Dubai offers an extraordinary opportunity to reinvent oneself. People from former pit villages develop cut-glass accents before they’ve even collected their baggage at Dubai International. The young guy in the new Porsche may have bought it on credit. Or he may be loaded. In Dubai, it’s impossible to tell.

There are an estimated 120,000 Brits in the UAE, with more arriving every day – and most come to work. According to Varina Nissen, managing director of recruitment company Manpower Middle East, they are attracted by the career prospects. Many companies are expanding so quickly that they will hire people who don’t necessarily have the formal qualifications, but are ambitious and adaptable, she says.

Dubai used to be perceived as a “hardship” posting, meaning western executives were offered generous packages including housing and schooling, but those days are long gone. Rapid inflation, and growing numbers of charges such as road tolls and property taxes, are making the UAE an increasingly expensive place to live on what is usually a similar wage to the UK – albeit without income tax.

The difference is in the lifestyle. So much in Dubai is done for you. Supermarkets will deliver a can of Coke to your door, the smallest offices employ someone to make the tea, and jets at the Wild Wadi water park push bathers to the top of slides to spare the effort of climbing. A live-in maid costs less than £200 a month and fuel still costs less than 20p a litre. Although cars aren’t noticeably cheaper, running them is, meaning many ditch the Polo for a gas-guzzling 4x4 and still save money.

Life is not without problems, however. Teachers complain of growing alcohol and solvent abuse among the young, although nothing on the scale of the UK. And Dubai has yet to see teens carrying knives in case there is a disagreement at the polo club.

The adults, in some cases, fail to set a good example. The case of Michelle Palmer, a 36-year-old publishing manager who faces a possible six years in jail for an alleged drunken sexual frolic on a beach with a tourist and assault on the arresting police officers, has reminded everyone that the UAE is socially, Islamically, conservative. While most charges against Palmer, currently on bail, are also against UK law, the potential severity of the punishment underlines the UAE’s difference. A western lifestyle, particularly alcohol consumption, is tolerated but only when carried on discreetly.

Aside from the Palmer case, property is a key conversation topic. Expats huddle together to outdo each other with shocking stories of rent increases, while those who bought property early and doubled their money just gloat.

The UAE’s other top hobby is shopping – so much so that Abu Dhabi last month warned it threatens the economy. Almost one third of the population visit malls at least once a week, but they aren’t spending their own money. Without a credit rating agency, people can hold credit cards with numerous banks. In the first quarter of this year consumer borrowing, excluding mortgages, reached £6.57 billion, up 47% over 2007.

Those from countries where credit is hard to come by can soon find themselves in trouble. The lines of sports cars waiting to be valeted at Dubai’s five-star hotels may seem impressive but many are owned by banks, who rarely hesitate to prosecute defaulters. Most people know of someone who has served jail time over unpaid debts.

Success story

Nicole Larson 35, and husband Henrik, 38, met in 2001. They moved to Dubai and a small studio apartment in 2003. Today they live in a villa on The Palm Jumeirah, have two live-in maids and drive matching Porsche Cayennes. Even their children’s names match: Victor, 2, and Victoria, 5.

“We decided to move out here in 2003 for a year,” says Nicole. A former model, she set up her own agency but it was in property that the Larsons struck gold. Shortly after their arrival they attended the launch of The Springs, one of Dubai’s first freehold developments. At that time buyers had little more to go on than an understanding that the developer would transfer ownership once a law allowing foreigners to own property was in place. Henrik, used to European property laws, was not keen.

“We had to put down £10,880 as a 10% down payment, which was most of our money. He asked where will I get the second instalment and I said I’d sell my jewellery,” says Nicole. Within a month their investment had doubled. Since then they have bought and sold about 120 properties.

They live in an eight-bedroom villa Nicole estimates is worth £4.07m. “The kind of neighbours I have are potential presidents of countries, bank owners, CEOs.” It is not all yachts and champagne, though: what free time the Larsons get is spent with their children on the small beach outside their house.

Nicole also tells how a recent trip to a five-star hotel on the UAE’s east coast was a disappointment. “We used to love going there. We checked in, we had two suites, and we thought, ‘We’ve just paid somebody to downgrade our lifestyle.’ ”

LOCAL LAW

The basis of all legal systems in the UAE is sharia, or Islamic law. Islam is identified as the state religion as well as the principal source of law. While the principles of sharia guide criminal and civil law, their influence is primarily evident in family matters such as divorce and inheritance. Local laws reflect the fact that the UAE is a Muslim country.

— Alcohol is served in licensed hotels and clubs. It is an offence to drink or be drunk in public.

— Drugs are illegal and penalties severe. Some prescribed medicines that are legal in the UK are considered controlled substances in Dubai. You need the ministry of health’s permission to take some medicines into the UAE.

— Public displays of affection are frowned upon and kissing in public can lead to arrest.

— Sex outside marriage is illegal. If an unmarried woman gives birth in the UAE, it can lead to a refusal to issue a birth certificate.