Introduction
Dennis McGettigan is the founder and CEO of McGettigan’s, one of the most recognisable hospitality brands in the UAE. But the story behind it starts in Dublin, in a house with ten children run “like a business”, where the kitchen was locked at 7pm and every kid got jobs and five pounds a week. His father started as a dishwasher on the QE1 at nineteen, bought his first pub for eight thousand pounds in 1964, and built a hotel empire across Ireland, the UK and eventually Dubai.
This conversation is about grit. The 2008 crash that left him with zero revenue and hundreds of millions in exposure. The international expansion he opened in three weeks and closed during Covid. And the personal side too: his wife Nicola’s cancer and recovery, told through a racehorse and a moment at Royal Ascot that still moves him.
This is one of the most grounded, human conversations about what it actually takes to build something that lasts.
Show Notes
0:00 Growing up one of ten in Dublin, a house run like a business, the kitchen locked at 7pm
6:30 His father: from dishwasher on the QE1 to a pub empire across Ireland and the UK
12:15 Why he would hire work ethic over a university degree every single time
14:00 The Burlington Hotel, the 2008 crash, and becoming a fireman putting out fires
18:30 How McGettigan’s was born from one simple idea: a bar he wanted to go to himself
36:45 Where he got it wrong: New York, Singapore, Jakarta and the cost of moving too fast
44:00 The £70 million monster in JBR and the deal he signed right as the conflict began
52:18 Why he believes Dubai will bounce back bigger than ever
1:14:00 Nicola’s cancer, a racehorse at Royal Ascot, and the moment that still moves him
1:04:00 Quickfire: one word for Dubai 2026 and the hardest phone call he ever makes
