In 2013, RAG Holdings started as a two-person HR firm. Its founders had spent years helping employers hire and hold on to good staff.Thirteen years later, our own people have placed us among the 100 Best Workplaces in the Middle East™ 2026. Great Place to Work® Middle East published the list on 8 October 2026, with RAG in its small business category.This is a proud week for everyone at RAG, and a grateful one. Below, we trace how a two-person HR firm reached this list, and who deserves the credit.
It started with two people who worked in HR
Our founder, Rassal Ahmed, moved to Dubai in 2003 for an HR role. He spent the next decade in senior HR positions across the UAE and Qatar. In Qatar, he met Mohammed Aslam, who would become his co-founder. In 2013, the two of them launched RAG as a small HR firm.
Early on, RAG’s HR work served employers in Qatar, where World Cup preparations created strong demand for staff. Hiring for other companies taught the founders what makes people stay, and that lesson shaped RAG.
How the company grew, and the team with it
From recruitment, RAG moved into business setup in Dubai. These days, founders come to us for company formation, PRO services, office space, and bookkeeping. Our three Dubai business centers sit in Al Qusais, on Sheikh Zayed Road, and in Al Barsha. The number of businesses RAG has supported since 2013 now passes 9,500. Two founders have become a team spread across four countries. Their starting rule still holds: if staff are looked after well, clients are looked after well too.
What our people told Great Place to Work®
RAG received its Great Place to Work Certified™ status in July 2026, the first step toward this list. Only certified companies can be considered for the Best Workplaces in the Middle East™. Most of the score comes from staff answers to the confidential Trust Index© survey, with the Culture Audit© adding context. Those answers placed RAG among 100 companies in the small business category.
In their own words
Rassal Ahmed, Founder and CEO of RAG Holdings, says the result goes back to his first career:
“I spent ten years in HR before RAG existed. It taught me that people work hardest for a place that notices them. We built this company on that idea, and our team proved it right, so the award is theirs.”
For Mohammed Aslam, co-founder and managing director, the harder part came later:
“In 2013, RAG was Rassal and me, and putting people first was easy with a team of two. With teams in four countries, it now takes effort every single day. This award tells us the effort is working.”
Culture you can see: the RAG Elite Club
Good intentions need proof, so in October we introduced the RAG Elite Club to reward the people driving results.
Each quarter, RAG selects five team members whose work has made a clear difference, and rewards them with:
· A higher salary for three months
· An overseas trip
· Private one-to-one time with Rassal Ahmed, our CEO
The newest five were welcomed at a company town hall in October. Well done to each of them, and thank you for setting the bar.
What our culture means for the businesses we serve
Clients hand us trade license applications, visa files, and passport copies. A person at RAG looks after each one, by choice.
Workplace culture in Dubai offices is rarely visible to clients directly. They notice it anyway, in quick follow-ups, clear answers, and tidy handovers.
Looking for the best companies to work for in Dubai or the right business setup company in Dubai? Independent lists like this one are a sensible place to start.
What the Recognition Means for RAG Holdings
Being officially recognised as the Best Workplaces in the Middle East represents an important milestone for RAG Holdings, but it also creates a responsibility to continue improving.Workspace expectations will continue to evolve as businesses demand greater flexibility, smarter infrastructure, stronger experiences and more integrated support.For RAG Holdings, the next stage is about continuing to develop its locations, services and business ecosystem while maintaining the standards that contributed to this recognition.The goal remains bigger than providing office space.It is about building environments where entrepreneurs can begin, teams can perform and businesses can grow.
Thank you, team RAG
This ranking belongs to every person at RAG Holdings. You earned it through anonymous survey answers that nobody at RAG could see or edit.
Every licence filed on time and every client call returned helped put us here. Thank you, every one of you, for making RAG a place people want to work.
About RAG Holdings
RAG Holdings helps founders, startups and expanding firms register, house and manage their companies in the UAE. More than 9,500 businesses have worked with RAG since it opened in 2013.
Services include company formation, office space, PRO services, accounting and bookkeeping, Golden Visa support and trademark registration. Beyond its three Dubai centres, RAG has teams working in Qatar, Singapore and India.
Thinking about opening or expanding a company in Dubai? Speak to the team that earned this ranking by contacting RAG Holdings.
