Who can act for you
You do not have to handle this errand in person. The person named on a record and the person who deals with the offices can be two different people, and often are. An employer, a solicitor, a relative or an agent may order the copy, pay the fee and take delivery of the finished file on your behalf.
That works because the British stage looks at the paper, not at the sender. The Legalisation Office (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) matches the signature or seal on the record against the samples it holds. Nothing in that check turns on who filled in the envelope, so a son in Manchester can act for a father who is already living overseas.
Where the Emirates stands
An apostille for United Arab Emirates is not the certificate that closes the file. The Emirates has not joined the Hague Apostille Convention, so that one-stamp shortcut does not reach it. Document legalisation for United Arab Emirates runs through consular offices instead, which is a longer chain with more than one desk in it.
So an apostille from United Kingdom to United Arab Emirates is not turned away because your paperwork is poor. It simply has no standing at the far end. People search for what you need for an apostille for United Arab Emirates and get a straight answer here: the Emirates route is a consular one, and knowing that before you pay saves the whole detour.
How the route runs from Manchester
There is no apostille issued in Manchester for use in United Arab Emirates waiting at a local counter, because no counter issues one. Manchester Register Office prints certified copies of civil records; the certificate itself comes from the Legalisation Office by post. A person acting for you can bridge those two steps without you being in the city at all.
Set the handovers out on paper before anything moves. Who orders the copy, who holds it while it waits, who sends it on to the consular stage and who signs for it when it comes back. Four names on a short list beats a chain of messages later, and it is the part an agent is genuinely useful for.
Fees, waiting and looking after the record
The British fee is charged per paper, so five records cost five fees whoever pays them. The consular desk charges separately. Times vary with post and with how busy each desk is, and no one can put a date on the whole chain, so treat any deadline of your own as the thing to work back from generously.