartments – which sit across three buildings – with the majority benefitting from private balconies with river, park and city views. With interiors inspired by the development’s natural surroundings, spacious apartment layouts have been carefully crafted to ensure flexible living spaces fit for modern living.

In addition, an exclusive collection of six penthouses provide far-reaching, uninterrupted views across the capital. Meanwhile, tucked away behind the high street, a terrace of just four generous three-storey townhouses will provide the very best of luxury family living.

Whether travelling by foot, bike, car or train, residents enjoy excellent transport connections. Chiswick Park Station is just a three-minute walk, providing access to Victoria in 24 minutes, and Bond Street and King’s Cross in under 40 minutes, while Overground services from nearby Gunnersbury Station put residents in Richmond in around 15 minutes. London Waterloo can also be reached in just 25 minutes via mainline services from Chiswick Station. In addition, Crossrail services from nearby Ealing Broadway – set to open in May 2023 – will further boost connectivity for local residents and put Heathrow Airport within a 15-minute journey.

Perfect for families, Chiswick is renowned for its near-unrivalled educational facilities, with a range of both highly regarded state schools and independent schools within close proximity.

“Chiswick Green is set to bring a different offering to the neighbourhood with its mix of distinctive design and architecture, impressive local lifestyle offering and landscaped setting,” says Grant Lipton, Director, Great Marlborough Estates.

Prices at Chiswick Green start from £580,000
chiswickgreen.co.uk
020 8017 1947

The Glenturret is celebrating an exceptional year, boasting 31 international award wins, success at a ground-breaking Sotheby’s auction, collaborating with the country’s most renowned hotel, Gleneagles, and becoming the world’s first distillery to receive a Michelin star just seven months launching The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant. Managing Director John Laurie speaks to Nima Suchak about his role in blending tradition with the future for a new generation of whisky lovers.

Describe about how the philosophy of The Glenturret connects to you?
My journey into whisky comes from a love and passion for the product, and what it means for the nation that I am proud to be part of. I went to a whisky show at 25 and fell in love with the branding, the stories and connection to Scotland that the whisky industry has quite uniquely. It wasn’t a commodity to me, it was always something more special than that. The Glenturret is the oldest distillery and still the only handmade whisky in Scotland, yet, there is a real sense of humility here…we call it the warmest of Scottish welcomes. And while we are super premium luxury, our humility and honesty are key components. That locks me into the brand and keeps me here because it’s great to be part of something that is Scotland’s oldest, that is delivering the traditional methods of whisky-making, while being really humble and honest.

How does the brand balance heritage, tradition, and the future?
You need to understand what parts of your heritage are actually the key parts of your identity and what makes your brand special. The quality of whisky that’s made by Glenturret is non-negotiable. The way we go about making it is non-negotiable. Where we embrace the future is in the way that we communicate with the consumer. If you want to continue and grow it’s really important that you adapt to the world that you’re living in and that has to be negotiable. As much as I believe the product should never change, your presence in the world and how you communicate your presence in the world has to always change.

You were named one of the ‘50 most influential people in British luxury’ in the ‘rainmaker’ category of Walpole’s Power List. How are you going to make the most of the recognition and influence that this brings?
What that meant for me was the arrival of Scottish single malt onto the luxury stage. In Scotland in particular, we are guilty of not having confidence in our strengths so it’s about our industry getting onto that stage in an incredible and confident way. It shows that the whisky industry has arrived in the luxury consumer goods world, and is here to stay.

The Glenturret is one of the fastest developing brands in the sector by value and volume since the acquisition by Lalique Group and entrepreneur Hansjörg Wyss. What makes this relationship work so well?
Lalique has a huge depth of understanding of the luxury market and what it means to be a true luxury consumer good. Where we are similar is their protection of the history and heritage of the Lalique brand and the protection of Rene Lalique’s history and heritage to ensure that he is very present in the modern brand. What resonated with me was how they managed to modernise and bring a product into this world without whitewashing its history, and they’ve done that here again with us. The Glenturret was very small when it was bought, and while we have grown very fast, we remain a boutique distillery.

The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant is the first distillery in the world to have a Michelin star—and just seven months after opening. Was this always in the game plan?
The concept of neighbourhood vineyard restaurants really interested us and we thought it would be great to be the first to have a fine dining restaurant within a distillery setting. Our mission was to create a world class restaurant that really helped a new set of consumers understand the terroir of our area. Globally-renowned Head Chef Mark Donald spent his first couple of months with our production team, championing the Scottish produce foraged in the local terroir, fusing playful flavours reflective of his global experience. The entire team at The Glenturret have worked incredibly hard to get the business to where it is now and we have been very successful with awards, winning gold medals and the coveted Distiller of the Year. But that only means something to you if you are aware of what those things mean within the industry. Whereas Michelin is universally recognised and gave us the wider recognition for the hard work that the whole team have done—whisky and restaurant combined.

What has been the most challenging aspect for you in relaunching the brand? How did you overcome these challenges?
When the business was part of Edrington, it was part of a large, corporate entity. And the culture and systems of work that exist in a large corporate entity are very different from a small agile operation. So, taking the business on a journey to becoming a standalone distiller within Scotland that has a really ambitious target of a super-premium product required a new set of skills, a new energy, a new pace. Therefore, the biggest challenge for my leadership was to find that skill, pace, and culture without moving too far from our humility and tradition.

How has Brexit impacted the brand, and its new international appeal?
As a business, it has been a very difficult challenge. Lots of different markets require different paperwork, administration, and labelling which has created an administration burden on the business and caused us a lot of strain. The challenge, though, has been to ensure that the consumer doesn’t see that challenge. The consumer should get The Glenturret that they love and paid for, and should get it the way they expected. The challenge for us is not to let any of those frustrations apparent to the consumer.

Where do you see the brand in the next five years?
I’ve always had the vision that The Glenturret will become that special occasion drink. It’s going to be the one you reach for at special event, or you want to share a special dram with that special person on that special occasion. We’re on that journey. We’re very much becoming that brand for people.

What is your choice of drink to relax?
I genuinely love whisky and the industry so my drink of choice is The Glenturret Triple Wood. It’s super smooth and super easy to drink.

theglenturret.com

With 8.5 billion searches per day on Google and 4.2bn active users on Facebook and Instagram, it’s vital to your business success that you are active and easily found online. In today’s digital world, the relationship between your business and your digital marketing agency could be one of the most important relationships you will have. Club member and founder of Disturb Digital, Rick Parmar explains how to pick the right digital marketing agency for you, and for your business.

FXC: Why is digital marketing so important for businesses?

In a nutshell, digital marketing is considerably cheaper and arguably more effective than traditional methods of marketing. Every penny is measurable online and you can reach thousands of people across the world for less than a tenner. And if your digital marketing is executed correctly, for every pound spent, you can expect to achieve at least 5-10 x return.

FXC: Can this be done in-house? Why should I use a third party agency over an in house person?

You could employ a person to do this work in-house, but it is quite rare for any individual to be a master at every single online and advertising platform. The best way to do this in-house would be to hire persons per ad platform type, though this can easily add up to £150k upwards in annual salary. More often than not, it will be more cost effective to employ an agency who typically specialise in more than one online advertising platform. Of course, if the relationship and results are not working out with the agency, it will be fairly easy to hand in notice to cancel.

FXC: How can one identify the best agencies for a business? What should I look for?

It is a wild wild west out there. I would look at agencies:

Who are in the same city as you (or at least country).
Who you have a good connection with as you’ll need to work closely with them going forward
Who have strong agency reviews from actual business owners.
Who have a good, long trading history, backed up with the same trading history on Companies House.
Who can show case studies closely related to your product or service that delivered results similar to what you’re looking for.
Who are prompt replying to emails and phone calls, turning up to meetings on time when initially dealing with them.
Who may challenge your existing set up to help you reach your goals.
And steer clear from those guaranteeing results if they haven’t got a track record or any case studies of working on projects in a similar space to your business.

FXC: It can sound like gobbledygook. What should the agencies be saying to me? Anything I should be looking out for?

They should initially ask you what your overall goal is from advertising – which products or services are the most popular and most profitable for you, your typical average order value, and typical average lifetime value per customer. Once confirmed, they should also ask you what the maximum you could spend to acquire a new customer. This is usually termed as your CPA (cost per acquisition) which is the most common (and arguably most important) metric used between business owners and digital marketing activity being undertaken.

There is a lot of software out there. No real secret software will turn fortunes overnight. However, the biggest deal breaker I would look out for would be any agency using the words ‘boosting posts’, ‘promoting posts’, ‘engagement advertising’ and those using ‘google smart/express advertising’. These are tell-tale signs the agency is not fully equipped to deliver tangible results for you at maximum impact. More often than not, those using these methods will waste your money. Lastly, it’s helpful if the agency is a Facebook or Google Agency Partner, but not a deal breaker.

FXC: What is the process? How do I choose?

Step 1

Carefully pick out a handful of agencies you feel could deliver for you based on their case studies and checking items mentioned earlier in this article.

Step 2

Set up a call to have a chat with the agency to discuss your business and goals going forward.

Step 3

Invite the agency to provide you a proposal on how they would approach the project to help you deliver the business goal(s) you’re looking for.

Step 4

Consider the agency that provides you the clearest (and most honest) route to your goals, without any hefty-long running contracts. Typically three months initial trial period would be a good measure to start with, and fair for all parties.

FXC: Once chosen, how do you incentivise performance?

Initially I would suggest paying a flat rate rather than operate on a commission model. If the relationship and results blossoms after the initial period of working together, there is an opportunity for the agency and your business to work much closer together where the agency would have a more vested interest in reaching your business goals – where the likes of commission could come into play.

disturbdigital.com

Photo by Charles Deluvio

It feels like we’re only just getting over the nail biting excitement of the Formula One 2021 season, after Max Verstappen dramatically pipped Lewis Hamilton to the F1 Drivers Championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. But as races go, Formula 1 returns hot on its heels with the Bahrain Grand Prix, promising another tight, breath taking contest.

Race weekend is scheduled for Friday March 18 to Sunday March 20, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc solidly back on the grid for the opening clash.

The 2022 race ushers in a new era for F1, following possibly the biggest revolution of rules in the history of the sport. As the opening race of the season, it will be the first opportunity for F1 fans around the world to witness the new cars in action.

As well as Formula One, F2 and F3 have both been confirmed as support races and season openers in Bahrain. The Porsche Sprint Cup Middle East will also take place over the race weekend.

Lighting up the stage at the F1 village will be Grammy Award-winning DJ and producer, Afrojack, joined by global Top 10 DJ and producer Don Diablo for a double header spectacle on the Friday evening.

Fittingly, Bahrain Grand Prix was the first F1 race to be held in the Middle East when it began in 2004, remaining one of the biggest Formula F1 racing events in the world, and a major tourist attraction for the country. This year’s race is attracting more attention than ever, with huge demand for tickets and travel packages.

The national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Gulf Air has announced that it has added an additional daily flight from London Heathrow to Bahrain on March 16, 17, 21 and 22 to operate three daily services during the Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend taking place on March 18 – 20.

“Demand for attendance to the season opener has definitely been significant,” said Captain Waleed Abdulhameed AlAlawi, Gulf Air’s Acting CEO. “We are excited to welcome our global visitors to the Kingdom of Bahrain to witness the Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix race.”

Passengers with a valid Formula One ticket and flying on Gulf Air flights to Bahrain from London Heathrow during this period will receive free lounge access at London Heathrow and at Bahrain International Airport.

“In recent weeks we have seen great demand for tickets and travel packages from international fans, including from the UK,” said Shaikh Salman bin Isa AlKhalifa, CEO Bahrain International Circuit. “We are thankful to our partners at Gulf Air for adding to their capacity and we look forward to fans joining us from all over the world to celebrate the beginning of this great new era for the sport.”

Gulf Air recently announced the return of its exclusive Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix packages on gulfair.com for passengers visiting Bahrain in coordination with Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority and the Bahrain International Circuit.

This would allow eligible visitors to book a flight, accommodation, a 3-day race pass along with transport to and from the race.

“2022 is proving to be an exciting year for tourism in Bahrain and the great reception we have been receiving from international travellers who are travelling to Bahrain to watch the season opener of the Formula One race is a testament to that,” said Dr Nasser Qaedi, CEO, Bahrain Tourism & Exhibition Authority. “We are excited to welcome more tourists from the United Kingdom to enjoy both the race and the other activities and attractions happening on our island in March.”

Find out more at www.gulfair.com/f1

Learn more about the experiences and tickets on www.bahrain.com & www.bahraingp.com

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix Participants

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, George Russell

Red Bull: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz

McLaren: Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo

Alpine: Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon

AlphaTauri: Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda

Aston Martin: Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll

Alfa Romeo: Valtteri Bottas, Guanyu Zhou

Williams: Nicholas Latifi, Alex Albon

Haas: Nikita Mazepin, Mick Schumacher

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