Isobel came to Dubai in 1968 and co-founded Magrudy’s, a bookshop chain, in 1975 which is still thriving and now has eleven bookshops across the UAE. In 2008, Isobel founded the international Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, the Middle East’s largest and award-winning celebration of the written and spoken word. In 2013, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and also the Festival patron, issued a Decree establishing the Emirates Literature Foundation, naming Isobel as one of the trustees on the Board. She continues as a Trustee and held the position of CEO until March 2023. Isobel is also a Trustee of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction Board, Secretary General of the Kalimat Foundation and a director of the Board for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library.