In honour of International Women’s Day, this week we’d like to dedicate this column to all the wonderful ladies we know who keep the capital ticking over – often behind the scenes.

First up, we’d like to say a big thank you to the ladies who featured in our celebration of Abu Dhabi’s entrepreneurs this week: the lovely Ms Shetty, Susan Shawwa Khalil, Alanoud Tahlawi and Hend Al Nuaimi. Hopefully their stories will inspire you and get you thinking about the business plans you could put into action with a little hard work and lashings of passion.

We’d also like to do a shout out to the ladies who tirelessly fundraise for the various charities we are lucky enough to deal with throughout Abu Dhabi. Thank you Morag (Operation Smile), Suparna (Abu Dhabi Cause Connect), Susan (Philippine Community Fund), Hala (Future Centre for Special Needs), Mariam (Bus Raids), Jenny and Caz (Special Care Centre) and Amanda (Jack O’Donnell Foundation). These are just a few of the ladies we have had the pleasure of meeting over the past year. Thank you for keeping us up to date and letting us be a part of your fight to raise funds for a good cause.

Last, but by no means least, we’d like to throw an enormous, heartfelt shout out to all those ladies that work so hard in the capital’s spas and salons. We come to you when we’re tired, burnt out and frazzled and you pamper us and cheer us up with your smiles. We know you work long and hard to keep the rest of us looking beautiful (sometimes it’s a tough job) so we’d just like to stop and say THANK YOU!