MEA UAE Business Awards 2017

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Apotheca Beauty - Best Beauty Products Provider - Middle East Advisory Firm 2017 Al Barakah Holding - Best Facilities Management Company - Middle East Links Group - Best for Foreign Business Safeguarding Services - Middle East IAHGM DMCC - Hospitality Association of the Year 2017 Sumo Sushi & Bento - Best Japanese Dining Experience 2017 - GCC

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Hotel Management Company of the Year 2017 Jannah Hotels & Resorts provides genuine care, exceptional products and services in every major city of the world. We caught up with COO, Martin Persson, to learn more about the firm and the services it offers.

Below, L to R:

Midway Middle East DMCC - Best Nutritional Food & Beverage Provider - MENA

Jumeirah Golf Estates - Best Residential & Leisure Destination 2017

Kamelia Allow, My Business Consulting DMCC - Most Innovative Business Advisory Firm 2017 Vineet Gangal, Wirecard Processing FZ - LLC Tania Siddiqi, Masterminds Education Bechara Sleiman, Luxuria Trading DMCC

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NEUMANN & MÃœLLER EVENT TECHNOLOGY

Editor’s Note

, Welcome to the 2017 UAE Business Awards.

With many industries experiencing a dramatic boom, the UAE is bursting with new and exciting business opportunity in one of the globe’s fastest developing markets. Every year small and large enterprises of the UAE aim to provide an impeccable standard of service across a vast variety of industries.

Which is why the UAE Business Awards 2017 are designed to celebrate the talent that has provided some of the best products and services in one of the largest influential business regions from across the globe. The awards are an opportunity to celebrate the very best that the UAE’s business market has to offer and to acknowledge the accomplishments made by the individuals responsible for their thriving industry – from oil and gas, tourism and construction, to technology, food & beverages and Islamic Finance.

AI Global Media, Ltd. (AI) takes reasonable measures to ensure the quality of the information on this web site. However, AI will not assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any information that is available through this web site. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them.

The information available through the website and our partner publications is for your general information and use and is not intended to address any particular finance or investment requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us or any of our partner publications and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making or refraining from making any investment or financial decisions.

Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision.

Any arrangement made between you and any third party named in the site is at your sole risk and responsibility.

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Best Beauty Products Provider - Middle East Apotheca Beauty Hotel Management Company of the Year 2017 Jannah Hotels & Resorts Best Residential & Leisure Destination 2017 * Jumeirah Golf Estates Best Nutritional Food & Beverage Provider - MENA Midway Middle East DMCC Best Payment Services Provider - Dubai Wirecard Processing FZ - LLC Best Facilities Management Company - Middle East Al Barakah Holding Best Model Making Specialists 2017 BiD LLC Best Content Translation Company - Dubai Commanine Translation DMCC Best Marine Contracting & Coastal Protection Service - Middle East Ecocoast Contracting LLC Leading Experts in Customer Service Solutions 2017 - UAE Ethos Integrated Solutions Hospitality Association of the Year 2017 IAHGM DMCC Best Full-Service Destination Management Company - Dubai Incentive Connections Tourism LLC Best Luxury Perfume Distributor 2017 - Middle East Luxuria Trading DMCC Best Early Years Education Provider 2017 Masterminds Education Most Innovative Business Advisory Firm 2017 My Business Consulting DMCC Best Japanese Dining Experience 2017 - GCC Sumo Sushi & Bento Best for Foreign Business Safeguarding Services - Middle East Links Group Best Make-Up Service & Photography Studio 2017 The Lipstick Make Up Institute and YH Studios Most Renowned Real Estate Development Company for HR Excellence 2017 Al Futtaim Group - Real Estate Best Criminal Law Firm - Dubai Al Rowaad Advocates & Legal Consultants Best Legal Consultancy - Ras Al Khaimah & Award for Excellence in Cross-Border Transactions 2017 Ambition Legal Consultancy FZE Industrial Engineering Firm of the Year 2017 - UAE APS InterTech Best Bespoke Furniture & Interior Design Firm 2017 Arte Vivo FZ-LLC Best Online Shopping Service 2017 - Dubai ASWAAQ Best for Aviation Ground Support Services - Middle East Avicorp Middle East Best Administration Professional Services Company 2017 BOTH UAE Best Marketing & Design Consultancy - Dubai BR Communications FZE Best Insurance Brokerage 2017 & Female Insurance Executive of the Year 2017 - Dubai Diamond Insurance Brokerage & Consultancy Performing Arts School of the Year 2017 Diverse Choreography Performing Arts School Best Indoor Event Venue 2017 du Forum Best Brand Marketing Firm - Dubai Esteem Communications DMCC Best Full-Service F&B Consultancy 2017 Gates Hospitality FZ-LLC Best Full-Service Logistics Company 2017 Global Shipping & Logistics Best Experiential Marketing & Sales Development Company - Dubai Hart Bernstien Best Weighing Technology Provider - Middle East Himatrix Middle East FZCO Award for Excellence in Accommodation - Dubai Hotel Versailles Dubai Best Cloud Services Provider 2017 Injazat Data Systems Best Hospitality Brand Development Company 2017 Insignia Worldwide Group Best Strategic Branding Consultancy 2017 - Dubai JPd Best Multi-Sector Ventures Group 2017 JUMA AL MAJID GROUP Best QHSE Management Solution: Aegis MACS-G Solutions Leading Expert in Luxury Goods 2017 - UAE CHALHOUB GROUP Best Flooring Contractor 2017 MTE Middle East General Trading

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Best Event Technology Provider 2017 & Middle Eastern Interactive Communication Product of the Year: come2interact Neumann&Müller Event Technology Best Asian Restaurant 2017 - Dubai Novikov Restaurants LLC Best Financial Services Training Provider 2017 - MENA RISC Institute Best Fire Protection & MEP Contractor 2017 - Middle East SAI Security Control & Safety Equipment LLC Best Utilities Provider 2017 Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority Best Party & Events Company 2017 & Business Woman of the Year 2017 Special Occasions Party Planning & Events UAE Best Luxury Business Hotel 2017 - Dubai & Award for Excellence in German Hospitality - Dubai Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay Best Global Energy Project Management Company 2017 TechnipFMC Best Business Critical Financial & Administrative Services Provider 2017 & In-House Legal & Governance Director of the Year 2017 TMF Group Best Oil Tanker Chartering Company 2017 Unico Marine DWC LLC Middle Eastern University of the Year 2017 United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) Best Technical Security Consultancy 2017 Whispering Bell Most Innovative Transport Service 2017 Yalla Pickup FZCO Best Construction Company 2017 Al Jihan Gulf Horizon General Contracting LLC Best Child Welfare Advocacy – GCC Arabian Child Award for Excellence in Childcare - Dubai Asya’s Nursery Best Educational Management Company 2017 Australian Council for Educational Research Limited Best Zero Energy Design Consultancy – U.A.E. Build Green World Best Convenience Retail Chain 2017 Circle K UAE Best Surveillance Systems Provider 2017 - GCC Cita Solutions Best Teacher Training Programme 2017 Early Years Educational Services FZ-LLC Best Interior Decorating & Design Business - Dubai Elemento LLC Most Innovative Branding Agency - Dubai Fludium DMCC Best Business Aviation Services Provider 2017 Gama Aviation Best Airline Catering Company 2017 Gate Gourmet Catering Arabia LLC Best Exhibition Stand Design/Build Company - Dubai Global Branding Most Accommodating Resort Hotel - Dubai Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Best Wastewater Treatment Specialists 2017 Headworks International Inc Best Global Automated Safety Solutions Provider 2017 HIMA Middle East FZE Best Welding Technology Provider 2017 HÜRNER Schweisstechnik Gulf L.L.C Best Radio Content & AV Solutions Provider - MENAP K Kompany FZ-LLC Luxury Nails’ Salon of the Year 2017 - UAE nails – the modern manicure studio Best Apartment Style Accommodation Provider 2017 Oaks Hotels & Resorts Best Electronic Device Solutions Provider 2017 Phoenix Contact Middle East FZ-LLC Best Hospitality Fit-Out Contractor 2017 Plafond Fit Out LLC Best Hospitality Communications Consultancy 2017 Shamal Marketing Communications Best Consumer Health Technology Provider 2017 Spot Check L.L.C Best Business Intelligence & Analytics Company 2017 & Most Innovative Banking Business Intelligence Solution: Vision Sunoida Solutions DMCC Best Business Advisory Firm 2017 - MENA Synergy Group Best Management Development Training Provider - MENA & Award for Excellence for SME Human Resource Structures 2017 Tamayyaz Hotel of the Year 2017 - Dubai & Award for Excellence in Customer Service 2017 TIME Hotels Management LLC Best Shop Fitting Company 2017 Umdasch Shopfitting LLC Best Online Wedding Services Platform 2017 WEDDINGSONLINE DMCC Best Fire Security Contractor 2017 Zener Fire & Security LLC

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 5

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Best Beauty Products Provider - Middle East Apotheca Beauty is a cosmetic bridge the gap between the need for quality consumer products within the Middle East, and the desire for premium brands that wish to expand their customer reach.

We invited Nora Al Ramadhan to talk us through the firm and the services it offers.

Apotheca was formed by three sisters, all of whom were equally fixated with finding the perfect solutions to our everchanging beauty needs. The Founders personally utilize and sample all of the products offered by the company, and have collectively experimented with nearly every treatment and regime. Now, they are cherrypicking what they believe to be the most effective beauty solutions and sharing them with the region, as Nora outlines.

“Here at Apotheca, our aim is to help edit through the market and source effective remedies, including skincare, hair-care, body, makeup and supplements, that all complement our own natural beauty. We continue to track down new products and stay in touch with the needs of Middle Eastern customers.

“A few years ago, variety was seriously lacking – you could always find major retail brands, but niche and booming beauty brands were hard to come by.

The goal has been to bring niche, specialty brands to consumers in the region and offer more variety than the mainstream brands that have been available for years.

“We decided to represent niche beauty brands that growing exponentially, as we believe

these types of brands require more support and guidance. We are one of the only distribution companies that focus exclusively on beauty. Many others are foremost massive beauty retailers, or simply retailers across multiple industries, such as clothing. We focus solely on beauty, and invest significantly on our training center, operational efficiencies, marketing campaigns and organic growth of the brand across the region and across all applicable retailers.

“In addition, we also focus on specialty niche brands, as opposed to just any beauty brand, because we place heavy weight on the criteria of what we believe it takes for a brand to translate successfully into the region – that includes: quality and growth. We focus on brands that specialize in a particular category, and therefore, have supreme quality in regards to what the market has to offer.

They are young and looking to lead new beauty trends.”

Within the Middle East beauty market, what is in demand, but is lacking, is knowledge on the ability to educate customers, not only on what products are best, but which products are best for them. It is important that customs feel like their unique needs are being considered. As such, Apotheca implement this in all aspects of its business, from

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marketing, social media, and via our operational sales teams.

Nora discusses the market in more detail and highlights how the firm marks itself out as unique within it.

At Apotheca, we have found the landscape for entrepreneurs in the region, particularly as GCC nationals in the UAE, has always been supportive, available and accepting. The UAE is a market that is particularly full of opportunities, largely due to its diverse growing population.

It is one of our largest, and most important markets that we operate in.

“There is a range of challenges – such as legal processes and registrations can take a lot of time, and be difficult to complete particularly when we enter new countries. Also, visa processes while hiring is costly, and finding quality staff can be a challenge.

Probably the largest challenge, though, is educating the market on the importance of skin-care being equal to that of cosmetics.

“We overcome all challenges by simply being persistent and working hard to achieve our targeted goal. We constantly brainstorm new ways of working, and since we are a lean company it is easy for us to quickly implement change. Since all three of us work so closely together and communicate on

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Best Beauty Products Provider - Middle East

Company: Apotheca Beauty Contact: Nora Al Ramadhan Email: info@apothecabeauty.com Address: Salhia Complex, Floor M2, Near gate 8 / Kuwait City, Kuwait Web Address: www.apothecabeauty.com

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a constant basis, decisions that can take companies months to approve, take us no more than a few days. There is no task that we are too proud to do ourselves, as long as it is in the best interest of the company. For example, if we need to personally visit the ministries and inquire about some company documents then we go ourselves.”

What truly makes the firm unique, as Nora is keen to emphasise, is its innovative approach to the beauty market.

“Our concept is totally unique, which differentiates us from our competitors. First, we are one of the only exclusive beauty distribution companies.

Many others are foremost massive beauty retailers, or simply retailers across multiple industries, such as clothing.

We focus solely on beauty, and invest significantly on our training centre, operational efficiencies, marketing campaigns, and organic growth of the brand across the region and across all applicable retailers.

“Secondly, we also focus on specialty niche brands. What we mean by that, is we place heavy weight on the criteria of what we believe it takes for a brand to translate successfully into the region – that includes: quality and growth. We focus on companies that specialize in a particular category, and therefore, have supreme quality in regards to what the market has to offer. Also, they are often young and still looking to grow as well as lead beauty trends.

“Our distribution model varies across each brand – which, again, is part of the value-add we bring. Specific launch plans and strategies are laid out for each specific brand, and not generic molds. What we do is first look at the brand philosophy, as well as how the brand preforms in its’ home market. We look at the consumer dynamic and retailer’s they work with as well. We then translate that into the Middle Eastern market. Since regardless of the category, we do work with luxury and niche brands, and so we often end up working

with some large retailers and a variety of boutiques. Once that’s been established, we then map out what market dynamic and consumer would the brand appeal to. We work closely with the brands themselves to make sure their philosophy and aesthetic is properly rolled out into the region.

“Lastly, we are the consumers and users of the products we bring to market. We are three owners ranging from our 20s and 30s, and we know if we do not love it, then selling it to the region likely won’t work. We have to believe in what we promote and this makes a massive difference to our clients.”

There are many trends in the beauty industry, and as this evolves Nora believes that staying ahead of these will remain of vital importance to her firm.

“Personally, I would say the latest trend in skincare has been sheet masks. A lot of our inspiration and innovations in skincare has come from Asia. We have always admired how seriously they take care of their skin.

“The latest trend in cosmetics has been a shift towards matte, highly pigmented liquid lipsticks.

We believe that our products do just that. Lime Crime and Anastasia Beverly Hills offer natural, cruelty free products with color that has a strong pay off.

Actually, both of the brands we represent are known as the very brands who set that trend.

“Women in the Middle East are forever curious about the latest beauty secrets, formulas, and fixes - as I think women of all different cultures are. They have the ability to travel often and explore international markets and beauty regimens. As consumers ourselves, we too are constantly searching for what the answers are.

“Arab women are largely interested in the cosmetic industry more-so than, skincare for example. Yet, slowly, that is changing as customers are more informed - as well as have access to quality products. In western markets cosmetics also

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dominates, but skincare still makes up a heavy portion.

“Women in the region are also in tune with the latest trends, know what they want, and demand a quality that performs. Currently, the majority of people in this market veer towards matte, highly pigmented products including eyeshadows and lipsticks. They know what they want and they demand a product that performs. There are not many countries where you can walk the streets and see so many women nail-down how to contour, or eye-shadow blend.

We are continually working to stay ahead of trends and remain at the forefront of emerging developments in order to ensure that we support our clients to the very best of our abilities and provide them with the advice and support they need.”

Looking to the future, Nora is invigorated as she outlines the various developments that will help Apotheca to develop even further.

“Moving forward, we are very excited to launch some of brands within the next year in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and other new territories. We always search for retailers in new territories whom share our same passion and commitment to the brands we represent.

“Alongside this, we are also looking forward to working with our new brands that are launching soon! We will be launching Lime Crime across all Sephora store in the Middle East, and Cover FX in May 2017 across the region!

You will soon be able to find some of our skincare and haircare brands, such as Sarah Chapman and Malin + Goetz, and Philip B at Bloomingdales Dubai and Kuwait! We are thrilled to increase these brand’s regional presence and have their products become accessible to consumers in the region.

“Another key development is that we are also expanding our retail store in Kuwait as we speak and doubling it in size. Finally, we are eager for our website to launch by Summer 2017 which would feature our entire Apotheca portfolio.”

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Best Beauty Products Provider - Middle East

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Hotel Management Company of the Year 2017 Jannah Hotels & Resorts provides genuine care, exceptional products and services in every major city of the world. We caught up with COO, Martin Persson, to learn more about the firm and the services it offers.

Jannah Hotels & Resorts was created in the Liwa Desert of the United Arab Emirates. Founded on the spirit of the noble Bedouin hospitality and pioneered with an infrastructure that is innovative, creative and dynamic, it has blossomed into the hotel management company of choice.

Offering leading proprietary technology and evolutionary programs, the company offers intelligent and efficient hotel management services that are focused on ensuring properties managed under the Jannah Hotels & Resorts brand reach their operating potential in every aspect.

The brand’s iconic logo, represented by an olive tree bearing turquoise stones, is the realization of a dream sparked by an opportune meeting with a reallife Bedouin. To the dreamer, the olive trees in the desert appear as a paradisiacal garden of possibility and potential. ‘Jannah’ is Arabic for ‘paradise’ or short for ‘garden’, thereby being the perfect word to describe the dream’s essence and headline the company’s name: Jannah Hotels & Resorts.

Founded upon the noble Bedouin’s culture, Jannah Hotels & Resorts is a firm believer of such unique hospitality in which the Jannah family puts their guests first before themselves.

This is evident in the signature legendary Karims unique to the brand. True to Jannah’s noble Bedouin culture, each property features the matchless Karim butler services available for each guest. The Karims offer personalized assistance from A to Z, from the simplest of services including wake-up calls, packing and unpacking of luggage, and dining recommendations; to the intricate details such as scouring of the best schools within the vicinity and arranging of tailor-made celebratory events. The signature Karims were born out of the response to the ever-increasing fast-paced lifestyle. Wherever Jannah is, Karims are definitely reachable.

Jannah Hotels & Resorts offer affluent individual business and leisure guests with elegant and luxurious hotel suites.

Guests of Jannah receive the highest individual attentiveness that hospitality has to offer in an intimate and opulent environment. Martin discusses the firm’s locations and how these have been strategically chosen to reflect and meet the needs of every guest.

“Jannah Hotels & Resorts has strategically identified and claimed locations in the UAE that have obtained high demand from the source markets. We have secured Jannah’s presence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with four

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properties; and on top of these is the brand new property in Ras Al Khaimah – as we believe that the emirate is holidaymakers’ new favorite destination, featuring rustic tourist spots, water sports and dining experience.

“In addition to the two established Jannah properties in Dubai, the innovative Jannah Creek Dubai is scheduled to open in 2018, redefining the future of hotel check-in service. Jannah Place City Center is opening soon this year, in response to the growing demand for long stays in Abu Dhabi. Sharjah is the next on the list with Jannah Ras Al Khor, Sharjah. The group is looking forward to operating a total of 33 hotels, resorts and hotel apartments in the next five years.

“Our flagship hotel, Jannah Burj Al Sarab boasts the world’s fastest hotel Internet at 1.2Gb per second, 10 times faster than the average speed; and applies smart technology applications, supporting the Abu Dhabi 2030 vision on sustainability.

Jannah Place is an upscale, fully-serviced and fully-furnished accommodation of choice for multi-blenders seeking to balance work and play. With all the comforts of a home furnished in contemporary furniture and soothing colors, Jannah Place provides successful and ambitious global travelers a place to call ‘home’ in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.”

g Hotel Management Company of the Year 2017

Company: Jannah Hotels & Resorts Contact: Twinky Posa Email: tposa@dwl.ae Address: Villa 235 15th St, Khalifa City A, near Women’s College, Abu Dhabi, UAE Phone: +971 (0) 2 307 6 200

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The group’s marketing strategies include establishing a regional sales office in Europe. The group actively participates in various international hotel industry events, tapping into potential markets including China, Europe and the GCC. The brand also capitalizes on the millennial travelers.

Understanding their needs and responding to their fastpaced lifestyle, the firm invest heavily in search engine optimization, mobile-friendly website design, and the best social media analytics tool to help us understand the millennial market trends. Moving forward, staying ahead of developments will remain the firm’s ongoing focus as it looks to build upon its current success, as Martin concludes.

“Overall, 2016 was an interesting year for us, despite the oversupply of new hotel accommodations coming into the market, we were able to cope well with it. Our average rates were comparable to the market.

November was one of our best performing months mainly driven by the big events that Abu Dhabi fuels. Despite this, Abu Dhabi did experience a challenging economic environment mainly driven by the continuing oil

price decrease. As an operator, we were able to attract a good market mix which allowed us to remain competitive in the market.

As Jannah continues to build presence in the market, we are constantly trying to innovate and try on new challenges.

“Looking ahead, 2017 has so far been and will be a great year for us, with Jannah Resort & Villas Ras Al Khaimah debuted in February. Its hotel apartments and luxury villas are an attractive product with a unique offering of being the only hotel offering private en-suite heated pools and the biggest villa pools in Ras Al Khaimah. I have a positive outlook for 2017, as oil prices will soon rise which will drive up the corporate’s budget, and the group as a whole is looking forward towards expanding furthermore within the UAE, as the future looks very promising for Jannah Hotels & Resorts.”

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g Hotel Management Company of the Year 2017

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 13

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Best Residential & Leisure Destination 2017 Jumeirah Golf Estates is one of the Middle East’s most prestigious residential golf communities, offering a wide range of world-class golfing facilities and individually designed homes in the United Arab Emirates. We invited Yousuf Kazim, CEO to tell us more about the firm and share the secrets behind its phenomenal success.

With its collection of Mediterranean-style homes inspired by natural elements and surrounded by stunning landscapes, Jumeirah Golf Estates is regarded as a leading residential golf community in the heart of new Dubai, answering to the needs of the market locally and internationally, with a varied and growing real estate and golf proposition.

In addition to two world-class golf courses, Jumeirah Golf Estates is home to a number of other golf and residential facilities, which make it a top choice for home owners and investors. In November 2014, the Jumeirah Golf Estates Clubhouse opened and has become the communities’ social focal point.

Ranging from informal to fine dining, the Clubhouse has a host of delicious dining options.

With its collection of Mediterranean-style homes inspired by natural elements and surrounded by stunning landscapes, Jumeirah Golf Estates is regarded as a leading residential golf community in the heart of new Dubai, answering to the needs of the market locally and internationally, with a varied and growing real estate and golf proposition.

The Fire and Earth courses are part of Jumeirah Golf Estates Phase A development, which consists of 375 hectares of a 1,119-hectare land parcel, and incorporates 16 residential communities, comprising of more than 1,725 constructed and under construction properties.

A popular venue for events of all sizes, the Clubhouse facilities include the Race to Dubai Suite – an intimate private dining room for special events and celebrations, The Boardroom – a fully equipped meeting room for up to 16 delegates, and a tranquil 500 capacity outdoor events lawn with stunning views of the Dubai’s skyline.

November 2016. Designed to host awards ceremonies, gala dinners, weddings and private celebrations, the Ballroom lends a sophisticated ambiance to any occasion, with beautifully crafted finishes, natural daylight and high ceilings making it a stand out choice for event planners and personal celebrations.

Yousuf discusses how these developments have contributed to the firm’s success so far and ensured that users receive the services and amenities they need.

Over recent months the estate has been developed in order to meet its clients’ needs. In November 2016, the Clubhouse launched its brand-new Sports Bar, offering community members a vibrant spot to follow Cabrera-Bello’s latest moves or watch the next Six Nations. The sophisticated venue is complete with some of golf’s greatest memorabilia and boasts an extensive craft hops selection and foodie favourites.

“As a developer in a city with such a fast-paced and everevolving property landscape, it is paramount that we remain fully responsive to market demands and offer desirable options that suit the needs of investors and end-users. Alandalus is a perfect example of how Jumeirah Golf Estates has adapted in relation to this. Given the continuous increase in appetite for midmarket homes, Jumeirah Golf Estates remains committed to helping shape the real estate industry, as well as capitalising on its appeal to investors, whilst drawing investment to the country in the lead up to EXPO 2020.

Adding to its array of large indoor and outdoor events spaces, Jumeirah Golf Estates officially unveiled its new 300-capacity ballroom in

“Safety, security, sustainability and innovation continue to remain at the core of Jumeirah Golf Estates’ development strategy, which is seeing

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Best Residential & Leisure Destination 2017

Company: Jumeirah Golf Estates Email: Customercare@jumeirahgolfestates.com Tel: +971 4 818 2000 or +971 4 433 3999 Web Address: www.jumeirahgolfestates.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 15

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constructions take shape with these principles considered from the early concept stages, right through to completion and day-to-day management.

Additionally, the significant interest and growing awareness in Jumeirah Golf Estates, which is translating to continued real estate sales, is underpinned by a robust and strategic global marketing and sales drive.

This has seen our executives travel across continents to formalise partnerships, meet with VIP investors, sponsor high profile events and exhibit at world-leading exhibitions.

This coincides with a hugely successful, sustained media and advertising campaign across the UAE and GCC – with 2015-16 regarded as the most successful year for Jumeirah Golf Estates in this regard.”

Although facilities are of vital importance to the firm’s success, client service is also crucial to ensuring that clients are always supported and enjoy a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.

As a truly mixed-use, awardwinning community there is an exceptional level of customer service across all facets of Jumeirah Golf Estates, as Yousuf discusses.

“Here at Jumeirah Golf Estates, our vision is to be the number one residential, recreational and leisure destination with a world-class offering through our amenities and services.

The community’s best interest remains a core element of our offering: from ample well-being facilities and two of the world’s finest and most famous golf courses, through to a sustainable, eco-friendly environment. All this provides residents with a luxurious and relaxing environment, and buyers with a compelling investment proposition.

“In order to offer a truly unique experience, Jumeirah Golf Estates is one of the select clubs that make up European Tour Destinations, and the only residential development in the Middle East with the title.

European Tour Destinations

are all world-class golf venues offering a comprehensive range of facilities and services to their members, residents and guests.

Their identity is closely aligned with The European Tour, creating a unique partnership ensuring that all guests can enjoy the outstanding customer experience that is expected from the family of one of the game’s foremost organizations. Members and residents alike are entitled to play at each of the other membervenues at a specially discounted green fee with complimentary access to a range of European Tour events, allowing everyone to enjoy this truly prestigious event.”

Despite its current success, the company are keen to ensure that the community remains at the forefront of the latest industry developments and meets the ever evolving needs of its residents. A key trend that emerged last year was the increase of investments in real estate by both local and international investors, as well as end-users. Dubai residents who are considering to reside in Dubai for the longer term are opting to purchase a property rather than rent, which increased the requirement for more affordable properties. In response to this demand, Jumeirah Golf Estates recently launched a collection of Townhouses in its affordable luxury community, Alandalus.

The collection of 95 contemporary homes with two and three-bedroom townhouses start from AED 1,3 million and expand on our portfolio of affordable luxury properties, providing an even more diverse real estate proposition within Jumeirah Golf Estates. The gated community is expected for completion in September 2018, and offers an uncompromised lifestyle ensuring quality and affluence at an affordable price. Each townhouse has been carefully designed to combine modern and traditional Alandalusian materials for sophisticated, functional and comfortable space, with a private outdoor terrace and an optional plunge pool and patio area. The Alandalus Townhouses are the

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latest addition to the Jumeirah Golf Estates community and offer added value to one of Dubai’s most desirable residential communities. Yousuf talks us through the features which have led this glorious community to become the success it is today and have led the firm to expand it.

“Jumeirah Golf Estates offers the rare opportunity of living in a community that has been carefully planned and designed to meet the needs of the modern family. Inspired by the majesty of nature, with stunning architecture, spectacular views of two world-class championship golf courses, wonderful amenities and an exclusive location in one the world’s fastest growing cities, the community offers an unmatched way of life.

the world-class Clubhouse that opened its doors in November 2014. The Mediterraneanthemed Clubhouse lies at the centre of the Fire and Earth Courses, which extend over 13 hectares of landscaped parkland, creating the perfect backdrop for outdoor living.”

“Our two expertly designed championship golf courses, Fire and Earth are praised by a world of golf lovers, recently being ranked as one of the world’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, a listing published by Golf Digest. As an official partner of the European Tour, we have played host to the DP World Tour Championship since 2009 and continue to welcome the world’s top 60 golfers as they compete in the final tournament of the Race to Dubai series every year, attracting over 65,000 visitors from across the globe.

“Moving forward, our latest building design will offer a further 120 mid-market homes, following the success of the Alandalus Townhouses, with 65 units selling-out within three hours of being released onto the market in February this year. The building will comprise one, two, three and four bedroom units, adding more units to the sought-after community and enabling us to welcome more residents to this stunning community.

“With superior quality at the core of Jumeirah Golf Estates’ offering as a leading residential golf community, each home – whether a villa, townhouse or apartment – is designed to exude luxurious living, regardless of price point. This commitment came to life in 2015-16 with the continued development of our affordable luxury community Alandalus within Jumeirah Golf Estates.

“The residential communities are also in close proximity to our unrivalled facilities such as the regions only European Tour Performance Institute – one of the world’s finest golf instructional facilities, offering an unparalleled teaching and practice experience – as well as

Looking to the future, Jumeirah Golf Estates will soon be announcing the launch of an additional tower in its affordableluxury community Alandalus, whilst pushing forward with the development of the current phases, with Phase 1 currently on track for completion and handover in 2018. This development will provide the community with many great opportunities for growth and expansion, as Yousuf concludes.

“Another exciting development will the launch of the first retail centre in Jumeirah Golf Estates in early 2017. The 45,000 square feet centre will offer residents access to a grocery store, restaurant and café – all within the community, on the edge of the Wildflower development – positioning it as a one-stop living destination suited to investor needs.

“Longer term, we will be looking to address the remaining 4.68million square meters of the development and develop future plans in line with the changing needs of Dubai’s property market, which are currently being explored through our master plan. This is an exciting stage for the community and we are looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunities this will bring.”

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Best Residential & Leisure Destination 2017

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 17

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Best Nutritional Food & Beverage Provider - MENA Midway Middle East is Dubai based company dealing with Organic, Gluten Free, Non GMO, Vegan, Raw, Probiotic and many other free-from foods and beverages. We caught up with the Founder and Managing Director Katarina Gjosheva Cheshlarov and Bisiness Development Director Dushko Chifliganec to find out more about the firm and the vast array of products it offers.

Under its umbrella, Midway Middle East have more than 25 very well established brands from the United States and Europe with whom they work on exclusivity bases for the MENA region.

All brands present in Midway’s portfolio are very carefully selected, and are absolute top performers in their domestic markets. Dushko discusses the firm’s brands and how it works to ensure that it only works with the very best in order to offer clients top quality products.

“Here at Midway Middle East we offer only the very best products from across the food and beverage market. Among our US partners are: LUKE’S Organic, Lakewood Organic, GH Creators, Hi I’m Skinny, Baked in Brooklyn and Raw Revolution.

Some of our European partners are: Biotta, Sarchio, Bioitalia, Dragon Superfoods, Gaea and Rawlicious. Thus, choosing the right products is the first crucial objective of our operations on which our success is laid.

We support our suppliers with introducing and building their brands in the region.

“The second key task of Midway’s scope of work is achieving the right execution of the brands within our markets of operations. We accomplish this in partnership together with Modern Trade Retailer Chains in the region as well certain specialized Organic high end A class stores.

We would like to point out our cooperation with the number one retailer in the region Carrefour with whom we work in a very close strategic partnership. With Carrefour, we are continuously mutually engaged in creating new ways and alternatives for serving their customers. We would like to use this opportunity to acknowledge Carrefour’s proactivity and huge efforts committed not only providing healthy food; furthermore, educating and making shoppers aware of the importance of the same. We focus on the total healthy category by creating new shopping experience for the customers by providing them with different healthy alternatives.

Our strategies are based on vast market intelligence, global and regional food trends.

These offerings are only part of Midway’s services, which makes us distinctive and unique.”

Alongside a vast service offering, Katarina is eager to highlight the firm’s impressive focus on client service and ensuring that everyone it works with receives the service they need.

“Midway Middle East is founded on two main principles: Competence & Compromise.

The first one is a must and the second one is must not.

The essence of our company behavior is based solely on full commitment to what we do, and excellence is the only option in our performance.”

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“There is only one success proven philosophy when it comes to client service: the client is the first, foremost and most important aspect of the business.

This principle applies for every business; however, for us, the significance extends beyond the business perspective. We believe that we have one of the most noble professions existing, which is providing people with food. Providing people food relates with providing life to people. What we sell is not a want, what we sell is a need.

We trust that selling a bite of food has the equal significance as a doctor’s job, and that is the exact approach we have in our work. The technique we approach client service with can be best resembled by the twoway method of communication.

We always primarily tend to understand customers’ needs; then, we provide them with healthier options.

“To illustrate the point, if a customer wants a chocolate, we offer chocolate; nevertheless, we offer Organic, Raw and Low on Sugar chocolate that is healthier than conventional chocolate. We always provide our customers with what is best for them regardless of anything. In simple words, it takes willingness, bond creation, mutual understanding and communication from both, us and our customers to pursue the healthier trail. As in any business, the company is the wall, and the employees are the bricks. In order the wall to stand tall, the bricks

must be perfectly aligned. That is exactly what Midway’s team is. Midway’s team is consisted of carefully chosen individuals who themselves, have realized and strongly believe in the significance of pursuing a healthy diet and a balanced lifestyle, and have already experienced the difference it brings in their life. To succeed, you must truly believe.

Our biggest belief is Healthy; therefore, Healthy is our ultimate success. Every day each one of us is perfectly aligned with our mission to create a healthier society for everyone. Every day, we strive to discover something new, better, innovative and benefit creating. We believe more in Healthy every next day; thus, every next day we are closer to everyone.”

This supportive, collaborative internal culture is vital to the firm’s success and drives every aspect of its work, as Katarina explains.

“Midway is ruled by two oxymoronically statements.

Primarily, we believe that the team is only as good as the leader; however, we also fundamentally believe that a leader is only as good as the team behind. These two very meaningful sentences embody great significance in the basis on which our way of working is positioned internally. At Midway, there is no such thing as boss and its employees.

At Midway, we believe in associates only. Our success

g Best Nutritional Food & Beverage Provider - MENA

‘Healthier on a whole new scale’

Company: Midway Middle East DMCC Contact: Katarina Gjosheva Cheshlarov; Dushko Chifliganec Email: katarina@midwaymiddleeast.com; dushko@midwaymiddleeast.com; info@midwaymiddleeast.com Address: DMCC Business Center Level No 1 Unit Number: 2350, Jewellery & Gemplex Dubai Multi Commodity Center, Dubai, UAE Telephone: +971 442 6513 Website: www.midwaymiddleeast.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 19

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is laid on empowering people.

Each member of the team is encouraged to express ideas, disagree decisions, prove points, suggest, implement, execute etc. regardless of their position within the company. In fact, often the best suggestions come from the lower levels of hierarchy.

“All of us are constantly engaged in field work, shop observations and brainstorming on site. There is a specification in the job description no member of the team respects. That is working hours. Midway’s team work around the clock, yet everyone is content and happy. The reason behind this is because everyone enjoys what we do, and for all of us this serves a higher purpose than just a job position. All of us have a job we do not need a vacation from. In the team creation, we hugely respect and trust in gender as well as age diversity. We have equally man and women associates with age starting from 21 onwards. The main reason behind this is each demographic group can be best understood and approached by someone belonging to the same. And to repeat our point mentioned earlier, our intent is to provide healthier & happier society for EVERYONE. In addition to, having a pretty demographically diversified team adds to the team’s culture quality and definitely destroys any chance of work monotony.

All in all, the recipe is quite simple. Find people that extract fulfillment from the brighter change they are responsible for rather than the pay check they receive. Structure their motivation in the right way, and the positive results are inevitable.”

Working with clients around the world, Midway Middle East is perfectly located in Dubai as the region offers a dynamic hub where many leaders in the food and drinks market are based, as Katarina is eager to emphasise.

“Fundamentally, the UAE is a very constructive, useful and beneficial place to be. The nature of our business is complex and challenging for a variety of reasons. To begin with, we

carry very extensive portfolio, which is introduced to the region for the first time and majority of people are not completely familiar with. Secondly, we operate in significantly wide region, which although extends in close geographies, yet every part of the region differentiates in numerous ways.

“What we find great about UAE regarding our industry is that it serves as an excellent test market and a perfect indicator about the region’s Food & Beverage preferences.

All products we carry are first introduced in UAE. Based on the feedback from the UAE market; subsequently, we have clearer picture about the product regarding the region and better indication how should we proceed with launching the product in the rest of MENA. Speaking of the challenges and opportunities, I will cite His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum vice president, prime minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai to best illustrate our methodology: “The pessimist will see a difficulty in every opportunity, whereas the optimist will see an opportunity in every difficulty”. This is the exact logic we apply in our everyday work and we lead our actions by.

“Our main objective is encouraging society to pursue a balanced lifestyle. We continuously engage not only existing customers, but the whole society in activities designed to illustrate how big of a role do the nutritional habits play in our lives and portray the advantages associated with pursuing a healthier diet and balanced lifestyle. If we compare the base of Organic consumers in UAE and USA, we would see tremendous difference although both countries have almost exact GDP per capita figures. Being one of the pioneers in bringing Organic and other added benefit products in a region with a notably small base of Organic consumers means we must pave the road for ourselves alone.

However, at Midway, we decide to see this as a great opportunity rather than a difficulty.

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“Being part of such a dynamic society, it is very hard to get the attention of the wide mass.

Together with Carrefour, we implemented a concept of Healthy Kitchen inside Carrefour Mall of the Emirates. We did a complete revamp of the Organic category within the shop, giving it a French Kitchen appearance.

Healthy Kitchen has the intent to provide enhanced shopping experience to customers that want to pursue a healthy and balanced lifestyle, raise customer awareness of Healthy Foods and Beverages, better educate customers of the importance of eating healthy through different sorts of digital marketing activities and help people how to search and select healthier food alternatives easier. Healthy Kitchen immediately won the hearts of everyone, bringing handful of excitement, joy and interest for the customers.

As part of our other customer engaging activities, we provide sessions for our customers to get free nutritionist advices, we award our customers with gift boxes through our digital marketing engagement, we provide support for a variety of sport events, we maintain the Healthier on a Whole New Scale movement that is present trough facebook, instagram and a web blog as well as many other sorts of customer engagements.”

for their efforts, rewarding healthy eaters, supporting sport events and giving education to the participants at the same, a variety of digital marketing activities, campaigns encouraging for pursuing a balanced lifestyle. We measure our true success through the impact on society we create.

Having said all of this, for us UAE is the perfect place to be.”

In order to offer the very best products and services to its clients, Midway Middle East is constantly seeking to develop and grow its offering and adapt around the ever changing requirements of the market it operates in.

Dushko concludes by highlighting the various future trends that the company will be focusing on as it looks towards the future.

“Midway Middle East base our strategies in line with the global food trends, and as such our future revolves around meeting the ever evolving needs of our clients. The need for clear label, significant growth of organic and GMO free statements has been very much popular, therefore we make sure that our portfolio follows this requirement.

“We work very closely with the Organic Trade Association of United States in creating activities together which are supporting our mutual objectives. The OTA work on programs how to get the products from farm to marketplace and we are collaborating on a few projects together. OTA deserves every respect for their activities and efforts they are performing all around the globe to boost the organic produce and sales of US companies.”

Another trend is free-from foods which has become more attractive for consumers without food allergies and we have introduced a few new lines of this product type. Super leaf ‘Kale’ is booming and a lot of different products containing Kale has been created. In our range, we do have different snacking propositions containing this awesome superfood such as organic multigrain kale chips, organic dehydrated kale and different smoothies. Products with protein positioning are becoming mainstream these days. Our portfolio offers a variety of sources for protein.

“One of Midway’s core strengths is our engagement in raising customer awareness through customer education, working on a very close basis with prominent nutritionists in the region, enhancing shopping experience for healthy eaters, giving healthy eaters recognition

“Health conscious consumer’s wellness goals have become more prominent and they are looking for permissible indulgence. We offer healthier, guilt free organic, vegan, gluten free snaking products such as Hi I’m Skinny, Luke’s G.H Cretors and many more.

g Best Nutritional Food & Beverage Provider - MENA

“In addition, breakfast is the rising snack occasion and we focus a lot on assuring we provide to our consumers propositions to fit this trend. Driven by a need for convenience, consumers are looking for ready-to-eat products that they can easily fit into their busy lifestyles. At the same time, ongoing financial concerns mean they are looking for both affordable and premium products, depending on the occasion.

Our full portfolio addresses all this trends as our main purpose is to serve the needs of our consumers.

“Ultimately, consumers want more new products on the market that are affordable, healthy, convenient and environmentally friendly. Time pressures and stress are facts of life. Shoppers want products that help restore balance and free up time to do the things they value most.

“The world is facing a global health crisis—nearly 30% of the global population was considered overweight or obese in 2013— and consumers are attempting to take charge of their health.

“The healthy eating space holds great potential and consumers want to go ‘back-to-basics’ with fresh, natural and minimallyprocessed options. We are working in line with this need and are very much excited of all the new products we will be introducing in the next coming months such as diary, specialized kid’s portfolio and many more. We will continue our efforts and focus on educating the consumers of consuming healthier food alternatives and take care of their wellbeing.

“Additionally, the global organic market today is estimated on around $90 billion with United States being almost a half, followed by Germany and France.

By 2020 global organic market is expected to reach $212 billion, so the opportunity speaks for itself about Middle East region and Midway Middle East - Healthier on a Whole New Scale. These are all exciting developments and we look forward to taking advantage of them.”

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 21

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Best Payment Services Provider - Dubai Wirecard is Europe’s leading specialist for payment processing and issuing services, with an ever growing presence in the UAE. We explore its work in the region and examine the secrets behind its success.

Founded in 1999, Wirecard is the world’s leading specialist for payment processing and issuing.

Wirecard Processing is part of the Wirecard Group, headquartered in Aschheim, Germany, which is a leading provider of electronic payment processing, card issuance, mobile payments, banking and risk management services for banks, financial institutions (FIs), mobile network operators (MNOs), merchants and other service providers in the payments industry ecosystem.

Wirecard A.G., the parent company of the Group, was set up at the turn of the century in 1999, took over Infogenie Europe A.G.in 2005 and listed on the Deutsche Boerse in the subsequent year. Ever since the un-bottling of the (Info) genie, the Group has been on a roll and has grown organically and inorganically into a global conglomerate with a string of more than 30 companies spread over seven continents Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Oceania and the newly discovered Zealandia.

The Group has a couple of licenced financial institutions (FIs) in its fold e.g. Wirecard Bank licensed by the German regulator BAFIN and Wirecard Solutions licensed by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA). The two FIs facilitate banking, issuing and acquiring services across the Single European Payment

Area (SEPA) region and the United Kingdom (UK). Armed with issuing and acquiring licences from all major card associations, Wirecard is an acknowledged leader in pre-paid card issuance and acquiring (both brick-andmortar and e-commerce) on both sides of the Channel. Further, the bank is an active player in travel and mobility segment with a large portfolio of airlines, cruise lines, hotels, rail and tour operators reposing their faith in its solutions.

Wirecard, with over 25,000 customers and counting has recorded unprecedented and sustained growth since inception with transaction volumes crossing EUR 60 billion, revenues topping the EUR one billion mark, EBITDA exceeding EUR 300 million in the year gone by and is today valued at EUR 5.44 billion (market capitalisation). Indeed, the meteoric rise has reinforced brand Bavaria already famous for its heady brew, the Beamer and Bayern Munich.

The extension from Bavaria to Arabia was an offshoot of the Group’s strategic plan of provided an integrated offering across all areas of electronic payments and risk management was insourcing of the processing business. Thus, was born the idea of acquiring a processor and the Group bought the controlling stake in Dubai-based Procard Services FZ LLC in 2010 and rechristened it as Wirecard Processing FZ LLC. Ever since, the processing operations have

22 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

been central to the Group’s ambitions in the payments arena and have fuelled the Group’s seemingly insatiable appetite for expansion in markets as diverse as North America, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

WDP, for its part, has been more than keeping pace and has come a long way since its acquisition by the Wirecard Group. Today, the Company provides cutting edge, high-availability, fully redundant data centre and disaster recovery infrastructure across three time zones at Munich, Dubai and Singapore (another one planned across the Atlantic in Philadelphia).

The Company has a wide reach being a member service provider (MSP) registered with most of the major card associations i.e.

VISA, MasterCard and JCB and is now engaged in expanding its footprint to two of the most populous countries in the world, China and India through certification with Union Pay and Rupay. What distinguishes WDP from other Third Party Processors (TPPs) is the understanding of the intricacies of the payments domain derived from the close association with the in-house Wirecard Bank as also the willingness to go the extra mile to provide quality assurance through a dedicated team of over 100 specialists with access to the latest test tools, simulators and methodologies.

In keeping with its lineage, WDP is a strong believer in perfectionism that is the

hallmark of the German ethos.

Accordingly, the Company has made significant investments in acquiring, upgrading and customising the card hosting and processing platforms as well as ramping up the associated infrastructure to meet the requirements and expectations of internal stakeholders and other customers.

The challenges that WDP has faced on the way have been immense and formidable. The Company embarked on its journey with an employee base of less than half a dozen with the objective of providing a full range of issuing and acquiring processing services and pitted itself against competitors that generally employ orders of magnitude more employees. The lean and mean setup required an out-of-the-box approach with accent on quality and a clearly articulated focus on the ability to attract and retain talent.

The handful of employees (half-a-dozen) at the time of acquisition has since proliferated to a team of over one hundred highly-experienced payment card industry professionals drawn from wary competitors across 15 countries and five continents who have coalesced perfectly and work in unison to create the winning Wirecard workplace.

The Company prides itself on the fact that on average 80% of all new joiners are referrals from existing employees.

Another source of gratification is the extremely low turnover as

g Best Payment Services Provider - Dubai

Company: Wirecard Processing FZ - LLC Contact: Vineet Gangal Email: vineet.gangal@wirecard.com Address: 2305-08, Business Central Tower ‘A’, Dubai Media City, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 3912865

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demonstrated by the fact that ever since its acquisition only two employees have ever left the company for another company in the UAE. The statistics are not only a reflection of the success of the management but also bring out the latter’s determination to closely monitor the position and go the extra mile to ensure the success of a proven talent acquisition and retention strategy.

In its endeavour to retain employee loyalty the Company has been striving to create a friendly, supportive workplace environment where everyone finds an opportunity for career progression. Guided by the belief that people with fewer worries at home will be able to focus better at work, executive-grade healthcare is provided for all employees and their families.

Beyond this, there are the small touches: for example, when new staff are coming from overseas, not only are all costs paid but they are greeted at the airport by ‘marhaba’ attendants and escorted to their hotel.

Peer mentoring through the buddy assignment initiative and provision of a welcome pack, Big Bus Tour and interest-free house rent advances etc. The formal induction process too has been refined over time to make it more interesting and meaningful.

The orientation program aims at providing the new joiners with a general introduction to the Group, the Company and the various departments and

exposes them to the important policies and processes in structured sessions. The formal program is followed by on-thejob training by superiors and peers thereby facilitating quick integration, establishment of an internal network and build-up of knowledge specific to the job requirements.

Within the workplace, it is an unofficial motto that the only correct response to someone asking for help at work is “yes” and ‘friendly’ is the most common adjective used in all post-on boarding surveys.

In another development, the management has decided to empower employees to be creatively involved in owning and defining the workplace culture directly. So now all social activities and workplace perks are managed by the Employee Engagement Council (EEC), a four-member body elected by the employees themselves through a secret ballot following a lively campaign. The EEC is given a substantial budget and entrusted with the task of coming up with novel ideas and organising inclusive activities in line with employee preferences. Some of the activities organised over the last few months included Archery, Badminton, Birthday cakes, Bowling, Cricket, Desert games, Football, Holi celebration, Iftar and Christmas parties, Painting, Paintball, Squash, Table Tennis, Yoga and participation in the Standard Chartered Marathon.

The sense of involvement and bonding with the organisation is palpable and the spirit of the place can be sensed from the art adorning the office that has been painted by the employees and their families. Further, the latter’s contribution is acknowledged by the Company by making it a point to invite them for cultural festivities e.g. Holi, Eid and Christmas that are hugely popular with the employees.

Integral to the Company’s HR strategy is a well-defined training policy aimed at professional development of employees and leveraging their potential for mutual benefit. Various in-house and outsourced programmes are conducted that focus on strategic areas of interest to the Company and are tailormade to ensure employee development and integration into the decision making processes.

Train the Trainer is the guiding philosophy of the Company’s HR development program and helps in building up a pool of key resources with the right skill set to impart technical training to the new joiners as well as existing staff who have not been introduced to certain streams of work.

All this focus on workplace culture is actually part of a hardheaded approach to competing as a disruptive technology startup. In return for the opportunity, benefits and respect that they are shown, the employees are dedicated and accustomed to doing whatever it takes, day or night, so that they can feel proud of their work, their team and their company.

The upshot is that the Company has swiftly acquired a reputation for operating as a centre of excellence. A fairly large budget is allocated every year to internal and external audit, with the management welcoming any opportunity to find out ways of doing better. These activities have the unstinted support of the Group which has heavily invested in infrastructure and adopting the latest available tools and industry best practices for 24x7 monitoring, vulnerability

24 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

scanning, penetration testing, incident management, process automation and 3DSecure/ multifactor authentication. The result is that the Company is proud to offer its clients the assurance of comprehensive geo-redundant and professional PCI-DSS 3.0 and ISAE3402 compliant services at par with the best in the world. Additionally, the Company is on target to achieve ISO22301 and ISO27001 certifications for Business Continuity and Information Security Management Systems respectively.

Over the years, the scope of offerings has widened from pure vanilla products/ services for acquiring processing (PoS, e-commerce and MOTO) and issuing processing and card management (across debit and credit portfolios) to value-added services e.g. switch integration, internet banking, ATM & PoS management, merchant billing, loyalty and couponing and cutting-edge mobile/ digital payment solutions. Indeed, Wirecard is today the partner of choice for pre-paid issuance by the leading European TELCOs Deutsche Telecom, O2, Orange, SFR, Vodafone etc. and in the local and other global markets is closely working with the likes of Etisalat, Airtel and MTN. The Company has been quick to embrace the latest developments in digital payments e.g. Near Field Communication (NFC), blue-tooth low energy (BLE) technology, barcode solutions, mobile point of sales etc. and has pioneered Host Card Emulation (HCE) issuance.

The qualitative offering of the Company with a wide array of end-to-end services makes for a compelling proposition especially in view of the value-for-money pricing made possible through volume handling and leveraging of in-house expertise and technology. An example is the use of the Group’s Indian arm to ensure full support and coverage for clients through a 24x7 service desk and extended availability over weekdays through suitable personnel placement. Another distinguishing feature has been

g Best Payment Services Provider - Dubai

the streamlining and integration of internal processes that enables the Company to offer quick turnaround time and early mover advantage to clients in a rush to introduce innovative services.

One of the outstanding achievements in the MENA region has been the implementation of a closed loop PoS solution in Libya. This was a daring venture in difficult and uncharted territory and has proved to be an unparalleled success with the Company merrily processing over two and a half million transactions a month from that market alone. The implementation has become industry folklore and the Company is inundated with calls for replication in other new markets that lack the basic payments infrastructure.

The success of WDP in the regional markets has been complemented by the tremendous growth in processing volumes in both the issuing and acquiring segments through insourcing of almost 80% of Wirecard Bank’s business that was hitherto being handled by other TPPs. Further, the Company has signed on large and prestigious Tier - I bank and financial institutions from the Asia-Pacific region that have driven hosting and processing volumes through the roof and prompted a complete overhaul of the growth strategy. Such has been the pace of developments over the last five years that the Company’s medium/ long term plans have come to nought and it has been forced to move office twice to accommodate the unplanned personnel growth.

Ultimately, thanks to these growth strategies the future appears to be extremely bright and challenging, with Wire Card Processing is well-prepared to build upon the success that has it has already scripted over the last few years.

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 25

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Best Facilities Management Company - Middle East Mayar Facilities Management is a subsidiary of Al Barakah Holding with emphases on managing large-scale accommodation villages dedicated to workers of all levels. We spoke to Baha Khalil to find out more.

Mayar Facilities Management was built on the belief of providing real world seamless facilities solutions, not just services.

Supporting the most critical and complex projects is only possible leveraging its comprehensive expertise. The firm is designed to support its clients across various stages of a project ensuring client expectations are met with exceptional results along with providing world class facilities to the people using these assets.

Baha discusses the firm’s focus on excellence and how it works to supply exceptional villages.

“At Mayar, the management focuses on providing a wide spectrum of complimentary service that enables us to form a single entity focused on a single goal, exceptional customer service; avoiding needless duplication and inefficient time management within individual services. Our client service philosophy is focused on organizational excellence which can be achieved only through good corporate governance and customer satisfaction. Mayar’s commitment to values and ethical business conduct is the starting point, followed by international

standards of quality service and facilities management around the world.

“Thanks to these exceptional strategies and the dedication of our staff, the villages we provide are fully-equipped facilities to accommodate thousands and provide the housekeeping, laundry, catering, and security services. According to our clients, Mayar villages help clients provide the necessary support to their manpower so they can focus on their core jobs.”

Staff are of vital importance to achieving true client satisfaction, therefore Mayar operates a collaborative corporate culture, as Baha explains.

“The culture at Mayar revolves around accepting nothing but the best in all that we do. This is a natural consequence of having organizational management leadership who feels proud of building this organization hand by hand to become the number one private corporation in the field of facility management in the Gulf region.

“To ensure this culture tolerate the internal and external

26 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

changes, Mayar has created a campaign that focuses on giving our core values a priority to be on top of the mind of every employee in this organization.

When attracting new recruits, we look for passionate, unique and creative individuals who would adopt and operate in accordance to the above stated values.”

Looking ahead, new projects will allow the firm to grow and flourish, as Baha proudly concludes.

“Moving forward, Mayar management is working closely with its specialty team and consultants to management a sustainable villages – by reducing resource consumption and maintaining an eco-friendly waste management. As result of the first phase, twenty percent of water consumption was saved due to new process, technologies, and campaigns.

Thanks to these exciting new developments we believe that the future for our firm is bright.”

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Best Facilities Management Company - Middle East

Company: Al Barakah Holding Contact: Baha Khalil Email: bkhalil@albarakah.ae Address: Al Barakah Headquarters.

8355 - Abu Dhabi - UAE Phone: 00971 2 553 5533 Website: www.mayar.ae and www.albarakah.ae

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 27

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Best Model Making Specialists 2017 BID vision Group is an international firm which bases its success on architectural expertise, combining experience, craftsmanship, technology, creativity and services. We invited Fay Wong to tell us more.

BID Vison group hails from Hong Kong. Over the years, the firm have expanded in China, UAE, UK and India.

BID specializes in properties, architectural and engineering presentation production, and has grown its service offering significantly since inception, as Fay explains.

each service. The strength lies that each division is headed by a domain expert, be it Turnkey solution, 3D or Scale models.

Then we come together as a team to make sure the whole project is in the same direction. I find our domain knowledge and teamwork to be the unique factor.

And other thing which is a plus point is young enthusiastic team we have onboard.”

“Starting from making fine architectural miniature models by hand 16 years ago, BID have evolved into 3d innovative technology offering CAD, laser cut, 3d computer models for CGI and animations as well as high tech virtual reality content & programming. BID have accumulated our expertise to provide Turnkey solution to our client nowadays. We have long term VIP Clients globally such as Nakheel, Tamouh, Azizi, Wharf Holdings, Design International and LJM.

Client service is important to the group in order to ensure that clients receive the service and solutions they need, as Fay is eager to emphasise.

“Our services now include full solution of presentation production of Scale models, AR, VR, 3D walkthrough, 3D Rendering, Mobile app and Multi-media design etc. We also provide onsite and offsite technical supports/ after-services to all our clients as well as responsible for our products standard.

“Fundamentally, Bid Vision group has taken time to evolve. We have 16 years under belt and it is not a spurt of growth we have witnessed. We have built this company from scratch and meticulously we have added

“Here at BID, we keep our client service philosophy simple that we always have good will and stay sincere to work with our clients in their best interests. We endeavour to give the best we can and always pushing the limit.

Most of the clients appreciate the fact that we care the projects as much as they do so they can count on us. It helps us to establish trust and maintain good relationship with clients which we treasure a lot.”

have become real. Industry is experiencing some great work. At the recent concluded Cityscape exhibition, Imkan had a wonderful presentation of their project. It’s surprising to see the flight of human creativity and the best part in UAE is the only place where creativity is so well rewarded.

“This is why we have our own R&D department to explore new presentation technology and quality for our internal training and creative ideas. It is also the reason why our teams are well aware that we have to keep learning, keep pushing our standard since our industry is moving very fast by nature.”

Looking to the future, Fay foresees many exciting developments for the group which will help it to grow and prosper, as she proudly concludes.

Operating in such a fast paced market, BID is constantly working to drive innovation and remain at the forefront of emerging market developments, as Fay discusses.

“Moving forward, the future for our company looks bright while we are related to technology. We are brimming with energy and eager to grow. We have recently formed a new joint venture with a creative Design Studio in India.

With the scales now in Place, we might start working in India. We already have the prestige LULU Group as our clients.

“Sales presentation tools and technology have evolved a great deal in past 12 months.

The rapid use of normal LED screens has gone down and trend is shifting more towards giving a real-life experience.

It is almost dreams being sold

“Alongside the masterplan projects we have involved such as Dubai Canal project, Al Reem island and all Nakheel masterplan, we are developing new channel and products to showcase projects more economically and efficiently.”

28 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

g Best Model Making Specialists 2017

Company: BiD LLC Contact: Fay Wong Email: Fay@bidllc.ae Address: 207 Indigo Optima, International City, Dubai, UAE. Phone: 00971 4 361 9633 Website: www.bidllc.ae

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 29

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Best Content Translation Company - Dubai Commanine Translation DMCC is a market leading translation firm based in Dubai.

We invited Samer Mourched to tell us more about the firm and the services it offers.

Founded in 2009 and located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Commanine is a leading translation and localization company, the brainchild of an avid linguist and a marketer.

Today, the company has earned its place amongst the top word engineers in the country, with translation services that span over 40 languages, and a multitude of language experts and specialty masters working for the firm. Working with a diverse group of national and multinational firms that range from governmental institutions and facilities to marketing enterprises and beyond, the firm has to provide them with tailored support, as Samer emphasises.

“Here at Commanine, our philosophy and approach towards dealing with clients has been constant since our very foundation. We believe

and understand very clearly that each and every client has a unique vision and approach to their business. Every tone of voice is different, with specific terminology and guidelines that vary without any regard to the sector to which they belong.

the market there to be greatly hospitable, vast, diverse and thrilling to work in. The brilliance of the market truly lies in the international aspect of its people and the wide spectrum of opportunities it offers as a result of that globalization.”

“As such, we treat every client individually and as a completely separate entity, learning about their identity, spirit and requirements without prejudice or generalization. Our focus is on the message and the companyassigned terminology and never the sector or field that houses them.”

Overall, Samer believes that the success of Commanine is first and foremost thanks to the team.

He credits a strong work ethic, a group dynamic and a customeroriented approach to have guided the firm towards success.

The market in the UAE benefits from the same qualities that make the country great as a whole: cultural and ethnical diversity and a warm and welcoming atmosphere allow for a great space for firms such as Commanine, as Samer explains.

“Throughout our years working in the UAE, we have found

“At Commanine, we have always believed our greatest advantage to be our very clear understanding of our clients’ needs. We have amassed experience and knowhow throughout the years and now know how to approach any client and meet any requirement.

“Over the past eight years, we have assembled a network of master linguists and thrilling collaborators that possess extensive knowledge in language and translation. Each one of our linguists is a subject matter expert in a different industry and a different field, further allowing us to achieve the highest quality content in the right context.”

Looking to the future, Commanine will continue to grow and flourish as it seeks to adapt around emerging market trends, as Samer concludes.

“Throughout the past year, we have noticed an increase in translation on a cultural, audience-oriented level.

30 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Companies are seeking specific translation that relies on the right medium and approach to suit the target market. Literal translation has, in contrast, decreased in popularity and almost become obsolete, with ethical and cultural localization slowly expanding. We have been able to meet those requirements and new trends through subject matter experts that understand the different businesses and fields housed in the United Arab Emirates.

“Overall, Expansion and growth have always been part of our plans at Commanine, and we have used the UAE market as a compass and a guideline in order to choose the right path to follow and the right branch to develop.

“After extensive analysis and research, we were able to single out a need for fresh content in the UAE market, in more than one language. We have put together resources and have used our knowledge in languages and writing to help us as we start the next part of our expansion by assembling and building a team of content writers and creators that specialize in the creation of various forms of written and digital content.

“Despite having only recently branched out into content creation and writing, we have already started to leave our imprint on the sector and the region through projects and enterprises, and are looking forward to slowly adding to our team and writing portfolio, and of course, expanding our reach.”

g

Best Content Translation Company - Dubai

Company: Commanine Translation DMCC Contact: Samer Mourched Email: samer@commanine.com Address: JLT, Cluster M, HDS BC Tower, Office 3503, Dubai, P.O. Box 487052, UAE Phone: 00971 50 2240739

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 31

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Best Marine Contracting & Coastal Protection Service - Middle East Ecocoast Contracting LLC provides specialist marine contracting and coastal protection services to developers, contractors, operators and governments across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. We invited Lachlan Jackson, Managing Director, to find out more about the business and the services it offers.

Ecocoast provides specialist marine contracting and coastal protection services to developers, contractors, operators and governments across the GCC with core focus on the United Arab Emirates.

Offering a complete turnkey solution, Ecocoast’s services cover the full lifecycle of a marine or coastal project from development and protection, marine infrastructure, to operation and maintenance, and each of its services is both innovative and unique, as Lachlan outlines.

“Here at Ecocoast, we are at the forefront of designing, constructing and installing practical, environmentally friendly, alternative marine structures and materials, in order to reduce the impact on marine or coastal environments. We use our coastal and marine expertise to fully understand each unique marine environment, and our practical experience to design and construct a holistic solution, best suited to the environment and our clients’ specific needs.

Our manufacturing division, Ecobarrier, produces marine protection and demarcation barriers globally, primarily working with contractors, dredging companies, municipalities, defense authorities, and hospitality and

leisure clients. Ecobarrier has been manufacturing marine barriers for coastal and marine protection, demarcation, navigation and security applications for over a year.”

Offering the very highest standard of services and solutions is at the forefront of the business’ approach, as Lachlan is eager to emphasise.

“The pursuit of excellence is what drives our business culture at Ecocoast, creating an environment that fosters innovation and creativity. We have our clients’ interests at the core of our business, and are committed to delivering them world-class, high quality, sustainable marine solutions.

Being efficient and effective in our job as well as improving client experiences is our main focus for this year. We aim to take our clients on a journey of discovery through different touch communication initiatives, showing them that we care and value them. In one of our client’s words “Ecobarrier is at the forefront of manufacturing marine barriers based on expert knowledge using the latest technologies” (Managing Director, Sun Marina). This statement emphasizes we are on the right track, as we navigate our new goals, creating strong and positive momentum at Ecocoast.”

32 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Overall, Ecocoast has been a pioneer in the coastal protection market for over 10 years. The market has changed a lot over the years, and as such, the business has had to adapt around these developments. In the early 70s, the UAE’s economy was mainly dependent on oil products. This is no longer the case. The sources of revenue now come from travel and tourism, real estate and construction, including services.

Dubai is currently attracting more than 14 million tourists a year, and the goal is to reach 20 million by 2020.

According to the 2016 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, the UAE leads in infrastructure, transportation and urbanization among the world’s emerging markets. The UAE’s annual average population growth rate is 2.3 percent - one of the highest in the world. As a result, the UAE has poured significant resources into largescale coastal development initiatives over the years. Six percent of coastline was added to Dubai in the last 6 years, giving the business many opportunities to be part of the continuous growth of the country.

However, introducing innovative approaches to new and traditional problems is not always easy. Even in a highly developed country like the UAE, design and construction structures and materials are very

often based on standards that have developed and evolved from many engineering, and research and development facilities. As such, Ecocoast remains dedicated to changing the face of the market and maintaining its commitment to excellence, as Lachlan concludes.

“Ultimately, our core business is coastal protection. We aim to protect our coastline and marine environment from the effects of development and global warming. We work for example a lot with nontraditional construction materials, such as sand-filled geotextile containers, which have a lower environmental footprint than the more traditional materials, such as rock and concrete.

Sand-filled geotextile containers have been used as alternative construction elements in coastal engineering for more than 50 years, and have proven to be a cost-effective, durable, easy to install and highly flexible method for a variety of construction projects. They are however relatively new in the region.

In certain instances, these sand-filled structures have the dual benefit of providing coastal protection as well as a habitat for marine life through the growth of soft corals and seagrass, as they essentially turn into artificial reefs with increased biodiversity and productivity. They can

g Best Marine Contracting & Coastal Protection Service - Middle East

be co-engineered to replicate natural environments, while creating diving and snorkelling opportunities at the same time.

Only few companies in the world specialize in this field, and we are proud to be one of them. We were responsible for the first sandfilled mega container installation in the UAE in 2007, and moving forward, we are keen to continue to be pioneers in the market and drive innovation and creativity.�

Company: Ecocoast Contracting LLC Contact: Lachlan Jackson, Managing Director Email: info@ecocoast.com Address: CEO Building, Dubai Investment Park 1, PO Box 72768, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 885 3944 Web Address www.ecocoast.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 33

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Leading Experts in Customer Service Solutions 2017 - UAE Ethos Integrated Solutions is a leading consultancy service supporting a wide range of clients around the world. We profile the firm to find out more about the range of solutions it offers.

Founded in the UK in 1995 by Mr. Robert Keay, CoFounder of TICSI ‘The International Customer Service Institute’, Ethos Integrated Solutions was established in Dubai in 2003 under the name Ethos Consultancy, with a core focus on customer service measurement such as mystery shopping and surveys. Later the firm expanded into consultancy, training and software solutions assisting companies from various business sectors including government, banking, retail, healthcare and others.

Since inception Ethos has assisted their clients to develop and deliver exceptional customer experience, the business strategy is led by an innovation team who is responsible of new product development aiming to offer services globally through state of art technology, innovation and partnership. The firm has an experience of serving 258 organizations, running over 1,000,000 surveys, and over 600,000 Mystery Shopping assignments and training over 300,000 employees.

This huge experience in UAE and GCC market helped distinguishing the company among their competitors, in addition to the annual BBI study (Banks Benchmarking Index), and the annual Service Olympian Awards which are conducted to honour the organizations that focus on the customer service and journey improvement.

Recently the firm has been expanding globally through partners in UK, India, Australia, and south Africa, there is a continuous expanding in terms of services provided and locations covered. The type of service provided and the solutions created does not require physical offices everywhere as it can be managed online. Ethos consultants covers the MENA region by travelling when needed.

What sets the firm apart is that there are no other consultancy companies in the region that offer A-Z solutions from measuring customer experience to consultancy to training and software, Ethos developed various software solutions that assist companies measuring, analysing, and improving their customer experience.

These solutions include the ultimate mystery shopping, surveys, and happiness tracking software, KnowledgeTRAK, which provides a fast and easy way to create surveys that can be accessed online, as well as offline.

It also allows you to use numerous fully customisable templates, and for a flat rate you can create an unlimited number of surveys.

KnowledgeTRAK is a unique, multi-purpose software solution designed to collect, report, analyse and share real time Voice of Customer feedback!

KnowledgeTRAK links companies to a large pool of mystery shoppers and researchers

34 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

and allows them to create and run any type of Survey or Mystery Shopping assignment.

KnowledgeTRAK is available in self-service or fully managed mode. Its unique mobile and online capabilities will allow you to get to know your business through your customer’s eyes, by creating any type of survey or mystery shopping assignment to capture, report, analyse and share the Voice of your Customers in real time.

The software has a large database of mystery shoppers and researchers who will help you gather and analyse ‘real-time’ feedback on your products and service delivery directly from the convenience of a Smartphone application. Get real-time results as they come in and generate any type of report through industry-leading reporting capabilities. Clients can use KnowledgeTRAK’s advanced analytics to create eye-catching presentations, highlight performance trends and create follow up actions.

In addition, customer experience journey mapping software, MAPOVATE enables organizations to identify the path their customer take interacting with them and visualize their customer journey so that the organization can follow, analyse and gain insights on the moments that influence purchase decisions and build loyalty with their brand. It also helps organizations to understand

the “pain” points that defect customer’s experiences, and turn them into opportunities that differentiate their brand among competitors. It’s the world first dynamic customer journey mapping tool with real time voice of customers analytic.

Completing the suite of solutions is social media sentiment analysis software, ServdaQ has been developed to provide organizations with the date, knowledge and competitor information on “Customer Sentiment” allowing organizations to improve their Social Media footprint, tracking 100,000+ websites in more than 196 countries and 80 languages in real time including social media websites, Twitter, Facebook, Tumbler, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs, forums, and News websites. It also provides monthly Reporting, Analysis and Recommendations.

Fundamentally, innovation and creativity is not only about developing new products or services, but about creating a culture that can lead to several ways that can improve your business.

The tools of capturing feedback from internal and external customers along with the innovation and creativity toolkit are the main means of developing and maintaining an innovative culture. Innovation and creativity can be achieved through the

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Leading Experts in Customer Service Solutions 2017 - UAE

documentation of relevant policies, processes and KPIs, a unique and trademarked feedback management solution and many other innovation and creativity globally recognized tools.

To ensure excellence for clients and build upon its current success, Ethos Integrated Solutions’ consultancy team has been trained by some of the leading experts in Europe on innovation and creativity. The firm provide management consulting to organizations in the region to help them develop an innovative culture within their company and will continue to offer this vast array of services and solutions as it looks towards a bright and exciting future.

Company: Ethos Integrated Solutions Email: sales@ethosplc.com Address: Office # 301 3rd Floor, Jabal Ali Village, Ibn Battuta Gate Offices Building, Dubai, PO Box 75745, UAE Phone: +971 4 432 9373 Website: www.ethosplc.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 35

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Hospitality Association of the Year 2017 The International Association of Hotel General Managers (IAHGM) is a pioneering association dedicated exclusively to the international hotel General Management community. We profile the association to find out more about the innovative services it offers.

Launched in 2016, IAHGM is the world’s first and only initiative dedicated exclusively to the international hotel general management community. The association is designed to raise the profile of hotel GMs, whilst providing a range of professional and personal membership benefits.

It has been founded by Mr. Leon Larkin, an Australian national with over 40 years’ experience as a GM in some of the world’s leading hotels in Europe, Asia and Australia. Since inception IAHGM has established a number of partnerships with highly regarded businesses offering products and services to members and their families, at discounted rates, including HotelSwaps, AHLEI, Qantas and Emirates Academy to support its members.

Members have access to the following range of portable benefit programs (they remain with the policyholder whether they change employer or relocate to a different country).

These include a flexible range of medical plan options – depending on your coverage situation, both primary and supplementary plans are available and you can tailor the most suitable package for your needs. They also have access to term life insurance, with options ranging from 1 to 10 years and up to USD$500K coverage without a medical. Coverage is available up to USD$4m and 75 years of age. They can access income protection insurance in

the case of illness or injury that pays 60% of your total package after an agreed waiting period.

This pays out for up to 5 years, followed by a lump sum payment.

Finally, members can elect to participate in their bespoke retirement savings plan, because saving for retirement should be a priority today, regardless of your age. This best in class plan gives 24/7 online access to your account with no charges to change investments or withdraw funds.

In addition, on joining, members can elect to register with the Career Management Center (CMC) as part of a confidential database. The CMC provides the industry with an independent talent pool, and its members and clients with a wider choice of job opportunities. From the very first phone interview, IAHGM invest s the time and resources to understand a candidiate’s history, challenges, capabilities, goals and achievements, before an optional independent assessment is undertaken. The association works with the very best independent assessors and industrial psychologists to provide a first-class assessment format which is followed by a one-on-one post analysis of capability and potential. An integral part of the CMC process is the formulation of a Personal Development Plan (PDP) and a variety of courses/programs are also available in partnership with leading learning and education providers, which will increase competency levels in key critical areas. Once a suitable job

36 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

opportunity arises candidates will be matched and interviews coordinated with the hotel companies.

Moving forward, further developing this offering will remain a key focus of the association as it seeks to build upon its current success and continue to grow the value proposition for its members.

The continued growth of the international hotel industry has created a high demand for executive talent, especially working in an environment with a challenging turnover rate (around 30%). Because of the way it has been designed, the CMC is a bespoke service that helps members at all stages of their career to secure the best possible placements for longterm success.

Alongside this vast array of benefits, IAHGM has launched an Advisory Services offering, to provide independent support to hotel general managers, hotel executives, hotel companies and owners within the industry.

The association has retained a carefully selected network of partners, made up of leading hospitality experts who are able to provide assistance and support in a number of critical areas. These include - hotel openings & conversions; asset management; profit optimisation; strategy development; HR management; executive coaching and development; management systems; service quality improvement; operational performance; development of

standard operating procedures.

There are a wide range of benefits for hotel owners, including improved profitability, reduced overheads, fit for purpose organisation structures, professional development for their employees and improved asset valuation, whilst GMs and execs have access to independent expert advice on core hospitality management issues.

Internally, the culture of the association is one based on mutual respect, and everyone involved is invited to share their ideas. There is no large office, as a lot of what the association does is with carefully selected third party providers who share its vision and values.

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Hospitality Association of the Year 2017

Company: IAHGM DMCC Phone: +971 (0)4 514 8835 Email: membership@hotelgms.com Website: www.hotelgms.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 37

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Best Full-Service Destination Management Company - Dubai Incentive Connections Tourism LLC offers the full plethora of destination management services to create unforgettable experiences for its clients. We invited Mr. Porus Guzder to talk us through the firm and provide an absorbing overview of its service offering.

Incentive Connections is an award-winning fullservice destination management company, located in Dubai with expanding coverage of Abu Dhabi, the rest of the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar.

Over the years, and in response to an increasing global demand, Incentive Connections has added a steadily growing Inbound Tour Operating department that caters to the needs of free individual travelers (FIT). Porus outlines the firm’s service offering in more detail and discusses how the company works to ensure that clients receive only the highest level of service and take back delightful memories of a truly incredible trip.

“As destination managers, we deliver bespoke solutions for international conferences,

incentive meetings, executive retreats, incentive programs and corporate events. We bring together years of rich experience, trust and dependability to create a culture of transparency, receptiveness, responsiveness, ingenuity, professionalism and true partnership. Alongside this, as leisure travel partners, our inbound travel specialists take care of all client needs – visas, accommodation, tours, logistics, transportation, translators, guides and more.

“Our dedicated Special Events team have produced some of the most distinctive, challenging and creative events: 5-star camping, silver- service dinners in the desert, sunrise breakfast reception in hot air balloons blissfully floating through the clouds, elite dinners with revered royalty at their most hospitable summer

palaces, black tie dinners on the helipad of the iconic Burj Al Arab. We also facilitate exclusive behind the scenes access, by way of enlightening tours of the architectural wonders and the hallmarks of Dubai –the towering Burj Khalifa and the glittering Burj Al Arab, lunches and dinners at exotic venues such the Ras Al Khaimah museum and Ajman fort, as well as unique opportunities for warm interactions with local native families.”

Currently, Dubai is the 4th most visited city in the world after London, Paris and Bangkok and has the world’s highest visitor per resident ratio from 4.9 visitors in 2009 to 5.7 visitors in 2015. Authorities have estimated the number of visitors by 2020 to a whopping 20 million per year, doubling the number welcomed in 2012.

Multiple initiatives covering regulatory policy, infrastructure development, product offering enhancement, and destination marketing investments have been made by the foresighted leadership of the Emirate. The overall goal of these initiatives and the strategy is to position Dubai as the ‘first choice’ for the international leisure and business travelers. With each passing day, we in Dubai, are inching closer to realizing this esteemed goal.

With easy accessibility to Dubai, Abu Dhabi is an inspired global destination, rich in cultural

38 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

authenticity, diverse natural offerings and unparalleled family leisure and entertainment attractions. Abu Dhabi is rapidly evolving into a world-class, sustainable destination of distinction. Incentive Connections showcases the very best that this dynamic city has to offer, as Porus concludes.

“Fundamentally, Incentive Connections is on an epic journey in pursuit of business excellence. Our commitment is to deliver only the most desirable outcomes, of the highest standard, to all our clients and stakeholders alike.

“In order to showcase the very best that this glittering belt of Arabia has to offer, we are committed to showing our clients the very unique, the extraordinary and the truly wonderful. We believe, the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.

Providing that little extra time and again is our promise. We endeavor to establish and grow trusted partnerships with our clients. We have been able to differentiate ourselves from the competition through robust relationship, creative content, personalized service, responsiveness and preferential rates. Our established service levels are one of the prime reasons our valued clients continue to work with us and we constantly adapt and evolve in order to continue to meet their dynamic needs.”

g Best Full-Service Destination Management Company - Dubai

Company: Incentive Connections Tourism LLC Contact: Porus Guzder Email: porus@incentiveconnections.com Address: Al Rumaithy (Oman Insurance Building), 02nd Floor 207 & 208, Opposite Gazebo & Kamat Restaurant, Next to West Zone Supermarket, Al Mankhool, Kuwait Street - Bur Dubai, Dubai, PO Box 122742, UAE Phone: 00971 43869914 Website: www.incentiveconnections.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 39

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Best Luxury Perfume Distributor 2017 - Middle East Luxuria Trading, based in the Middle East, specializes in the distribution of luxury brands with a special emphasis on the beauty and perfumes sectors.

We spoke to CEO and Founder Bechara Sleiman to find out more about the firm and the range of services it offers.

Luxuria is a full services operation providing strategy advice, distribution, logistics, marketing, training, merchandising and market monitoring services to our clients in GCC, Levant and Iran.

Specialising in building brands within the fragrances, make-up, skin care and watches sectors, the firm represent over 25 high end perfume and skin care brands including Penhaligon’s, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Floris, Diptyque, Miller Harris, Byredo, Codage, Elemis, Sentéales, StriVectin.

Working with such illustrious clients means that the firm has to offer the very highest standards of service, as Bechara explains.

“Based upon over a quarter of a century of experience in the Middle Eastern market, Luxuria understand the specific nuances and traits of this unique yet highly rewarding region.

Our primary focus is tailoring and implementing individual strategies that meet the precise needs and objections of our clients’ brands in the market they wish to enter. Many operators in the Middle Eastern luxury goods market have come and gone: Luxuria have maintained our presence despite the market ups and downs, and it is the hard work, attention to detail and

strong relationships within the industry which have helped guide our firm to the success it enjoys today.

“Our philosophy is based upon knowledge, ensuring that we are constantly up to date with what is happening in markets within which we operate and this is based upon maintaining good relationships with the market movers. Our clients benefit from this knowledge because it ensures that their brands maintain the edge needed to keep them ahead of the rest, which is essential in the luxury business.”

This knowledge comes from a collaborative internal culture which thrives on communicating closely with clients and industry partners, as Bechara discusses.

“Internally, Luxuria has a strong emphasis on personal communication with all our operating partners and suppliers.

As part of this approach we encourage our staff to build relationships with the people behind the organisations as this is what will ensure success and cohesion in our operations.

As such we look for individuals with a strong ambition to build a network, strong communication skills and a “go getter” attitude that makes them roll up their sleeves and get down to it.”

40 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Having a strong presence in the market means that Luxuria has a wealth of knowledge on the latest industry trends and developments, which Bechara is keen to share with us.

“Trends within the luxury goods market are that the industry has become more sophisticated with its approach to brand positioning.

Retailers are becoming more particular about the brands they work with choosing only those that appeal to their target markets instead of the previous “one size fits all” we will take anything approach. They are also applying western retail policy of turnover per square meter and return per square meter, something previously unheard of in this part of the world.

“As such, we adapt to these changes by being more particular about where we place our brands. Taking into consideration not only the target market but also each brands personalisation policy. We define our distribution based upon brand equity. Each brand has its own distribution style and concept and we work to cultivate this and showcase it to its fullest.

“Within the region as a whole, the economy is still developing, and we are currently enjoying a sustainable period of growth.

Any presence in the UAE will

reflect positively in the GCC countries, as is the case with firms such as Bloomingdales.

There are many challenges for firms moving into the region, as the open market means that there are lots of competitors and therefore we need more investment in education to ensure that our workforce is able to cope. We need to be on the same level as Europe. Free zones and other systems such as E-government in the UAE allow us to operate in a smooth way and to develop all countries around us. Public relations in the UAE is more liberal than other GCC countries which also gives us more freedom to showcase our brands.”

“Fundamentally, in a market where the strength of your network is a deciding factor in the success of a brand, Luxuria delivers. We are partnered with some of the major local operators and retailers in the region which provide our brands with the best opportunities and the most lucrative exposure.

In a market that has changed substantially over the last two decades, our company can boast a consistent presence; through the experience of myself and my senior team, our operation has witnessed first-hand the various economic cycles of the region, the growth, correction and stabilisation of the industry that

g Best Luxury Perfume Distributor 2017 - Middle East

has maintained its reputation as a lucrative market in which to be present. This experience allows us to foresee market shifts and prepare our brands in order to make the most of those shifts.”

Looking to the future, Bechara believes that the latest developments for Luxuria will help pave the way for a bright and prosperous future for the company, as he proudly concludes.

“Currently we are negotiating with one of our big clients, Elemis for whom we are the distributor to the retail sector, to extend that distribution to the spa sector and have agreed to take over the previous spa distributor’s existing sizable business and staff to allow them to grow to their full potential.

“Alongside this exciting development, we are pleased to note that one of our related companies is in the final stages of creating a new line of fragrances partnering with some of the biggest names in the perfume sector and Luxuria will be the appointed distributor for this perfume in the Middle East.

Moving forward we hope these developments will help our firm to grow and remain at the forefront of our market.”

Company: Luxuria Trading DMCC Contact: Bechara Sleiman Email: bechara.sleiman@luxuriatrading.com Address: HDS Tower, Office No. 1106, Cluster F, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, P.O. Box 36430, UAE Phone: 00971 4 4308321 Website: www.luxuriatrading.com

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Best Early Years Education Provider 2017 Masterminds Education offers a pioneering approach to early years education in the Middle East. We profile this innovative and dynamic education specialist to learn more.

There is widespread consensus that the global education system is broken with a growing disparity between the skills taught in schools and those required in the market place. However, the challenge is even more severe.

The world is on the brink of the next ‘industrial revolution.’ This generation’s children will grow up in a world of unprecedented disruption and uncertainty. Not only will they require capabilities for jobs that do not yet exist but no one can accurately predict what these jobs will be or what specific skills they will require.

How do we then create an education system to prepare our children for such an unpredictable future? Can we successfully create a system that empowers children with enhanced comprehension, tremendous curiosity and a love of learning to create a virtuous cycle that will support

their success and happiness no matter what the future holds? Masterminds’ vision is to transform education for the 21st century.

Masterminds was created by parents who could not accept the status quo for their own child.

This triggered a global quest to find the most pioneering thinking in childhood development.

After researching numerous options all over the world, they finally came across a globally renowned institute that has been a pioneer in childhood development for over 60 years, and whose founders include Nobel prize laureates. After walking the grounds of their oncampus school and seeing these amazing, happy and kind 4, 5 and 6 year olds all of whom could read, do maths, talk about the great artists of the world, speak three languages, play the violin, do gymnastics and have a love of learning that they had never seen before, they knew that they had

found something extraordinary.

Masterminds developed an exclusive partnership with the institute for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia and started by launching its early years concept in Dubai.

Masterminds Nursery & Kindergarten, offers enrichment programs that integrate a mother’s traditional wisdom with 60 years of leading-edge research in child development to create intellectual, physical and social excellence, in children age eighteen months to six years.

The establishment is the only one of its kind in the Middle East region to offer its pioneering learning methodology that both nurtures and unveils the genius within every child. Each of Mastermind’s enrichment programs are conducted in an active and joyous learning environment, catered to the individual learning styles of each child. The programs enable each child to develop a love for learning, a trait that carries forward from childhood into adult life.

The Masterminds programs include English, French, and Arabic language immersion, learning to play the violin, gymnastics and swimming, as well as enrichment programs that will ensure all children can read fluently, do maths and have exceptional knowledge, physical and social awareness, by the age of six. These have been proven to be the building blocks of a strong, well-rounded childhood – and beyond, into a successful adult life.

42 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Encouraged and guided by the principle of a child’s natural instinct to learn, and a child’s early years have been identified as the years most crucial to a child’s learning foundation; children who are introduced to this specialized methodology have proven to develop their intelligence, physical and social skills at a much-improved rate.

Commenting on the award, Tania Siddiqi, Director of Masterminds Education said: “The Masterminds team is deeply grateful to be awarded Best Early Years Education Provider. We were even more thrilled to learn that we were nominated by one of the families who attend our school and feel strongly about what we do. This award reaffirms our commitment to continue to invest in our offering and our people, and to transform the outcomes that parents expect from an early years education.”

Speaking about Masterminds’ expansion plans, Mrs. Siddiqi went on to say: “The award also gives us a renewed sense of purpose to expand into the primary and secondary years.

The upcoming Masterminds Primary School will take our early years offering to the next level, offering continuity to our students to further develop their enhanced capabilities. It will be a nextgeneration school concept that has not been previously created in Dubai or anywhere else. It is designed to cater to parents with ambitious expectations for their children – those who see them as the leaders, innovators and game changers of tomorrow.”

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Best Early Years Education Provider 2017

Company: Masterminds Education Contact: Tania Siddiqi Email: info@masterminds.ae Address: Villa No.17, Rumiah Street, Umm Suqeim 3, Dubai, UAE Phone: +971 56 4430695 Web Address: www.masterminds.ae

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Most Innovative Business Advisory Firm 2017 My Business Consulting DMCC is a Dubai-based Corporate Services Provider. We invited Managing Director Kamelia Allow to tell us more about the firm and the services it provides.

Established in 2009, My Business Consulting are registered and licensed under the rules and regulations of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority, offering a wide range of business consultancy services.

Kamelia outlines how the firm has worked hard since inception to provide the very highest standard of service to clients.

“As the Leading Business Advisory Firm in Dubai, My Business Consulting has more than 17 years of extensive experience in the Accounting & Finance and Regional Management industries.

Located in the Jumeirah Lake Towers Business District, the largest multipurpose Free Zone Development in Dubai, My Business Consulting DMCC is an ambitious and growing company in the heart of UAE that aims to guide foreign entities in the region in achieving their potential.

“Launched at a time of global financial meltdown, we managed to assist individuals and entrepreneurs in company formation by identifying opportunities that yielded results.

Today, we are recognized as the leading advisory firm for business setup for foreign investors in the UAE. This position has secured us clients from over 83 different countries around the world. From business owners to Wikipedia legends, from governors to ministers, private to HNW, from SME to World’s largest

companies, we support a wide range of clients.”

establishment, and trustee services for business structures.

For this range of clients, the firm provides a full range of support services designed to meet their varied needs. My Business Consulting Experts assist clients with the setting up, structuring, managing and unwinding of legal entities for corporate management objectives in the UAE. Clients benefit from its personalized and hands-on approach, as Kamelia explains as she discusses the vast array of services the company offers.

“In addition, in the accountancy sector we deliver accounting, bookkeeping, financial reporting, consolidation, assistance with financial audits, internal audit and controls. Cash flow, management reports, financial projections. Bank reconciliation.

Internal audit. We also offer bank account management and services related to employee end of service benefits.

“Here at My Business Consulting, we provide registered office addresses and physical presence to our clients in the UAE. We have two core services areas: corporate services and accountancy services. Within the corporate sector, clients may appoint us as director, proxyholder or company secretary for a corporate entity. We may also conduct the day-to-day management of these entities in compliance with applicable UAE laws and regulations.

We also offer secretarial services and maintain statutory records, organize shareholder and board meetings, prepare documentation, and unwind and dissolve corporate entities.

“Additionally, we support our clients operational, regulatory and governance requirements and assist them with director requirements. We provide clients with corporate directorship, registered offices and authorized representatives for their

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“Within the reporting space, we offer full administration, including accounting, audit assistance, shareholder reporting, banking and regulatory reporting.

“Alongside this vast array of service, our private client services provide corporate management services to private clients, such as international entrepreneurial families and high net worth individuals. We assist our private clients in the centralized management of their internationally located assets.

We structure, manage and administer corporate entities in the UAE for HNW. We also assist our private clients with their accounting, financial reporting and consolidation obligations.”

Overall, 2016 was a great year for My Business Consulting, and moving forward the firm are keen to build upon its currents success as Kamelia proudly concludes.

“Through 2017 we have planned to dedicate this year to providing excellent customer service. We

are looking to become even closer to our clients, by blogs on weekly basis on subjects interesting to our clients and offering more surveys-more improved delivery of service.

“In addition, changes in VAT are coming soon, therefore when the new VAT law comes up, we need to study these and then support our clients through these changes, by preparing them and advising them. Making sure all our clients do their annual audit at the end of the year, which will enable them to register and further take the benefits of it and preparing the clients with the new invoicing requirements will ensure that they have a smoother time, which will in turn ensure that they feel supported and enjoy working with us even more.

“Ultimately, I have one philosophy in life: If you keep complain of no business or business is down, business will never come to you. You must chase the possibilities and embrace the challenges. In each situation there are good and bad sides, but we always look at the good as this is how you achieve greatness and ensure that you are never negative towards your customers.”

g Most Innovative Business Advisory Firm 2017

Company: My Business Consulting DMCC Contact: Kamelia Allow, Managing Director Email: kamelia.allow@mybusinessconsulting.ae Address: Offices 704 & 705, Indigo Tower, Cluster D, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, P.O. Box 340531, UAE Phone: +971 55 557 5007

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Best Japanese Dining Experience 2017 - GCC Sumo Sushi & Bento is a growing franchise of authentic Japanese restaurants originally established in Dubai. We spoke to Darami Coulter, Global Marketing & Communication Manager, to learn more about the firm and how it works to consistently offer the very best experience to its guests.

Founded in 2000, as the original homegrown Japanese casual dining restaurant, Sumo Sushi & Bento has been serving the best sushi in Dubai and throughout the GCC for more than 16 years, providing a unique family friendly, authentically fun Japanese restaurant. Now offering franchise opportunities globally, the firm continues to expand and offer this delicious experience to more Sumo Super Fans everywhere, as Darami explains.

“The original Japanese family friendly restaurant, Sumo Sushi & Bento now has 14 outlets distributed across the UAE, Bahrain and Oman and is expected to have 50 units throughout the GCC by 2021.

Unlike the average suburban sushi outlet, Sumo Sushi & Bento’s reputation has been built on our constant quest for perfection, authenticity, enjoyment and our ambience.

Our philosophy of service comes from our mission statement; ‘Bringing Happy to Japanese Dining; Good People, Good Food and Good Fun’ and our core values; Integrity, Creativity, Quality, and Simplicy that drive everything we do. Our team runs all of our initiatives, drivers and operational measures of success through both of them on a regular basis. This shows in our customer service, we believe happy employees equal happy and satisfied customers.”

“With a consistent drive to set a new standard in Japanese dining, we revamp our menu every year, to ensure we serve some of the most unique Japanese food in the city. Armed with Samurai-like knives, the Chef’s imaginative creations include an array of items for sushi beginners and enthusiasts alike. Ensuring an even larger variety to our guests and a leading position in the competitive market, Sumo Sushi & Bento specializes in the creation of customized Sushi Sandwiches, Poke Bowls, Salmon Lovers Bento and other Japanese specialty rolls. Prepared fresh with exceptional care by the sushi chefs, the products offer great flavours, consistent freshness, positive health benefits and an authentic food experience at affordable prices.”

In the hospitality market, staff are crucial to any firm’s success; as such, Sumo Sushi & Bento works hard to ensure it attracts and retains the very best talent in the industry, as Darami comments.

“Central to our success is our strong focus on our company culture, and as such we strive to always be engaging with our team. This is the part of our mission statement that starts with Good People and ends with Good Fun. We believe in hiring from within and promoting as much as possible with our own team. We have team members on our top level leadership team that started as servers in our restaurants.

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“Our HR team works closely with our team members offering team building activities, pathways to Sumo success, volunteer opportunities and as much fun as we can have together. Laughter is encouraged while doing a quality job. Our philosophy is everybody matters, from the maintenance crew to the CEO, we all are equal and matter to the company and its growth.”

As a growing brand, Sumo Sushi & Bento has locations throughout the UAE, Bahrain and Oman currently. All of these regions are growing, however, the UAE has an incredible focus on continued growth, and as such Darami is keen to highlight the various plans and approaches her firm uses in this market.

“Within the UAE market, one of the things we notice with the enormous focus on growth is the amount of food choices and options that are available.

However, with a strong brand, good customer service and excellent food we believe there is still opportunity in this market to grow and meet the demands of our customer base. Our newest location in Dubai Silicon Oasis and the incredible social media inquiries for this location has solidified our belief that the growth opportunity for us still exists.

“Fundamentally, our unique proposition in the very competitive UAE market goes back to our mission statement

and core values. Using those as our compass for driving our constantly updated menu offerings, we offer new dishes every single month, our new Sumo sustainability initiative, our high standards for food safety and quality products, and of course our overall experience from our personalized in-house call center to our delivery drivers who deliver with a smile. We will not use an external delivery service because we believe our delivery drivers represent us, the same way that our in-restaurant servers do and we do not want to leave that experience up to a delivery service. We also have a strong family friendly atmosphere with unique healthy kid’s meals created specifically with kids in mind, along with kids eat free days and fun activities throughout the year.”

Overall, Darami is excited for the future and is eager to discuss Sumo Sushi & Bento’s plans for further growth and expansion in order to build upon the phenomenal success of the this vibrant and dynamic brand.

“Looking to the future, our brand is expanding globally. We currently have 14 locations open, with the 15 opening this month and three more scheduled to open this year. We are expecting to have 50 locations throughout the GCC by 2021. Our global expansion emphasis is on the United States, India, Canada and Mexico over the next five years.

g Best Japanese Dining Experience 2017 - GCC

“While we work on expansion, one key initiative that we are focused on over the next five years is moving to a sustainable company using responsibly sourced vendors only. We have begun this initiative with our tuna product. All of our tuna throughout the UAE is responsibly sourced through a sustainable fishery in the Maldives. They use only pole and line fishing to harvest the Yellow Fin Tuna, no nets used and no drag line fishing, ensuring that there is minimal damage to the ecosystem. Our next initiative will be to ensure that our Salmon is sustainable. As well as launching our biodegradable, recycled delivery packaging later this year.

Company: Sumo Sushi & Bento Contact: Darami Coulter Email: darami@sumosushibento.com Address: Sumo International Inc./Sumo Sushi & Bento, Dubai, PO Box 57360, UAE Phone: 00971 4 3607294 Website: http://sumosushibento.com/

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 47

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Best for Foreign Business Safeguarding Services - Middle East Drawing on almost 15 years’ experience working across the Middle East, Links Group is an innovative corporate consultancy services firm dedicated to helping individuals and organisations either expand into the region, launch a company, or restructure an existing business. We spoke to Founder and CEO John Martin St.Valery to learn more about the secrets behind the firm’s success.

Established in 2002, Links Group pioneered the corporate nominee model, supporting clients to establish businesses in the Middle East by working as a trusted partner to overcome the regulation surrounding equity participation of foreign businesses in the region, which is often the biggest barrier to entry for many companies. The first company of its kind to be endorsed by the Government of Dubai through a strategic alliance with the Foreign Investment Office (FDI) of the Dubai Economic Department, Links Group has an untarnished track record with over 400 clients, and is also recognised as both a Dubai SME Top 100 company and an Arabian 500 company.

John explains in more detail how the firm came to create an innovative space in the market when the firm first began.

“At Links Group we have always been pioneers right from the very beginning, when we created the corporate nominee model to in line with legislation in Dubai which prohibits foreign firms from moving into the mainland without a local partner, who must hold majority equity in the company.

This can cause issues later in the company’s lifecycle if it gets bigger or the local partner dies, and as such we created a model,

which was entirely unique at the time, offering services where we combine business acumen with robust legal counsel to ensure that our clients are protected at all times, and that they can build a business, of which they enjoy 100% beneficial ownership and control.

“Since inception this model has taken off, and now the Links Group Model is an industry standard, and we have grown to a team of just under 50 staff working, at any one time, with over 400 clients in Dubai, Qatar and the wider market.”

Having started this trend, the group saw the phenomenon take off over the years, and now many firms offer similar services.

In response to this, Links Group have grown to provide a wider range of services, as well as ensuring that they offer the very highest standards of service and support to their clients, as John discusses.

“When we originally entered the market we were the only firm offering this service, however since then many competitors have joined us, providing similar offerings. As such, we have diversified into offering additional value added services, such as legal translation, which is crucial in our region. We also expanded geographically, and now have

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offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar, supporting clients across the region. We will shortly be present in the Sultanate of Oman, again due to client demand.

“Another key differentiator for Links Group is our commitment to client service. As a service provider, we understand that it is not just about the solutions you offer; you have to provide the very best service possible.

As such we are always working collaboratively with our clients to ensure that they receive the services they need and are fully supported at all times.”

To ensure that this high level of service is provided, staff are of vital importance, and John and his senior management team have never lost sight of this from the beginning, as he is eager to highlight.

“Supporting our staff and creating a supportive and client focused employee culture has been our focus right from the start, and as such we have always had the HR policies in place to ensure that staff feel supported and safe in their work environment. This has paid great dividends, as we have an extremely low employee turnover and many of our staff have been with us since the beginning, a feat which we are incredibly proud of.”

Recently the group became part of Equiom Group, the globally renowned trust and corporate services provider, allowing it to branch out into more services such as offshore support and the further protection of company assets. As such the future looks bright for the company as it seeks to grow and evolve, buoyed by this latest transaction, as John is proud to conclude.

“To capitalise on our current success and our recent takeover by the Equiom Group, Links Group has a twin track strategy.

Firstly, we intend to continue to grow organically and build upon our service offering, using the specialities of our new partner, as well as expanding both regionally and internationally.

“Alongside this, we are keen to acquire firms with complementary service offerings so that we can provide our clients with additional services which they have been asking for over the years. These developments will provide us with many great opportunities for growth and further success, which we look forward to taking advantage of.”

g Best for Foreign Business Safeguarding Services - Middle East

Company: Links Group Contact: John Martin St.Valery Email: Lara.Finnih@linksgroup.com Address: Office 1008, Conrad Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, P.O. Box 49042, UAE Phone: 00971 4 446 3900

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 49

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Best Make-Up Service & Photography Studio 2017 The Lipstick Make Up Institute & YH Studios was created to represent the connection between media and make up in a stylish, fashionable and unique way, offering a range of courses and services to its wide range of clients. Yasmin Hussain talks us through the firm and the solutions it offers.

The Lipstick Make Up Institute & YH Studios has had a tremendously, consistent and successful growth in the UAE, over a short time frame, of which Yasmin is incredibly proud.

“Since inception, The Lipstick Make Up Institute & YH Studios has become a house hold name in the industry and our international coverage extends from magazines, to international TV. We offer our students the ability to engage on an international level with our professional makeup artists.

Unlike other institutes, our students become involved in the success of the business. The added bonus to all students is receiving their own personalized professional portfolio of their work that they have done on the models. I personally have interviewed so many professionals make up artists some whom have been in the field for over 10 years and they do not have their own portfolio.

Providing a personalized portfolio for each student has become the USP of The Lipstick Make Up Institute & YH Studios. This helps our students in having an advantage in this competitive market.

“Being a makeup institute coupled with a full-service business offering photography, videography and other related industry scopes, makes us versatile and a reliable one stop

shop for many of our high-profile clients.”

strategy is based, as she explains.

Overall, Entrepreneurship and leadership runs through Yasmin’s veins. With it comes determination, innovation, and a vision and desire to act swiftly. In addition, she has a passion for Dubai and is keen to share the benefits of the region with us.

“My business strategy is to stay positive, inspire your team and work hard. Trying every which way to bring business in and stay original. A happy team means happy customers and happy customers mean that your reputation spreads and word of mouth means happier and content customers, which is so good for self-esteem and the soul.

“Key terms of the long-term success of the Emirates are innovation, creativity and disruptive ideas combined with leadership and entrepreneurship.

In fact, it could be argued that the visions and ideals of the country are built on these same pillars as mine and The Lipstick Make Up Institute & YH Studios.

“Since I moved to Dubai four years ago I have been determined to give my business the dedication it deserved, as I really wanted to make it a success, and I have been fortunate enough to have carefully chosen a good team where we all work as family to taste the success of The Lipstick Make Up Institute & YH Studios.

We have learnt each other’s idiosyncrasies ways of working and we work and complement each other. As we continue to expand, I continue to select the team that add value to the company and to their personal development.”

These staff are the centrepiece of the firm, as they provide the service on which Yasmin’s

50 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

“Since I opened YH Studios in November 2012, my clientele has been faithful to me and always come back and always recommend me to their friends and family. This is always the best option in any industry but I find more so in Dubai. Our clients know 100% that they will get a very professional service and the secret of success I feel is consistency.

“Our customers know when they come to the studio that it is always a very chilled and cool atmosphere with chill out or reggae music playing and no matter how stressed they might be, once they walk through my doors they will relax immediately.

They are greeted by the team then one of the makeup artists will discuss as to what style of makeup they would like, as this is included with every single photoshoot we do, giving them even more time to relax before then entering the studio.

“They will then have a consultation about their requirements and the shoot will be done according to their requests. We treat everyone as an individual. We then will choose the best photographs, in house graphic designers or myself will edit them and then the customer chooses an appropriate time that is convenient for them to come back and view them. It is a very simple operation but also incredibly effective.”

Looking to the future, Yasmin is excited for the firm’s ongoing growth and success as she looks to expand and grow in order to serve a wider range of clients.

“For the future of my companies I am keen to be able to offer a great service to all of my clients.

As such, I am will ensure that my students from the institute achieve the maximum they can and my customers from photography to leave with memories that they will treasure.

“The diversity of the business allows it to grow and enables me to keep enjoying what we do because honestly it does not feel like a job even though I regularly work seven days a week. I love it and as my motto says on the wall in reception, ‘Love what you do and do what you love’. This will be our ongoing focus as we look towards a bright and exciting future.”

g Best Make-Up Service & Photography Studio 2017

Company: The Lipstick Make Up Institute and YH Studios Contact: Yasmin Hussain Contact: yased1@yahoo.com or yasmin@yhstudiosdxb.com Address: Dubai Media City CNN Building, Office 302, Dubai, P.O.BOX 502047, UAE Phone: Office +971 4 5587515 Mobile: +971 52 83 49964

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Most Renowned Real Estate Development Company for HR Excellence 2017 Al Futtaim Real Estate (AFGRE) is the Real Estate arm of Al-Futtaim Group - a trusted, privately owned conglomerate representing an inspiring portfolio of leading international brands and offering exciting career and professional development opportunities. We invited Raghda Fatme – Director HR for the Real Estate business to tell us more about their HR practice.

Al Futtaim Group is one of the Middle East’s leading enterprises employing over 42,000 people in diverse sectors.

Within these sectors, the group operates a number of major subdivisions; Al Futtaim Group Real Estate (AFGRE) - one of four mega divisions of Al Futtaim Group. AFGRE has several projects throughout the Middle East and North Africa, either under development, in operation or at planning stage. AFGRE has established a market niche mainly in three market segments which we intend to continue to excel in, namely “Mixed Use City Developments”, Festival City Malls and Engineering and Technologies integrated solutions.

As a diversified organization operating in 4 geographies, UAE, KSA, Qatar and Egypt; AFGRE HR consists of a team of 18 dynamic and forward thinking HR professionals spread across the 4 locations to focus on partnering with the business leaders to drive business growth, develop performance culture and build a talent pipeline. Raghda talks us through the firm’s approach to supporting clients and attracting the best talent to their organisations.

“Here at AFGRE, our agenda is to attract, retain, develop and engage talent, which is driven from group level and is

customized for the business need. This is a different decade and employees are no longer only looking for a job that brings or increase earnings, the Z generation and Millennials are smarter, they have a see through eye. Employees have choices, and they are seeking to build their careers in companies with healthy cultures.

“In the past decade, we used to track issues such as revenue, profitability, productivity, and customer satisfaction. In today’s journey, we realized that the world is so interconnected through social media channels, competition and market demands. Evolving our HR strategy and practices were a must have approach to remain agile, competitive and create a long term sustainable growth.

This was the mindset and the starting point of AFGRE HR evolution. Along with our leaders, we developed a long term strategy supported by our Al-Futtaim group agenda. We worked closely with our leaders aspiring to build a culture that can transcend the limitations and standard practices. We focused on building values-based culture of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Can-Do and Profit.

“Inspiring a values-based culture was not an easy journey; something you learn from reading a book or through conducting a diagnostic assessment.

It is a true well and a team

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bound effort, a well-designed framework and common defined language and commitment by senior leadership. The output of the framework and initiatives implemented drove a behavior change. We created the platform and road map for leaders to build the values culture. Constant development is crucial to success, therefore we survey our clients and candidates regularly and ensure that they are satisfied.”

This innovative process is implemented internally and has proven results, as Raghda is eager to highlight.

“On daily basis the AFGRE HR team including myself strive to embed the values in our existing employees through practical and tangible examples and interventions. Whether our discussions are with individual contributors or leaders, the topic is organizational design, performance or career development we integrate values

by demonstrating them more than talking them. Our initiatives focused on empowering managers to act as culture exemplars and ethics envoys to their teams. They were the best element of the journey to build and promote a stronger ethical culture and breed greater trust amongst their teams.”

Our Real Estate HR team will continue to set the benchmark for excellence and talent innovation in this market. As the best of breed Real Estate organisation, we look forward to unveiling in the coming months our exciting development projects that will allow it to build upon our current success, as Raghda concludes.

“Looking ahead, our latest expansion plan was the announcement of the breaking ground of our fourth mall, which is the second in Dubai. Soon, we will be sharing the expansion on other mixed use projects.”

Company: Al Futtaim Group - Real Estate Contact: Raghda Fatme Website: www.alfuttaim.com

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Best Criminal Law Firm - Dubai Al Rowaad Advocates & Legal Consultants are a Dubai based legal firm supporting a wide range of clients.

We spoke to Mr Hassan Elhais to find out more.

Al Rowaad Advocates prides itself on having a committed team of professionals and a long standing list of loyal clientele who have stayed with them for their legal requirements ranging from corporate, civil, labor, commercial, arbitration, property, family and criminal matters.

Mr Hassan outlines the firm’s focus on client service and how it works to ensure that they are always satisfied.

“The importance of client service cannot be overemphasized. All our employees or team members are trained to provide care and service throughout, from the first point of contact until the conclusion of each case. We ensure constant follow ups on cases and take advantage

of CRM systems to achieve successful or favorable judgment Our firm continuously strives to explore new ways of improving delivery of client services.

We have taken advantage of new systems and applications currently available to complement our existing procedures to ensure better service. The firm has strongly invested in its team to bring forth success in handling cases by ensuring that Clients are well-advised, well informed and continuously engaged in the whole process. Most importantly, the firm’s ability to put forward strategies that are well thought of and with a deep understanding of the law and its practical application that can only be learned through years of experience.”

Being based in the UAE offers a myriad of opportunities for a firm such as Al Rowaad Advocates, as Mr Hassan explains.

“Our law firm is based in Dubai, UAE. The challenges and the opportunities comprise of the fact that Dubai is attractive to the international world for various reasons. Therefore, we have encountered exceptional and unusual cases, where the legal system tends to deal with them in a different manner. Hence, the constant growth of Dubai, and changes in the legal system required us to be very up to date with the current Laws and possible breaches which become a crime under the UAE laws.

“In addition, the rapid growth of many industries in Dubai has given rise to many disputes.

Our business has, therefore, put special emphasis on arbitration, apart from criminal, having sighted the increase in such cases. Also, as Dubai is home to people of many nationals, they

often do not unknowingly adhere to the laws of the UAE. Hence, we have been taking care in advising our clients and ensuring to inform of what actions have been criminalized under the UAE laws and explain to them the most current laws.”

Looking ahead, Al Rowaad Advocates aims to build upon its current success and grow even further, as Mr Hassan concludes.

“The success we have achieved so far has made us very pleased as we were able to reach a success rate of 95%. Our success histories are mostly in critical criminal cases, such as extradition. We there for aim to maintain this rate and achieve a higher success rate and expand our firm around the GCC.”

Company: Al Rowaad Advocates & Legal Consultants Contact: Hassan Elhais Email: info@alrowaad.ae, hassan@professionallawyer.me Address: The H Office Tower 29th Floor Sheikh Zayed Road, PO Box 40073 Dubai, UAE Phone: +971 4 355 8000 Website: www.alrowaad.ae, www.professionallawyer.me

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 53

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Best Legal Consultancy - Ras Al Khaimah & Award for Excellence in CrossBorder Transactions 2017 Ambition Legal is a boutique legal consultancy firm incorporated in Ras Al Khaimah - United Arab Emirates.

We caught up with Founder Elsie Habib to learn more about the firm and the range of services it offers.

Ambition Legal offers corporate advisory on federal laws in the region and international laws in respect to cross-border transactions and is noted for its corporate, commercial and employment legal practices and its expertise in advising clients. These clients range from individuals to corporations seeking to maintaining their business and drafting their internal policies or those looking to form new firms or business or establish a branch and / or representative offices of their foreign companies, offshore and free zone companies.

Ambition Legal is also a registered agent with Ras Al Khaimah International Corporate Center (RAK ICC).

For this vast array of clients the firm offers corporate advisory in respect to structuring, restructuring, refinancing, merger & acquisitions, due diligence, joint ventures, asset sales and purchases, energy management and energy saving agreements, distribution and commercial agency agreements , franchising agreements, liquidation and insolvency, corporate shareholders’ disputes, employer and employee

disputes, corporate governance, compliance matters, directors’ duties and offshore jurisdictions and free zone regulations. It also advises on the practical application of laws and regulations and their impact on the conduct of business in the region.

To support this vast array of clients, a strong client focused approach is crucial, and Elsie aims to offer this by maintaining a professional demeanour and working hard to ensure that she learns as much as possible about her clients’ business, as she explains.

“Personally, my philosophy is to maintain a certain calibre and professionalism by understanding my clients’ businesses and needs and by offering them solutions which meet their individual needs.

Additionally, it is very important to be honest with the client and do not give the client high hopes when something is impossible to achieve for them. You need to give alternative solutions but do not give false promises just in order to charge the client fees. The client’s satisfaction is when you provide the client legal services with a great value which benefits them, and this cannot be achieved by giving false hope.”

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Recently, many laws in the region were amended, and this led to challenges for legal firms such as Ambition Legal. However, as Elsie is eager to emphasise, she utilised her vast experience, which spans more than 15 years in the region, to ensure that she remains at the forefront of the emerging developments and continues to offer her clients the very highest standards of service and support.

“During late 2016 and early 2017 there were many amendments of the laws as well as the changes business activities and mergers of offshore authorities together either due to overlap one over the other or for improvement and development purposes. I adapted quickly to these developments because I always keep my finger on the pulse of the latest industry trends and was able to predict

these changes. The challenge is how to convince a client of such changes when there is a transaction under process; to overcome this I always predict any developments and inform my clients by email well in advance, allowing them plenty of time to adapt around the change.”

Drawing on this vast experience, which includes M&A, corporate restructuring and franchising work, Elsie is keen to continue adapting around new trends as she looks towards a bright and exciting future.

“Moving forward Ambition Legal will continue to offer the very highest standards of service to our clients as we look to take on new projects and work to build upon our current success.”

Contact: Elsie Habib Email: elsieh@ambitionlc.com Company: Ambition Legal Consultancy FZE, Emirates Islamic Bank Building, Business Park, Level 9, Office 901, P.O.Box 37674, RAK, UAE Phone: 00971 7 207 8855; 00971 50 712 9334 Website: www.ambitionlc.com

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Industrial Engineering Firm of the Year 2017 - UAE APS InterTech is an industrial engineering firm based in Dubai. Founder Roland Meulenbroek talks us through the firm and the range of solutions it offers.

Established in 2007 and started in the fields of Cost Engineering and Plant design, including data (ERP) and project report integration APS InterTech is now active in various industrial cost engineering projects, with the focus on the offshore, oil and gas and pharmaceuticals markets. Roland outlines how the firm works to ensure that it supports its clients, who include many market leaders.

“Generally APS InterTech works on the cutting edge of Cost engineering and data integration or industrial informatization.

The industrial projects in which my company participates are a combination of engineering processes, project and cost engineering issues.

“By certification and annual continuous training, I can guarantee an excellent level

of expertise and service to my clients. As a result, major companies such as Daniel Fluor, Jacobs, ExxonMobil, Vopak/ Vopak Horizon and BP have been added to my portfolio since inception. In addition, we keep an eye on current standards and standards to come in the industries we are working in and try to anticipate as much as possible.”

To ensure that this high standard is always maintained, Roland operates a supportive internal culture so that his staff are always working to the best of their abilities, as he explains.

“Internally, I maintain an open mind and a flexible multicultural environment in my company.

My policy or slogan; “the door is always open”. Sometimes I work from one of the business corners or common open spaces in the office. If I attract new staff I look at the first place if

they fit in an open multicultural environment. I also look if they are able to work independently and can stand the stress of a deadline and work on a contract or project basis.

“Most of time I need flexible staff, because due to the nature of the projects in which APS InterTech is participating. I normally work with 2-3, 10 people or even just myself on projects.

This constancy and need for flexibility, is one of the reasons I rent my office space from the Regus Corporation. They offer flexible office solutions, spread over 3000 offices in 900 cities worldwide, in more than 120 countries. As such, we are always nearby the current and next customer in Europe and in the Middle East as well.”

Looking to the future, Roland foresees many exciting changes in the markets in which APS InterTech operates, and is keen to explore these opportunities over the coming months and years.

“Moving forward, the market will continue to develop as we believe that the oil prices will stay at the current low level, this means that the total oil and gas investments will go further down from a refinery point of view. However, for the oil storage market the investments will go up, not unlimited but changes and challenges are there.

“This means that customers want to have a trustable cost estimate for their future planned investments. We developed a way of working including a fast methodology which gives us quick visible estimating results.

“On the other hand we focus us on the Pharmaceutical markets, both human and animal healthcare projects, which is an interesting market and still growing. We think that APS InterTech’s market grow will come from these market in the Middle East.”

Company: APS InterTech Contact: Ing. Roland Meulenbroek RI AC CCE MACostE MSc. Email: roland@apsintertech.nl or dubai@apsengineering.eu Address: Office Building 3, Green Community, Dubai Investment Park, Dubai, PO Box 212880, UAE Phone: 0031621828372 Web Address www.apsintertech.nl

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 55

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Best Bespoke Furniture & Interior Design Firm 2017 Arte Vivo is a Dubai based interior design company born of an alliance with over four decades of expertise in the global design industry. We invited Loma Manalili to tell us more about the firm and the services it provides.

Established in 2010, Arte Vivo is an interior design consultant which also offers bespoke furniture design, landscape architecture, signage and wayfinding design. A special team is dedicated in providing services for architectural and interior visualization for other design firms, interior designers and architects. The company, a subsidiary of Pacific Traders and Manufacturing Corp, owns the factories that provide custom made furniture and interior soft furnishings to ensure their quality.

Loma outlines how this quality focus is what sets the firm apart from its competitors and marks it out as the best option for its vast array of clients.

“Here at Arte Vivo, our clientele includes architects, interior designers, retailers, hotel operators, contractors, government agencies, property developers, procurement companies and private individuals. As manufacturers, we manufacture for high end brands such as B&B Italia, Ralph Lauren, McGuire, Ethan Allen, William Sonoma to name a few.

Directly or indirectly we supply loose furniture to the hospitality industry worldwide which include chain of hotels like Shangrila, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Marriott. For the Middle East market, we have provided our services and furniture to Rosewood Hotel, Grand Hyatt Capital Gate, St. Regis Saadiyat, Armani Hotel, Rotana Hotel, Sheraton Burj Al Salaam, among many others.

“In order to ensure that this vast array of clients receive an exceptionally high standard of service, Arte Vivo stands for specific notions, which include customer intimacy, design innovation, flexibility in execution and convenience. All of these contribute to the single strongest service our brand brings our clients; the ability to create living art.”

Alongside this focus on quality, Loma firmly believes that the firm’s wide range of services help it to stand out from the competition, as clients are able to work with one provider throughout the entire project.

“What makes Arte Vivo unique from other design firms in UAE is that our firm is a “one stop shop”.

Our strategic alliances ensure a complete scope of services allowing our clientele to avail of turnkey services that provide the ultimate in convenience and seamless service. With our world class manufacturing facilities, quality assurance protocols and integrated interior design, architectural and visualization services, Arte Vivo is well positioned to deal with every step of the design and delivery process.

“Thanks to the extensive array of services we are able to provide, we can see our projects from vision to implementation, offer the benefits of lower costs and faster turn over giving our clients the flexibility through involvement in the furniture manufacturing process. We also provide the peace of mind that comes from

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knowing that the furniture we design or fabricate are produce in the same factories that manufacture quality products for some of the best brands of the world.”

The UAE specifically Dubai is highly urbanized and has such a dynamic growth over the years. It is a melting pot with over 200 diverse nationalities with expats taking the majority percentage of UAE’s population.

With this, it seems like Dubai is an ongoing construction site of high rise buildings and towers, residential and leisure property developments and mixed use developments to cater to the needs of the growing population for both residents and tourists.

These provide many chances for firms such as Arte Vivo, as Loma discusses.

“Within our current market there is such an immense projections and potentials for us but then flexibility is the key. Strong cultural elements are at play and taste is highly subjective.

This continual influx of diverse influences from around the

world has not come without its obstacles. This has a great market impact on our work from interior designs to the furniture we use every day, but our biggest challenge is to explain and make our clientele understands the differences and values of products made with true craftsmanship. It is not because something looks the same that they are the same, and we are constantly striving to highlight the quality of our work.”

Currently the firm is working on two big hotels for Expo 2020, and the future will be just as invigorating and prosperous as it seeks to grow even further and support a wider range of clients, as Loma concludes.

“Moving forward, Arte Vivo is expanding and adding on more staff and would soon open another branch in Abu Dhabi for accessibility and to cater to the request of our clients. This provides us with many exciting opportunities which are keen to take advantage of.”

Company: Arte Vivo FZ-LLC Contact: Loma M. Manalili / Mike Pass Email: info@artevivo-designs.com Address: Ground Floor Design House Building, Al Sufouh 1, Dubai, PO Box 502481, UAE Phone: 00971 4 4456 899 Website: www.artevivo-designs.com

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Best Online Shopping Service 2017 - Dubai ASWAAQ is an innovative retail company based in Dubai. We profile the firm to find out more.

ASWAAQ is a local brand and recognized as one of the trusted retailers in UAE. In Compliance with the international standards, the firm manages and operates supermarkets and retail community malls located at the heart of residential communities, in addition to, a variety of value added services.

As part of aswaaq Corporate Social Responsibility, Dubai SME Members are provided with many facilities to support their business. ASWAAQ boasts a neighborhood that combines the spirit of a bazaar and the feeling of an outdoor market located at the heart of communities. Each community mall is complemented with a tailor-made assortment of retail shops to meet the different needs and demands of the surrounding communities such as pharmacies, beauty saloons, stationaries, restaurants banks and others.

Overall, in an increasingly competitive and challenging environment, ASWAAQ’s vision has come to clearly state that its drive towards the achievement of excellence through innovation to provide our customers with high quality products and best services. The firm are committed to build long-lasting relationships with our stakeholders and happily serving the UAE Community.

Through its role as a retailer the company incubate the Small and Medium Enterprises, provide them with number of facilities to start-up, and grow their business activities.

The firm are proud of its team; they are a real embodiment of ASWAAQ’s core values. They are dedicated, often going beyond the call of duty. To support them further the firm are keen on creating a motivating working environment through transparency and equality; this has enabled ASWAAQ to achieve excellent results in short time.

Looking ahead, ASWAAQ’s journey towards excellence continues as the firm aspire to be the retailer of choice for all UAE residents.

Company: ASWAAQ Contact: Dileep Velu Email: Dileep.Velu@aswaaq.ae Address: Dubai, P.O Box: 6767, UAE Phone: 971551020324

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Best for Aviation Ground Support Services - Middle East Avicorp Middle East provides products and services to the civilian and the military aviation ground support industry. We profile the firm to find out more and explore the secrets behind its success.

Avicorp is an organization with a management approach oriented to the efficient and timely completion of service requirements in an environment where performance of flight line equipment is critical to our clients.

By necessity, this leads to an organization built around a staff of highly diverse and experienced personnel whose collective backgrounds span a variety of construction, technical and service disciplines. This allows the firm to accommodate, oversee, and perform the services required to maintain the on-line capability of its customer’s equipment.

Over the years the firm has become a specialist at providing customers throughout the Middle-East region with products and services for aircraft ground support at civilian airports and military facilities. The firm’s capabilities include design, supply and installation services for aircraft distributed 400Hz power, aircraft cooling, utility power, DC power, potable water and lavatory, fuel, start air, fuel venting, tool air, and hydraulic to single or multiple aircraft parking positions at terminals, hangars and remote locations.

In addition, Avicorp Middle East manufacturers service cabinets and PDU’s for aircraft and air defense requirements.

Optional features available include: auto-switching and paralleling, load sharing, current and voltage sensing, feedback interlocks, system control and monitoring, as well as voltage drop compensation.

An important aspect of Avicorp Middle East’s service is the ability to simultaneously coordinate sourcing and ordering of material, spare parts and equipment as needed. It is this vast array of services that has made the firm the success it is today.

Looking to the future, the company is keen to build upon this success and go even further as it seeks to grow and continue to offer clients the superior quality services and solutions that they have come to expect.

Company: Avicorp Middle East Contact: Fady Dabaga Email: fdabaga@avicorpme.com Address: Techno Park, Block-A, office No. 502, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, P.O. Box 18267, UAE Phone: 00971 4 8872858 Website: www.avicorpme.com & www.avicorpinc.com

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Best Administration Professional Services Company 2017 BOTH UAE is a dynamic and innovative back-office outsourcing and professional employer organisation based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We invited Co-Founder and Managing Director Anna Heystek to share the secrets behind the firm’s phenomenal success.

BOTH was established in 2009 to alleviate the administrative burden for international companies to setup effortlessly in the UAE and to have access to a professional knowledgeable local business partner. Creating a trustworthy and reliable service over time, BOTH grew organically from a PRO, visa, immigration and compliance services provider to a local administrative support partner.

Anna discusses how the firm has succeeded in the highly competitive UAE market thanks to its focus on excellence and flexibility.

“At BOTH we recognize that companies in the UAE operate in a fluid environment and face a challenging mix of external dynamics. Everybody needs to pivot in response to the changing and competitive environment fuelled by slow economic growth, reshaping of the technological landscape and the social and geopolitical situation in the region. Companies are succumbing to many global pressures and uncertainty, and in such a changing landscape, our mission for our clients has never been more vital and stronger.

“Our success is based on quickly anticipating and rapidly embracing the changes affecting our clients and their business operations while developing our people is the most fundamental element of our success. A set of specific “BOTH values” created by our people, determine the foundation we have constructed

over the past seven years, which is built for change. It tells the story of how evolution and constant transformation are core to the way we work and how our culture allows us to serve our clients in the best way possible.”

As part of this commitment to constantly improving and developing its service offering, the firm has adapted its services significantly over the years in order to meet its clients’ ever changing needs, as Anna is eager to emphasise.

“Keeping up with the pace of innovation, disruption and retaining and attracting talent will remain a challenge. Business leaders are forced to re-examine their core business, to rapidly adapt their organisations and practices, and continually innovate to remain relevant in the future.

“Therefore, we have reinvented and expanded our professional services with a professional employer organisation (PEO) and employer of record business model. International companies can quickly enter and hire their most talented professional in the UAE by eliminating the need to set up an entity or foreign branch and taking on the risk and associated HR, payroll and benefits needs. This business model has been proven internationally to cut the cost of international expansion reducing time to on board employees from months to days and turning international payroll and HR management into a fast and easy process.”

With regards to the future, BOTH will continue to offer comprehensive PRO, Company Incorporation, HR, payroll, and benefits management, with the firm’s high-energy team and work ethic that has made it a preferred provider of outsourced services in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Having achieved incredible success over the past seven years, Anna is keen for BOTH to continue to grow and offer clients the solutions they need to succeed, as she proudly outlines in her concluding comments.

ever before, to fulfill our founding mission of shaping better operations and personalized service for our clients. We are currently in discussions to expand our operations as we have generated international interest in our ever-evolving business model of scalability, efficiency and client services, and are looking forward to the opportunities this growth will afford us.”

“Overall, I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved and excited about the pace and scale of change that we are undertaking to fulfill our unwavering focus on serving our clients. The uncertain environment we face, while unsettling for many, is also an opportunity to look out to the future, to implement innovative ways to do business.

“Most important, it is an opportunity to shape the future of our industry, and, more than

Company: BOTH UAE Contact: Anna Heystek Email: anna@bothuae.com Address: 103, 1st Floor, Bayswater Tower, Business Bay, Al Abraj St., Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 422 9831 Website: www.bothuae.com

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Best Marketing & Design Consultancy - Dubai BR Communications is a reputed public relations and marketing consultancy based in the UAE, providing creative campaign solutions to its clients. Founder Bahaa Fatairy discusses the firm and its innovative service offering and how it has come to win this prestigious title.

Founded in 2013

by Bahaa, BR Communications is an award-winning PR, Social Media and Marketing agency. Within a span of three years BR communications has made a splash in the PR services sector locally and regionally. Bahaa talks us through the secrets behind the firm’s phenomenal success so far.

“Here at BR Communications, we put our success down to three core factors. Firstly, we believe in transparency and have candid conversations with our clients.

This is an important first step in meeting their expectations and fulfilling our requirements.

Secondly, we believe in providing proactive suggestions to our clients by scouting current trends, and offering the best appropriate solutions. Finally, it is all about quality. Without high-

quality products and services, we will not be able to meet our clients’ expectations, and live up to our standards.

“This combined focus on quality and client service enables us to achieve our mission; to meet our clients’ expectations by consulting and communicating with them on their requirements firstly. We then follow through with our suggestions based on our brainstorming. We make it a point to deliver on our commitments and to be an added value to their business. We work with our clients as partners to ensure that their expectations are met in the final products that we produce.”

Having operated in the PR and marketing space for over four years, and drawing on the vast market experience of Bahaa and his team, the firm is able to remain at the forefront of the

latest market developments, which is crucial to its success.

“At BR Communications, we constantly monitor for the latest trends in the market and offer the most suitable and appropriate solutions depending on our clients’ requirements. Currently, the use of digital media continues to be the largest and latest trend.

However, there are nuances and complexities within this trend that need to be explored and understood before being adopted and offered as solutions for clients. To do this, we are conducting surveys for example on topics such as the usage of digital and traditional media, and the importance of a marketing budget for our knowledge and that of the industry.”

Overall the future looks bright for BR Communications as Bahaa unveils his plans to grow the firm even further and spread the message that PR is a vital aspect of the corporate landscape.

“Looking ahead, expansion is our top priority, both for BR Communications and our clients regionally, and globally. However, an important plan that we are pushing forward is to build awareness on the importance of PR, and its vital role in marketing to strengthen and position any firm locally, regionally and globally. We also want to push through our understanding of media trends, so far, digital media is the latest trend in marketing, but print media too which is a vital part of our history, is yet alive. So, we have to build a solid understanding of these trends and develop strategies around them.

“Alongside this, we continue to grow along with our clients, some of whom have been with us since our inception, and new clients that we sign on. Our ongoing commitment to excellence will help ensure continued growth and success for both ourselves and our valued clients.”

Company: BR Communications FZE Contact: Bahaa Fatairy Email: bahaa@brcomms.com Address: Office 2203, Concord Tower, Dubai Media City, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 50 749 7353 Website: https://brcomms.com/

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Best Insurance Brokerage 2017 – Dubai & Female Insurance of the Year 2017 - Dubai Diamond Insurance Brokerage & Consultancy is a Dubai based insurance broker drawing on vast industry experience to support its clients. We invited Ameera Jokhadar - CEO to tell us more.

Diamond is a peoplefocused organization driven by a passion for delivering values, services and quality to its customers. Ameera outlines the firm’s client focused service offering in more detail.

clients gets the best deals. As part of this, we arrange insurance policies for individuals and companies to cover different needs. Policies range from motor, house, travel and property to employer’s liability, public and product liability insurance.”

“Here at Diamond we act as an intermediary between clients and insurance companies. We use our in-depth knowledge of risks and insurance market to find and arrange suitable insurance policies. In addition, we act as advisors to the interest of our clients and offer variety of products from more than one insurer to guarantee that our

“Central to our offering is our commitment to delivering on our promises to our customers through the employment of experienced management and highly trained and educated staff. We are committed to deliver high quality of insurance services and products. Also, we deliver the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.

We are committed to review our objectives, procedures to maintain high security, stability and to gain the trust of our customers.”

Staff are central to the firm’s success and all they work towards supporting the firm’s clients, Our team understand that every one of our customers has a unique set of insurance needs.

At Diamond, our breadth of sector knowledge means we can create a packages of insurance tailored to our clients. Small, medium, corporate or personal: Diamond has the expertise to get you covered. Our vision, is to be the idol choice in the insurance industry, delivering excellence in our services and work towards the interest of our customers. As such, we strive to deliver tailored

insurance solutions to exceed our customers’ expectation.

We maintain this through strong network with high profile partners. Diamond will achieve its objectives through highly professional well trained team.”

Moving forward Diamond’s focus is on building upon its current success and growing further.

“Looking ahead, our focus is on achieving even more and growing further, which will be possible, especially if we keep our hard work, dedication of time to it. The firm will prosper and become one of the leading names in our field throughout the years.”

Company: Diamond Insurance Brokerage & Consultancy Contact: Laine Centeno Email: executivesecretary@diamondibc.com Address: Dubai, PO Box 35698, UAE Phone: 97144431675 Website: http://diamondibc.com/

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Performing Arts School of the Year 2017 Diverse Choreography Performing Arts School is an innovative, dance and theatre school offering training opportunities for the complete beginner right through to young performers heading toward a professional performing career. We spoke to Co-Founder Lisa Marshall to find out more.

Diverse Choreography was established in Dubai, in 2008 by husband and wife team, Scott and Lisa Marshall, and is the only dance and theatre school in the Middle East who provide excellence in performance arts training. Lisa outlines the firm’s focus on client service and how it works to ensure that every student receives the training they need to succeed.

“At Diverse Choreography, we believe that there is a love of performing arts in everyone. The key is to establish which class or course of training is suited to each individual student. To ensure that any new children joining our school enrol in a class that is perfect for them, we offer free trials in all classes. This enables parents to give their child a taster of as many classes as they choose, before committing to a full term of training. It is of

the upmost importance that all of our clients feel as though they are being welcomed into a family orientated community at the studios, and it all begins with the initial experience.

“To maintain the high standards we set ourselves, we are constantly looking for more innovative ideas to further our students training. To continue to search for more opportunities to bring to the UAE to further expand on the burgeoning dance/theatre community here, bringing what is available internationally to performers to the Middle East region is our ongoing focus. We continue to strive to bring leaders in our field here to the UAE, so that they too can share their expertise with not only our students, but the entire dance/theatre population in Dubai. Eventually if we continue to do so, our aim is that Dubai can boast the same size and level of dance community, that other parts of the world such as UK, The States are privileged to enjoy. We will continue to hire only specialists to teach full time for our school, to ensure the training given by Diverse is comparable to no other in the area, thus keeping us at the forefront of performing arts in the UAE, as we have been now for the last eight years.”

Moving forward, Diverse Choreography has a number of exciting plans which will help strengthen its strong position within the market, as Lisa proudly concludes.

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“Ultimately, we are always looking to expand our after school program, bringing this into additional schools around Dubai, so that we are even more accessible to the wider community. We do also have long term plans to open up in Abu Dhabi, but this will be our long term projection. In order for us to maintain the strength of our program/reputation, we would need to be able to open the full facility in AD as well. This would require further funding, which would need to be our long term project.

“This May, we will be bringing a major West End children’s theatre, casting director (Jo Hawes) and choreographer from the UK to host workshops at the studios for students on our agency, who may in turn gain future theatre work through her casting agency in the UK. We are delighted to say, that this is an opportunity reserved only for Diverse students. As part of her visit our students got the chance to audition for Les Miserables the musical for the lead child roles

at the Dubai Opera House for Cameron Mackintosh via video link. They took the children’s cast from London in the end but the diverse kids are privileged to be the only school in Dubai to get that opportunity.

“Additionally, in April, a world famous choreographer from the States, Matt Steffanina, is a massive YouTube sensation, will visit our school, to host workshops at our studios. These workshops will be open to the public, not only to our students.

Allowing his invaluable training and expertise to educate/train the entire dance community in the UAE, further developing the dance industry for the professionals (and students alike) in the area. We will be the first performing arts school in the UAE to do bring such high profile workshops to the region.”

Company: Diverse Choreography Performing Arts School Contact: Lisa Marshall Email: lisa@diversechoreography.com Address: Building, The Curve Building (Entrance A), 4th Street, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 330 7338

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Best Indoor Event Venue 2017 du Forum is the UAE’s foremost purpose-built indoor entertainment venue. We caught up with Marcus Osborne, Marketing and Sales Director, to learn more about this dynamic space.

As a leading indoor entertainment venue in the UAE du Forum provides approximately 2,500 square meters of pillar-less space for corporate functions, weddings, gala dinners, product launches, live shows, sporting events and music concerts.

With powerful air conditioning, performance stage, VIP platforms and outdoor plaza area, du Forum can comfortably host up to 4,500 people.

All clients and event producers who hire the venue receive full support, industry expertise and assistance from the venue owners Flash Entertainment and management team, Spectra Venue Management.

Management can assist clients with marketing, branding and ticketing strategies to increase ticket sales and raise awareness.

The firm also assist by leveraging its strong relationships with reputable suppliers in the areas of event management, catering, event set-up, design and audio-visual requirements.

This dedication to providing the very highest standard of service is what sets du Forum apart from other venues, as Marcus outlines.

“Here at du Forum, we pride ourselves on our ability to create a customer service culture at du Forum that values the way we interact with our customers, co-workers, promoters, vendors

and everyone else we encounter during business. Taking our lead from our clients, involvement in each event’s planning is scaled up or down depending on each client’s requirements.

“It is our commitment to offering a one-stop-shop for clients that sets us apart from the competition. From venue set-up, inventory used, lighting and even the choice of caterer, the client is not limited to or bound to anything, and if that all seems too overwhelming for an event planner, we at Spectra Venue Management provide the service and ongoing support to ensure the event comes together successfully.”

weddings and even corporate events, which is an area that the firm is keen to move into as it looks towards the future, as Marcus proudly concludes.

“Moving forward, du Forum remains focused on continuing to provide world-class service to our clients and event-goers in Abu Dhabi. Our plan for the future is to maintain this high level of service and of course further increase the number of events held at the du Forum. We are also shifting our focus onto the corporate, private groups as we know our venue can offer these groups a unique and more tailored event experience.

“This change in focus stems from the market, as we have seen within the events space a general shift to the private sector with more corporate groups seeking to hire the venue for private events and conferences.

As a result we are trying to accommodate these groups with packaged rates for longer-term hire and leveraging our strong relationships with suppliers and stakeholders to keep costs down and offer support to our clients.”

“Alongside this, our venue can do what most of the hotels cannot.

It can comfortably host large numbers and the sky is the limit for clients and event producers in terms of what they can do at the venue: the du Forum is a blank canvas where dreams turn into reality.”

Overall, due to the versatile nature of the venue and its exhibition-hall layout, du Forum is suitable for concerts, club nights, comedy shows, conferences, exhibitions, weddings, sporting tournaments and training, gala dinners, indoor markets and family fun days.

The venue prides itself on being able to accommodate both large public ticketed events and more intimate private events, such as

Company: du Forum Contact: Marcus Osborne, Marketing & Sales Director Email: marcus@duforum.ae Address: Yas Leisure Drive, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE Phone: 00971 2 509 8143 Web Address: www.duforum.ae

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Best Brand Marketing Firm - Dubai Esteem Communications is a boutique Advertising agency based in Dubai. We invited Ashraf Afify to share an absorbing overview of the firm with us and explore the secrets behind its success.

Founded in 2000, Esteem comprises of a small team with multinational experience and background. The firm’s services revolve developing creative concepts and applying them through the line, press campaigns, BTL, which includes flyers, posters, brochures, banners, menus, packaging design, logo design development, web design and stand designs. The firm also have arms providing PR, social media management and production to a wide range of clients from different sectors including hospitality, FMCG and automotive. Ashraf describes the firm’s passion and dedication to excellence and how this has helped drive its success so far.

“Here at Esteem, we very much believe that great advertising is distinguished by three fundamental qualities: relevance,

originality and impact. To achieve this, our proposed ideas should be backed up by proper field research and consumer feedback. To get this information, we do our own research and visit the stores to check our clients’ competitor brands in terms of their visibility on shelf, price, promotion that they are running and take pictures of the displays to share it with the client.

“Additionally, we monitor the consumer’s behaviour towards the product and approach them to know the reason behind choosing/not choosing this specific product, what do they like/dislike about it and what would make them try using/ continue using the same and what kind of improvements/ enhancements that they would like the product to undergo. Our clients always appreciate the effort that we put behind our proposals as it provides useful market insights and makes them

feel that we are an extension to their marketing team and not just an agency that executes.”

The UAE is the land of opportunities, yet it is also a very competitive and challenging market that is rapidly growing. To be able to sustain, firms such as Esteem have to always be up to date with the changing market trends and be flexible to take on these changes and finding ways to turn them around to be of their benefit. As such, Ashraf outlines how the firm works to adapt around the latest trends it notices in the marketing industry.

“With regards to trends in our market, social Media has been gaining ground very rapidly and is becoming a major requirement.

I personally believe that it is a good medium to create awareness, but it should not by all means replace the other media. In order to be up to date and avoid being left behind, not only we have introduced social media management to our

services, but also introduced new social media platforms including Augmented Reality. Augmania, allows brands and organizations to open channels and launch AR campaigns with which the shopper or consumer can interact, try and buy, share and socialize.”

Looking to the future, Ashraf is excited for the future of Esteem as the firm works to capitalise on its current success and grow even further.

“Ultimately, our clients’ are looking for partners that would help them maximize their budgets, meaning providing quality service at a reasonable price bracket, this is where we come in and I am very positive that it will help us gain more accounts on our portfolio. We are currently working on a proactive project for one of the biggest service providers in the UAE, and are excited for the opportunities this will bring for the firm.”

Company: Esteem Communications DMCC Contact: Ashraf Afify Email: ashraf@esteem.me, info@esteem.me Address: Unit No. 1401, Mazaya Business Avenue BB1, Plot No. JLTE-PH2-BB1, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 558 5993 Web Address: www.esteem.me

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Best Full-Service F&B Consultancy 2017 Gates Hospitality FZ-LLC is a pioneering hospitality company with a diverse portfolio of international brands, a range of home grown F&B concepts and a proven track record of operating hospitality assets across the globe. Here we take a look at what makes them so special.

Since 2012, Gates Hospitality has blazed a trail in the hospitality industry – from innovative home-grown F&B outlets to outstanding asset management both locally and on

the international stage. Led by a senior executive team who each bring a range of unique skills, Gates Hospitality’s growth is a story built on passion.

The firm offers a wide range of services across the hospitality

market, from hospitality guidance and pre-opening foundation through to asset management and day-to-day operational success support. Drawing on the expertise and knowledge of its seasoned team the firm is able to offer a vast suite of services across these key areas and ensure that clients receive the service they need.

Among the firm’s prestigious portfolio is Six Senses Zighy Bay. Nestled by a secluded fishing village, between a stretch of stunning Omani coastline and a spectacular mountain range, this is the ultimate remote hideaway. The resort comprises of 82 traditional villa style accommodations, including a private reserve and two retreats, combine indigenous Omani architecture and design with luxurious modern amenities. All of the villas feature private pools and a butler service, designed to create a unique experience for Six Senses guests at Zighy Bay. Located just a little less than two

hours by road from Dubai this is the ultimate holiday destination in the region, and one that Gates Hospitality is proud to support.

Currently Gates Hospitality are developing a range of F&B concepts, in addition to holding the franchise rights to several strategically handpicked restaurant brands across the MENA region in order to achieve its core objective: to strategically expand its reach by conceptualizing, developing and operating unique fresh restaurant concepts that fit local market needs and/or acquiring other significant brands that fit within its criteria. This will remain the firm’s ongoing focus as it looks towards a bright and exciting future.

Company: Gates Hospitality FZ-LLC Contact: Naim Maadad Email: naim@gateshospitality.com Address: Suite 1809, 18th Floor Al Thuraya, Tower 1, Dubai Media City, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 44385231 Website: http://gateshospitality.com/

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Best Full-Service Logistics Company 2017 Global Shipping & Logistics (GSL) is a leading logistics provider within the UAE offering temperature controlled logistics solutions, temperature ranges from -25° Celsius to ambient. We invited COO Frank Courtney to talk us Pantone 2728C through the firm and the range of services it offers in this vital sector.

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Originally founded in 1975 as Global Shipping in response to the UAE’s growing importance and aspirations, today GSL is a market leader in the logistics space. Frank outlines the secrets behind the firm’s success and how it constantly seeks to provide clients with the very highest standards of quality and service.

“Here at GSL, exceeding our goals is an important gauge of the efforts we put in. We know that nothing comes easy, and that it is a combination of several factors. It requires continuous focus, commitment, team work and many other positive driving forces. Our philosophy behind customer service is very simple.

“Driven by YOU. Understand your needs and ensure every little detail is right and executed with perfection”. We put tremendous effort to maintain the highest standards to ensure that our clients are always satisfied.

“In addition to this client focus, there are two important contributors which made our

success story possible. The first is our inspiring vision; without the right vision in place it is difficult to head in the right direction and excel at the right time. We believe in the potential of every person at GSL, and to harness this potential you need an inspiring vision in place.

Without such a vision, it would be challenging for management to recognize and appreciate the capabilities that exist or are waiting to be discovered. The second contributor is adaptability and our values. Considering the tremendous changes we see in the market today, businesses change is essential to remain ahead of the pack. The trick is to be able to do it, without losing the core values that make us who we are.”

Operating in such an everevolving market with such a vast array of competitors means that differentiation is vital for GSL. The firm marks itself out as the best possible option for its clients by offering them a boutique service built on knowledge, expertise, commitment and passion.

“What makes us unique is our “At GSL we are optimistic about passion for cold logistics. The C = 25, M = 13, Y future. = 0, K = 0 We started our 3PL firm’s commitment to the highest services initially to serve to food levels in quality and customer industries. With time and through service is difficult to match. the experience that we gained, This passion translates into the we managed to broaden our value we bring to our customers. services and are now extending We fully understand the vital into the Pharmaceutical industry. role we play in our customers’ This brings major business success, and the need to think opportunities on both sides of the from a business partnership equation. perspective. We do not see ourselves as a business provider, “During challenging economic but rather as a business partner times, it is important to align whose success is solidly derived to your clients’ needs and find from the success of the clients innovative ways to improve we serve. Therefore, we listen service whilst simultaneously closely to our customers’ needs, reducing costs. When they conscientiously work on our win, we win. As the UAE strengths, constantly improve supply chains evolve the need and innovate our processes for robust, quality solutions and systems, sacredly invest increases. More and more in our people, and incessantly businesses are finding that build cost effective, and robust outsourcing to the right, quality supply chain solutions that offer 3rd Party Logistics provider gives our customers the flexibility them competitive advantage they and business advantage they have not previously enjoyed. regularly seek.”

We could not have launched our impressive expansion project Moving forward, Frank believes in the DIC area of Dubai was it that the firm can continue to build not for this, and there is more to upon this phenomenal success come as we continuously assess and achieve even more over the market conditions and exceed months and years ahead. customer expectations.”

Company: Global Shipping & Logistics Contact: Frank Courtney Email: frank.courtney@gsldubai.com Phone: 00971-4-8851566 Extn (286) Website: www.gsldubai.com

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Best Experiential Marketing & Sales Development Company - Dubai Hart Bernstien are an experiential marketing and sales development agency representing leading FMCG accounts such as Henkel, J&J and Reckitt Benckieser in the UAE. We invited Hind Kaaki to tell us more about the firm and the range of services it offers.

Drawing on over 15 years of hard work, pushing the limits and accomplishing goals, Hart Bernstien have grown from a promoter agency to a leading experiential marketing and sales development agency in the region by elevating the standards and striving for quality rather than quantity. Hind explains how this ensures that clients receive the very highest standards of service possible when they work with the firm.

“Here at Hart Bernstien, our expertise enables us to inspire

consumers to build interest in the brand, encourage trial and drive patrons towards customer loyalty and action. Our experiential marketing offering includes innumerable forms of brand activation channels that follow your customer’s journey at all access points, from supermarket sampling to mall installation units.

“What truly sets our firm apart is that at Hart Bernstien we are experienced in delivering bespoke brand activation campaigns that cuts through the noise and turns shoppers into buyers. We achieve this by creating a positive experience

that changes consumer behaviour and encourages them to connect with your brand. We find that this approach makes people feel unique, valued and inspires them to discover more about a brand, leading to long lasting relationships for our clients.”

To ensure that clients receive the service they need, the firm is dedicated to working with staff and offer them the support necessary to ensure that they are always providing their clients with the very highest level of customer service, as Hind is eager to emphasise.

“Our client servicing and account management team always acts as an extension to our client’s Marketing, Sales and Trade Marketing departments creating ideas and providing insights to challenges. Because client service is important and we understand that staff are crucial to ensuring that clients receive the support they need, at Hart

Bernstien we like to keep simple flat structure, with our open space areas we encourage our team to work closely together with no barriers. Applying best labour practices along with a stress-free environment, we keep productivity at its highest level. We have been also certified as being Corporate Social Responsible agency in the Middle East.”

Moving forward, Hind believes that Hart Bernstien’s flexible and client focused approach will enable it to continue to offer the services its clients need to succeed.

“Ultimately, being able to quickly adapt to changes and embrace them with a great flexibility without compromising on quality of services can gear us to face any upcoming and unforeseen challenge in the future, this philosophy grants us the confidence that we will be ahead of the crowd with a sensible growth.”

Company: Hart Bernstien Contact: Hind Kaaki Email: hind@hbmm.ae Address: Sheikh Zayed Road, Burj Al Salam Bld, Office 1002, Dubai, P.O. Box 102884, UAE Phone: 00971 505515256

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Best Weighing Technology Provider - Middle East Himatrix is a leading company dedicated to distribute and service high-end weighing products and solutions for its customers. We spoke to Nadeer Ali to find out more.

Established in 2004 with the aim to support the region’s growing demand for weights and measure requirement, HIMATRIX adopted international certification such as ISO9001:2008 from BSI and accredited for ISO17025:2005 from DAC (Dubai Accreditation Department) and ENAS (Emirates National Accreditation System) as well as for EC Type Approvals from METAS (National Metrology Institute Switzerland) to legally verify commercial weighing equipment.

Since inception the firm’s strategy has been to constantly invest in infrastructure, facilities and people, working closely with customers and business partners to provide excellent service and products. Nadeer outlines the firm’s core focuses and how it works to achieve excellence constantly.

“HIMATRIX is a very actionoriented company who leads by example. Our leadership is to empower our employees so that they can strive for excellence.

We believe that striving to be the best in our work, our relationship, our ideas and our services is the greatest demonstration of our pledge to customer satisfaction.

We are determined to do the best at what matters most, quality.

Our success depends on our employees’ ability to deliver the consistent level of excellence expected by all who rely on us.

“Our mission is to provide knowledge and consultancy to our customers in how to improve their day-to-day business, be competitive and up to date with international quality standards and regulations. Our vision is to act as a center of competence and to provide a state-ofthe-art service and support structure to the Gulf Region. Our values are based on integrity, teamwork and professionalism in all our core focus (Customers, Service, Quality, People and Partnerships). All of these factors have been central to our success.”

Staff are a vital part of this success, and Nadeer discusses how they work collaboratively to offer the very highest level of service to their clients.

“HIMATRIX’ success and level of competence is thanks to their talent recruitment process.

Each department head has to communicate through a BMT online form its recruitment needs to the HR Department, who will

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then together with the MD assess the needs against the company resources, strategic goals and objectives. Once approved by the TMT, HR ensures that all activities that are required to achieve business objectives are captured in BMT’s job design system. This design process also captures skills, competencies & qualifications required to properly deliver the activities to a high standard.

“By the end of each fiscal year each employee will be evaluated based on the pre-defined KPI’s.

By beginning of each fiscal year each employee’s KPI’s are agreed with BMT and line managers. KPI’s are goals of each employee and function against the company’s strategies.

For new employees a so called temporary performance review is done after 6 months.

“Informal reviews are undertaken between the line managers and employees on a quarterly basis.

Annual Performance Evaluation are based on the achievements the employee is appraised and compensated in accordance to the HR policy for its position

and when applicable. Areas of improvement are defined and agreed upon for further action.

Development and retention plans and incentive programs are as well discussed and agreed when setting the KPI’s. Employee satisfaction surveys and the other feedback mechanisms (appraisals, team meetings etc.) and feedback is elicited on all talent management approaches.”

Looking ahead, growth is the firm’s core focus, as Nadeer is keen to highlight in his concluding comments.

“Ultimately, Himatrix as one of the best in Dubai100SME ranked company in the UAE, but we remain committed to continued growth and our strong strategic plan for 2020 to become a global brand will ensure this. Our core plan is to set up Himatrix office in Europe soon, in order to enhance our company, and we are looking forward to the opportunities this will bring for us.”

Company: Himatrix Middle East FZCO Contact: Nadeer Ali Email: nadeer@himatrix.com Address: Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai, P.O Box 119396, UAE Phone: +971 4 2512374

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Award for Excellence in Accommodation - Dubai Hotel Versailles Dubai is a pinnacle of hospitality and service based right in the heart of Dubai. We invited Manoj Padhi, Group General Manager to tell us more about the hotel and how it works to provide clients with the very highest standard of service at all times.

Now in its 10th year of operations, Hotel Versailles Dubai is committed to giving its guests the very best of guest services and as such the hotel is currently in the process of reinventing to incorporate the Raviz Brand.

Manoj outlines how the hotel is constantly developing and adapting in order to give guests the very best and remain at the cutting edge of the latest developments within the ever evolving hospitality space.

“Here at Hotel Versailles, we are always looking to improve our

offering and give clients the best stay experience possible. What started out as a 2-star property in 2006 soon became a 3-star in under a year, and this was one of my biggest challenges personally, but we did a complete turn around and are currently in the process of yet again going for a 4-star rating once our current upgrades are complete.

“Our philosophy is simple: to provide services beyond compare and ensure that our guests come back again and again. We seek to be a home from home and are always looking to build upon our current success.”

As is the case in any service industry, hospitality places great emphasis on having a strong, dedicated team who are committed to excellent client service.

Bellboy groomed to become a Front Office Duty Manager in the short span of six odd years.

These are just three instances of growth of Employees who have pursued their careers with us.”

“The culture in our organization is based on team work; a lot goes into the induction of new associates. We introduce new staff not only to the department they have been endorsed to but rather to the whole property, thus an associate gets to know all departmental functions prior to embarking on specified duties in his/her department.

Looking to the future, Manoj is optimistic as Hotel Versailles Dubai faces many great opportunities for growth and further success.

“When acquiring new staff we always look for hidden talents when recruiting new associates – background checks and most important the person’s employment history. We review employees to see if they can take higher responsibilities in the future. We have a Room Attendant from the Housekeeping Department who has been groomed to be an Accountant, a Bellboy groomed to become a Sales Manager, a

“Overall the future looks bright for Hotel Versailles Dubai, as we have a strong dedicated team, a vibrant city in the fast mode and ample opportunities ahead.

Our future plans revolve around growth; once our upgrades are done we are going for a 4 star status and our parent company RP Group has several projects in focus which include a 5 Star property in Dubai Marina, a project on going, as we are seeking to create the Raviz Crowne Plaza and two more in Down Town Bur Khalifa Area.”

Company: Hotel Versailles Dubai Contact: Manoj Padhi Email: manojpadhi@versailleshotel.ae Address: 15th Street, Al Rigga, Deira, Dubai, PO Box 33382, UAE Phone: 00971 4 227 7880

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Best Cloud Services Provider 2017 Injazat is an industry-recognized market leader in the region for cloud computing, managed services and cyber security services. We profile the firm to find out more.

Established in 2005, for over a decade, Injazat has been at the forefront of pioneering ICT infrastructure needs within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and broader Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Receiving awards such as the ‘UAE Business Award’ are testament to each and every one of Injazat’s 800 employees. Any award the company receives is a collective effort. It’s even greater to receive an award from an internationally recognized body and for ‘Best Cloud Services Provider’ – an area where we have expanded our core offering.

The year so far has been a rewarding one. The company has enhanced its solutions portfolio through the launch of its new pioneering cloud solution, InCloud, and represents a renewed focus for Injazat and commitment to this ICT ecosystem.

InCloud provides a complete automated software defined Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environment, enabling customers to seamlessly select and allocate infrastructure components such as network, storage and other computing requirements. The solution is also the region’s first fully integrated cloud solution, with hybrid, public and private model offerings, and is set to provide secure cloud support to large multi-national

organizations, small-medium enterprises, as well as everyday end-users.

Elsewhere, Injazat also unveiled a refreshed brand and corporate identity to its stakeholders, ensuring the ‘face’ of the company was in-line with the backdrop of innovation taking place in the region and the world today.

The UAE benefits from having both a young, smart, tech-savvy population and a businessfriendly, visionary leadership that is eager to position the country as the region’s smart ICT hub.

To ensure the sustainable growth of these services, it is vital that companies continue to understand the possibilities that can be unlocked through the investment of transformational solutions. This support the continuation of building a flourishing economy and vibrant society that will benefit future generations.

With ICT transformation driving the growth of societies and economies across the region, Injazat serves a diverse variety of industry sectors, providing a wide range of corporate IT solutions that enable organizations to focus more on their core business offering. These sectors include healthcare, education and utilities.

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Throughout the GCC, Injazat is the leading digital transformation partner. The company has trail blazed regional firsts and also delivered trusted and valued services to thousands of people.

There are not many homegrown companies in the UAE that can state they already have a legacy of over decade.

Through the backing of its shareholder, Mubadala Investment Company, Injazat is pioneering the way services are delivered to customers by providing innovative, secure, compliant technology solutions and IT service delivery excellence. In-turn this is supporting the sustainable diversification, growth and Emiratization of the UAE economy. The firm is proud to be a trusted government partner on this journey.

Looking ahead, with the uncertainties in oil prices over the past few years, governments in the region are doubling their efforts to diversify their economies, moving towards more sustainable knowledge and technology-based ones.

At the same time, with the fluctuating global political climate, and an increase in cybersecurity threats, the need for secure data solutions and ICT leadership has never been more pressing and the Middle East needs to establish a stable posture.

Keeping that in mind, Injazat has been investing heavily in developing services that cater to those needs—including UAEbased cloud solutions and data hosting—as well as fostering Emirati talent in ICT related roles.

Company: Injazat Data Systems Contact: Aysha Al Meheeri Email: aysha.almeheeri@injazat.com Address: Mohammed Bin Zayed City

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Best Hospitality Brand Development Company 2017 Insignia Worldwide Group (IWG) is a unique strategic consultancy offering seamless strategy, branding, design and communication services for travel and hospitality brands. We invited Founder & CEO Gaurav Sinha to talk us through the company and the range of services it provides.

Established in 2003, IWG currently works with over 180 hotels across 20 countries, 165 restaurants and over 40 leisure and lifestyle destinations.

From anthropology to authorship and activation IWG provides integrated business support solutions for owners and operators of hotels, restaurants, spas, shopping malls, theme parks, entertainment shows, leisure and lifestyle destinations, tourism boards, airlines and travel companies. Gaurav discusses how the firm works alongside clients to ensure that they receive the service they need.

“Today’s fast paced and dynamic marketing environment demands progressive companies to align with partners who understood their business, its complexities and its aspirations, bridging those gaps through imaginative thinking, agility and intelligence.

At IWG we recognize that clients are not looking for yet another creative agency, but looking for business solution providers that generate positive impact for their bottom line and can align with them through the complete value creation cycle. Uniquely positioned at the intersections of

strategy and design, IWG builds relevant and impactful solutions, positioning our clients’ brands at the heart of their business.

“Perseverance and quality have been critical to our growth and success. As we enter our fifteenth year, we are committed to our higher purpose of making the world worthy of travel. With billings of over USD 150M since inception, we have advised countries on their national image, institutional asset owners on optimizing value, international hotel operators on creating distinction and at the other end of the spectrum we love to support the aspirations of start-ups and entrepreneurs.”

Looking ahead, Gaurav foresees many exciting developments for the hospitality industry, which he believes will provide IWG many great chances for further success.

“The hospitality industry is experiencing the most vibrant era of disruption. From new entrants to technology and design concepts – there is a seismic shift in the way hospitality used to flourish and what the future holds. There are new concepts evolving rapidly as people seek more originality

and authenticity. Asset owners are developing projects with new perspectives on how to create destinations that are distinct and engaging. With Airbnb and other room aggregators and online distribution platforms providing clever ways to manage and sell inventory, we see an era of new and original concepts capturing the imagination of future travellers.

Selling an experience is very different from selling a product. Our understanding of the complexities of hospitality operations and deep understanding of guest aspiraitons places us in at a unique intersection, where art and science converge to create distinct and authentic brand narratives.

apart, and moving forward this will remain a key focus for the company.

“Ultimately, our sectorial specialization and seamless strategic consultancy services transition into compelling creative and design support our clients’ brands, ensuring they stand out from the crowd and stand for a larger purpose. Across the team, we bring forth decades of experience building some of the world’s most revered brands both on the agency side as well as on the client side, and moving forward we will continue to draw on this and support our clients.”

Our thought-leadership is quantified by decades of industry-specific experience, we employ ex-hoteliers, interior designers, graphic and branding specialists and strategists who have profound knowledge about the dynamic nature of the travel and hospitality industry.

Overall, Gaurav believes that his firm’s expertise and culture of cultivating long-lasting relationships is what sets it Company: Insignia Worldwide Group Email: enquiry@insigniaworldwide.com Address: 1708, GROSVENOR BUSINESS TOWER, BARSHA HEIGHTS, Dubai, P.O. BOX 75397, UAE Phone: +971 4 439 3434 Website: www.insigniaworldwide.com

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Best Strategic Branding Consultancy 2017 - Dubai JPd is an award-winning boutique Branding and Communications Agency based in Dubai, UAE, specialising in strategic branding and public relations solutions that are relative in today’s global and competitive marketplace.

We caught up with James Pass, Managing Director of JPd to find out more about the firm and the secrets behind its success.

JPd helps businesses within the region to standout and showcase their principals, offering them various branding, design and public relations services, from competitor research and brand positioning to brand identity and public relations campaigns, as well as engaging digital interactions. James outlines the firm’s approach and how this ensures that it offers clients cutting edge solutions and support.

“Based on our wide experience of establishing new businesses and bringing fresh ideas to life, here at JPd we understand key milestones of that journey and consult our clients along the way, working as a team to ensure profitable results. We apply only proven and best international branding and PR practiсes at the core of all of our services.

“Our key philosophy is to always think out of the box. It is essential to understand client brief one step beyond and offer not only what client wants but also what they really need to succeed as a business. We proactively offer new ideas at everything we do, are flexible with our approach and do not believe that there is ever only one solution to any given problem.

Providing unique solutions to the client’s problem is our top priority, no matter what it takes.

Working as a team, alongside prioritising communication and transparency, have always helped us to maintain high standards across the company.”

What truly makes the firm stand out from the crowd is its innovative nature and boutique structure, which allows the company to be both nimble and flexible and adapt to the ever changing corporate branding market, as James explains.

“JPd, is the only locally grown agency that offers Strategic Branding and Public Relations services in Dubai. We started as a boutique firm with the key goal to bring international best practices closer to the business owners in the region, as not everyone is able to engage with a big multinational branding agency. We strived to bring strategic branding closer to the business market in Dubai to ensure the best quality and practice for everyone, be it a small start-up to SME, or a corporate group. Since inception, our team’s key priority has been always to help businesses within the region to stand out and stand for something through strategic brand building approach.”

As the international PR and marketing sector continues to grow and evolve, JPd are eager to remain at the forefront of industry developments in order to offer clients leading edge services which meet their ever

changing needs, as James discusses in his concluding comments.

“Ultimately, at JPd we are constantly looking for ways to innovate and optimise branding processes within the region.

That is why our team created its own Brand Nucleus Matrix tool for the brand strategy development, which incorporates best international practices and optimises them as a user-friendly internal tool to ensure brand consistency. We are not standing still and planning to look further on how we can set the new standards and improve the way brands are built within the region.

Also, we continue to expand and grow, constantly looking for a new talent, further establishing our PR department. All of these developments will provide us with many great opportunities over the coming months and years, and we look forward to taking advantage of these.”

Company: JPd Contact: James Pass-Managing Director Email: james@jpd.ae Address: Design House Building, Level 2, Office 208, Sufouh Gardens, Dubai, UAE Contact no.: 00971 04 554 7081 Web Address: www.jpd.agency

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Best Multi-Sector Ventures Group 2017 & Most Trusted Facilities Management Company 2017 Juma Al Majid partnership ventures operate in the fields of real estate construction, contracting, service, manufacturing, general commercial trading, travel and other industries. Dr. Souraj Salah talks us through the firm and its contracting and services sector; particularly: Al Arabia for Operations and Maintenance.

Born of one man’s vision, enterprise and drive, the Juma Al Majid group of companies had a modest start in the year 1950.

After the passage of half a century, Mr. Juma Al Majid, founder and chairman, still remains the guiding light and inspirational force behind the organization’s phenomenal success.

His simple but highly effective philosophy of satisfying customers, small or big, through a mix of honesty, integrity and social awareness has become ingrained in all aspects of the business and is truly responsible for the group’s unrivalled success.

During the early years, the organization was primarily involved in trading activities. As the Emirates forged themselves into a single nation, a pressing need was felt to diversify in to other areas of commercial activity to contribute to the fledging nation’s economy. For this, heavy investment was undertaken in the core sector of construction which has in the long run benefited both the country as well as the group.

Souraj outlines the role played by the firm’s contracting and service sector.

“Al Arabia for Operations and Maintenance is a member of the Contracting and Services Sector of the Juma Al Majid Group. Our Facilities Management team with a staff of about 1500 people, primarily caters to the overall management of facilities for our clients including all electrical and mechanical works and related services.

“Our flagship product is MEP facility management. To maintain the performance and reliability of Electro Mechanical equipment, we offer complete service contract packages to ensure continuously safe and effective operations.

Services are offered to customers for any make of HVAC equipment including a 24 hour on-call service for the division’s special contract customers that range from government, semi-government to private customers. Being an exclusive agents for Trane (Unitary), the division can also arrange the supply of parts for Trane and any HVAC equipment, internationally. Our Technical team are well experienced with deep knowledge of various MEP systems.”

Dr. Saleh Chehade, Chief Contracting Officer, added: “Excellence is important and considering the stringent competition in the market today, I applaud my team’s achievement”. Mr. Taha Yasin, Al Arabia Director, said: “This achievement is a testimony to our dedication to customer satisfaction, commitment to excellence, delivery of the highest facility management standards by our distinguished team”.

Overall, the group has achieved a great deal over recent years, and plans to build upon this success moving forward, as Souraj concludes.

“Over recent years we have enjoyed vast success, as our

Company’s revenue growth increased by 30% during 2016 compared to 2015 as a result of various business process and quality improvement initiatives to enhance the operation and train the employees to enhance their skills. We are coping with the developments in the industry and we ensure our employees are utilizing the best available systems to cope with the growth and market demand and to achieve the desired expansion”.

“To capitalise on this success, we are planning to launch our new division in Western part of Abu Dhabi in 2017. We are also planning to add more services to our portfolio such as asset management as a specialized service.”

Company: JUMA AL MAJID GROUP - Contracting and Service Sector - Al Arabia for Operations and Maintenance Contact: Dr. Souraj Salah Email: souraj.salah@al-majid.com Address: Dubai, PO Box 60204, UAE Phone: 00971 4 203 7 404 Web Address: www.al-majid.com

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Best QHSE Management Solution: Aegis MACS-G Solutions is one of the most innovative companies in the QHSE and technology domain. We caught up with Madhusudan Swami, Managing Partner, to learn more about this fascinating company and its innovative solution, Aegis.

MACS-G Solutions was founded to create industry specific technology services that go beyond stand-alone products or complicated, expensive installations. Madhusudan outlines the firm’s service offering and product range in more detail, discussing how the company works to provide clients with the service they need.

“At MACS-G Solutions, we offer a versatile selection of unique products designed with our clients’ in mind. Our HSE Reporting solution, AEGIS has been developed keeping in mind the compliance requirements of the industry and making sure all stake-holders involved in the process are provided an easy to use, anywhere, anytime access incident reporting and analytics platform. AEGIS is the result of

intensive research development and confluence of industry experts including operation managers, on site supervisors, etc. We frequently consult with experts to make AEGIS more relevant to respective key roles in an organization.

Apart from our products, we also offer consulting and technology services to various enterprises.

We have clients across the GCC regions such as Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and despite this vast geographical distance, what units them all is the superior quality service we offer them. We believe in constantly adding value to the customer’s experience. The team involved with the customer makes sure the deployed services bring in business benefits, and they are in constant touch with the customer following the project’s completion to ensure the client receives excellent aftercare.”

Operating in the United Arab Emirates offers MACS-G Solutions a unique blend of opportunities to all sectors and verticals. The UAE being a melting pot for both the worlds, the west and east, make it very strategic for businesses especially new ventures. Every new business faces some challenges be the market stability or opportunity costs, however, MACS-G Solutions as a company try to derive positives from them and work towards building a more sustainable organization.

Drawing on its experience in the technology space in this region, the firm has a great deal of insight into the market currently

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which Madhusudan is keen to share with us.

“Currently, within the wider technology industry, we see lot of focus been giving to value added services more than conventional ways of doing things. It is no longer about what we can provide to our customer but more importantly how we provide it.

Customers are now looking for long lasting partnerships rather than one time solutions for their business needs, which is great for us since we have adopted the same strategy even in our product development.”

Such partnerships would be impossible without a strong, dedicated workforce, and as such Madhusudan is eager to highlight the vibrant and supportive internal culture he works hard to cultivate.

“Internally, we try and keep it simple within our company. ‘Be excited about what you do’ is what we preach, every employee believes he is part of a whole and understands that their contribution whether directly or

indirectly effects the company.

We look for people who like to treat their work with the same love and care as they would other aspects of their life. This is what makes a great work culture and helps to drive our firm to success.”

Moving forward, the firm’s focus is firmly on growth as it looks to expand into new market, as Madhusudan is proud to conclude.

“Looking to the future, at MACS-G Solutions we are looking at expansion within new and emerging markets as such as Asian markets specially India and South east wherein HSE automation and process improvement have huge potential. At the same time, the GCC and Middle East markets always look for innovative and disruptive technologies so growth potential is huge and will provide our firm with many great opportunities.”

Company: MACS-G Solutions Contact: Madhusudan Swami, Managing Partner Email: swami@macs-g.com Address: 605 Fortune Tower, Cluster C, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 370 5649 Website: http://macs-g.com/

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Leading Expert in Luxury Goods 2017 - UAE The Chalhoub Group is the leading partner for luxury across the Middle East.

As an expert in retail, distribution and marketing services based in Dubai, the Chalhoub Group has become a major player in the beauty, fashion and gift sectors regionally. The Group’s success revolves around its client focused approach and dedication to excellence.

“As a Group and since its inception, we have put the consumer at the heart of everything we do. Our aim is to understand this customer and offer him the width and depth of the offer, the best in class services, a unique experience, and an unparalleled expertise. We are in a very competitive environment and we need to be agile and quick to remain in the game.

“Additionally, we invest a lot in building our knowledge, in training our teams and in creating innovative concepts. We

have also created a dedicated department “Consumer and Innovation Strategies” which aims to study the consumer, understand his needs, and offer him the best in experience and services.”

With a growing workforce of more than 12,000 people, implemented in 14 countries, as well as operating over 650 retail stores, the group’s success is attributed to its most valued asset: highly skilled and dedicated teams,.

“For us, people are at the heart of our business. If we are here today it is thanks to our passionate and dedicated team members. As a Group, our goal is to grow people through learning and development providing them with different opportunities leading to a long-term career. Our structure offers a wide diversity of job roles, in different categories and locations.

“Ultimately, we believe that our success is driven by our passionate teams. That is why our aim is to always nurture talents, motivate them, train them, making sure they have the competence, the knowledge and the expertise. At Chalhoub Group we invest greatly in our resources in their learning and development through Retail Academies we opened in Dubai and Saudi Arabiabut also through a series of programmes, trainings, etc.”

Looking ahead, we foresee tough times ahead for the Group as it seeks to adapt around the ever evolving retail market. Despite this, we are confident of the Group’s ongoing success.

“Since 2015, the retail industry in the Middle East has somehow been stagnating because of two short-term phenomena: on the one hand, fiscal adjustments made necessary by low oil prices dampened the appetite for personal luxury goods consumption and on the other hand, the increase of USD pegged GCC currencies

have made local prices less competitive versus Europe for both tourists and well-travelled local consumers.

“As a Group, and despite our smaller growth compared to previous years, we gained market share in most of our markets. In fact, the consumer behaviours and attitudes are changing; this consumer is young, savvy, acts based on his own pleasure, and is affected by the digital transformation.

We are no longer witnessing a double-digit growth in the region; in fact, even if the GCC consumer is wealthy this doesn’t necessarily mean that his spending is increasing. The market is reaching a certain maturity and saturation and we need to accept it, hence we will have to work more and harder with less revenue. The growth will only come from hard work, innovation, differentiation. There is still a huge potential for the luxury market if we succeed in offering something meaningful to the consumer.”

Company: CHALHOUB GROUP Contact: Angelica d’Andlau Email: CorporatePR@mailmac.net Address: MCT Fze, JFZA, Dubai, Po Box 261075, UAE Phone: 00971 4 804 5000

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Best Flooring Contractor 2017 Drawing on over 30 years’ experience, MTE is a pioneer Floor Covering industry in the Middle East.

We spoke to Majid Mehrtash to find out more.

MTE was established in the mid 80’s with a commendable track record of in the floor cover industry.

It started with humble roots but rose to scale high mountains of success with unbeatable quality and goodwill and has since risen to become a key player in this dynamic market. Majid explores the secrets behind this vast success.

“MTE focuses on making a difference to our clients. The output to our customers is different to how our competitors handle them as we take care of clients from choosing raw material, consultation, design support, paving to high quality handing over is determined by the fact that on whose hands it is in. We have the best supplier of raw material and the best manpower who works for us since 20+ years. Thus, there is no doubt that MTE is unique in the industry and we are proud to be the pioneer in this arena.”

Such exceptional service would be impossible without a strong, dedicated workforce, as Majid explains. ““United we stand, divide we fall…”, so goes the proverb. We at MTE work in a multicultural environment where people originating from varied countries, and our roots are directed to a single organizational goal which facilitates varied perception of thinking, skill sets, method of working, technical knowhow and many more. Hence MTE materializes the best from each individual to bring the best output which is very much mirrored in MTE history down the lane.”

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76 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Looking ahead, Majid foresees many great developments for the firm as it seeks to build upon its current success and grow even further.

“Moving forward there are ample prospective projects in the pipeline which MTE foresees will be great to keep the company well focused for the days to come. The lively MTE team is already well set and geared for the projects in hand, too. Exquisite planning and streamlining can help in successful completion of these projects.”

¦ Dubai

Company: MTE Middle East General Trading Contact: Majid Mehrtash Email: system@mtedubai.ae Address: Dubai, P.O. Box No. 15080, UAE Phone: 00971 4 282 2628 Website: www.mtedubai.com

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Best Event Technology Provider 2017 & Middle Eastern Interactive Communication Product of the Year: come2interact Neumann&Müller Event Technology (N&M) is one of the leading event technology service providers in Germany and in the Middle East. We invited Rick Wade to provide us with an absorbing overview of the firm and the services it offers.

Having established in Dubai in 2007 following requests from clients, N&M has since flourished in the region, providing the same high quality services as it offers in its other offices around the world, as Rick explains.

“Here at N&M we provide a professional support service, from comprehensive planning to on-site execution and seamless AV solutions, in order to deliver a quality event in the corporate, sport, MICE and cultural fields.

Established in Germany and with 18 branches, we have been in business for over 35 years handling the technical side of events with maximum efficiency deploying cuttingedge, VDE-tested and certified

equipment teamed with wellqualified engineers, technicians and project managers who are experts in audio, lighting, video, conferencing, Event-IT, rigging and content production.

Since N&M is certified by the German Inspection Company for Entertainment Technology (DPVT), we guarantee the quality and safety of all services provided worldwide.

“Our products and services include audio, video, lighting, rigging, event-IT, conferencing and content production. We cater to government entities, international corporations, medium-sized enterprises, event and exhibition agencies who opt for first-class event technology for all their events, congresses and exhibitions. From the conceptual design and planning through to trouble-free technical execution, we are on our client’s side on every phase of their event. This personalised service that we offer clients, operating in a trust-based relationship is what truly sets us apart from the competition.”

Ever the pioneer, N&M was one of the first companies in Germany to successfully undergo the certification procedure run by the DPVT. Since then the company has created processes, financial structure, production workflows with a special focus on occupational safety which

have now been inspected and accredited to the “SR 6.0” standard, an initiative that has gone far beyond the sector’s standard. Rick is eager to emphasise this focus on quality and dedication to ensuring that clients receive the very best, which means offering them access to a highly trained and committed workforce.

“Fundamentally our aim at N&M is to be the leader in quality in this sector and in order to maintain this level, we make sure that our employees are up to that same standard for they are our greatest asset. We heavily invest in them by providing them continuous technical training on safety and quality following our certification. We hold in-house training course in event-IT and network technology regularly.

We also make sure that we pass on to our people the knowledge and information that we get from

our collaboration with renowned manufacturers on product and system development, for their benefit as well as the client’s.”

Overall, Rick is optimistic as he discusses the firm’s future and how it is aiming to grow its success and go even further over the coming months and years.

“Moving forward, we see a bright future ahead in this region. With the support from the UAE government and the vital improvements happening in every corner, we are likely to see a gradual recovery in 2017 and the years beyond are looking good so far.

“At N&M, we will continue to harness our skills for we take quality and safety seriously. We are also looking at collaborating with other industry professionals to strengthen our bond and support them with our expertise.”

Company: Neumann&Müller Event Technology Contact: Cynthia Villanueva Email: Cynthia.Villanueva@neumannmueller.com Address: Dubai Investments Park 1, Dubai, P.O. Box 76828, UAE Phone: 00971 4 88 53 55 8 Website: www.neumannmueller.ae

NEUMANN & MÜLLER EVENT TECHNOLOGY

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 77

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Best Asian Restaurant 2017 - Dubai From Mayfair to Sheikh Zayed Road, Novikov Restaurant & Bar Dubai is the second restaurant outside London for the Novikov Restaurant Group, the phenomenally successful company headed by Arkady Novikov, the restaurant guru who changed the face of dining in London. We profile this innovative dining establishment to find out more about the secrets behind its success.

Launched in Dubai in 2015, Novikov boasts an eclectic menu showcasing a Fresh seafood market with International produce, led by Head Chef, Shane Macneill.

Alongside the stunning dishes and excellent hospitality, Novikov’s main attraction is its seafood market. An unusual, semi-circular bar positioned in front of the energetic open kitchen. Lined by a colorful array of organic fruits and vegetables, many of which are found in Novikov’s signature dishes, the market boasts an array of seafood from all the corners of the world.

Aiming to appeal to a wide variety of clients, the establishment also incorporates the Novikov Lounge, a nightclub inspired space home. The bar lounge area is set to provide a conducive and an intimate atmosphere with understated wooden tables and chairs scattered close together and surrounded on all sides by two-on-two dining benches.

The inviting place offers a new dimension with asoothing amber lighting blends in with the lounge music played by the resident DJ Alex Twin.

Inspired by the growing music scene in the UAE, Alex Twin set up home Dubai in 2015. He takes on a permanent residency

at Novikov Dubai playing to the who’s who of Dubai scene.

The combination of Novikov’s decadent elegance and Alex T’s electric sounds create the perfect synergy for the glamorous clientele ensuring guest’s will be celebrating the night into the early hours.

hundred people or a professional launch, the establishement offers a number of settings for any private event. Novikov is pleased to fulfill private client requests for in-house or takeaway delicacies from our curated haute menu ideal to share with friends, family and business associates

Alex T is known for effortlessly throwing together Chill House, Deep House, Tech House and Techno, he has a real depth of insight into the mood of his crowd that he can bring a the mood up or down with complete precession. The talented DJ has been head hunted to play alongside giants such as Adapter, Marco Yanes, Oxia, Adriatique , H.O.S.H , Frederik Stone and many more.

Alongside private events Novikov’s varied and vivid parties and special events take place throughout the year. The events listing is continuously updated to reflect on our on-going calendar of the year with entertainment, themed evenings, and dining experiences from Master Classes to New Year’s celebrations.

Using these two excellent spaces as a base, Novikov offers a wide variety of events and parties to tempt even the most discerning guests. Be it an intimate luncheon for twelve, a unique social gathering for one

Looking ahead, Novikov will be keen to cement its place as the best place to be in the UAE by offering even more events and continuing to provide the very highest standard of food and hospitality to its discerning guests.

Company: Novikov Restaurants LLC Contact: Martin Quinn Email: Marketing@bulldozer-group.com Address: #3 Sheraton Grand Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road, Opp World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 56 765 3948

78 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

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Best Financial Services Training Provider 2017 MENA RISC Institute provides quality training, professional qualifications facilitations and talent development solutions for the risk management, insurance, financial planning, capital markets industries. We profile the firm to find out more about the services it offers.

RISC Institute serves all GCC countries as well as neighbouring countries in the Middle East and North Africa region from its strategic location in Dubai. It provides training and talent development services in regulated financial services specializing in risk management, insurance, personal financial planning and the capital markets.

It has accreditations and/ or affiliations from global professional institutes such as the Chartered Insurance Institute, The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments, the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (The Institutes) and LOMA. RISC Institute DMCC was established in early 2015 building upon the rich experience of its founder and managing director, Silvan Said. The firm is granted an educational permit from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai and listed as a training provider in the National Qualifications Authority (NQA) in United Arab Emirates.

The firm’s mission is to contribute to the growth and enhancement of regulated financial services in the region by providing excellent talent and competency development services focused on tangible bottom line benefits.

There are a large number of training providers in the UAE, however many of them simply provide an ad hoc trainer without an operational support structure for the learner, or employer, to ensure that the intended outcomes are achieved. RISC differentiates itself from the competition by investing in its own human resources, premises, operations and technology.

performance. In turn, this improves the overall competitive positioning of RISC’s clients in the market.

Every part of the client’s interaction with the firm is given top priority and measured, from the client relationship management, the content and delivery of the training as well as the customer service experience.

As a promoter and provider of professional development in the regulated financial services industry, RISC ensures that it practises what it preaches and never compromising on honesty, integrity, ethics and good governance across all its activities. This gives learners and their employers confidence in the firm’s services and its’ certifications.

The firm employs full-time trainers with industry experience as well as experience as trainers.

Each is focused on his or her particular sector to understand the market needs and develop products that meet those needs.

The institute also works with a number of associates from Europe and the Middle East to support it in their respective fields of expertise. These are appointed after careful scrutiny and subject to minimum professional backgrounds and experience in sharing knowledge.

With a focus on corporate clients, the firm provides competency based training interventions that are designed to develop the knowledge and skills participants need to fulfil their role competently and improve

Practitioners pursuing career development are offered face-to-face learning, blended learning, virtual live classes and examination facilities to pursue professional qualifications from global awarding bodies.

and enhance standards in the market for the ultimate benefit of consumers. It also seeks to partner with regulators and governmental agencies who prioritize training and education and fund programmes to achieve national economic agendas. It shares common objectives with global professional certification awarding bodies and enables the provision of their expertise, qualifications and experiences in the region.

Above all, RISC Institute aims to become a centre of knowledge for practitioners and employees engaged in risk and regulated financial services in the region, providing them with learning opportunities, career development and recognition of achievement.

The firm’s vision is not just about providing classroom instruction. It seeks to partner with employers to develop talent within their organizations Company: RISC Institute Email: customerservice@riscinstitute.com Address: Suite 1704, Tower BB2, Mazaya Business Avenue, Jumeirah Lakes Towers Dubai, PO Box 336513, UAE Telephone: 00971 4 361 6431 Web Address: www.riscinstitute.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 79

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Best Fire Protection & MEP Contractor 2017 - Middle East SAI Security Control & Safety Equipment LLC, Dubai is an ISO 9001:2008 certified Fire Protection and MEP Contractor with 15 years of successful project installations in the Middle East, Iraq and Nigeria. We profile the firm to find out more about the vital services it offers.

SAI are a NFPA member with a team of employees will meet your safety and security needs through our design expertise and qualified in-house Engineers.

The firm are also Civil Defense Approved and founded by team of technocrats with a vision to be a market leader in Fire Alarm, Fire Protection Engineering, CCTV, Access Control, Building Automation & Integrated Solutions.

To ensure the very highest standards of service, SAI takes great pride in maintaining a teambased work environment. Its clients apricate the firm because of its commitment to delivering quality, as well as innovative and industry specific solutions, all of which are provided with superior customer service.

Over recent years SAI have gained valuable expertise which enabled it to bestow flexible and innovative solutions to its clients. The company have the right blend of trained engineers, marketing, finance and technical staff who strengthen our position in the industry.

Ultimately, SAI is committed to providing systems and solutions to the highest possible standards; the systems are fully compliant with International Fire Codes NFPA, JAFZA Fire Department, UAE Civil Defense, DPS compliance (Department of Protective Systems for CCTV& Access Control System) regulations together with project specific solutions. This ensures excellence for clients which, moving forward, will be the firm’s ongoing focus.

Company: SAI Security Control & Safety Equipment LLC Contact: Prakash Selvam Email: saisafety00971@gmail.com Address: Ras Al Khor, Industrial Area 2, Dubai, PO Box No: 239696, UAE Phone: 00971 523261708 Website: www.saisafesec.com

80 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

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Best Utilities Provider 2017 Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (SEWA) is an innovative water and electricity provider. We profile the firm to find out more and explore the secrets behind its success.

SEWA has witnessed consecutive huge development since its inception as a private company called Sharjah Electricity & Water Resources Co., then its ownership was transferred to Sharjah Government as (Sharjah Electricity and Water Department).With the tremendous economic modern industrial and civilization development boomed in the Emirate of Sharjah, His Highness Sheik Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qassimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah issued his visionary decree on foundation of Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) as monetarily and officially independent entity, to circulate and generate electricity, water and gas to the nationals and inhabitants of the emirate.

His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, the Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah issued the Amiri Decree No. 39/2014 on transfer and appointment of H.E. Dr.Rashid Alleem as Chairman of Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority.

Drawing on this rich history, SEWA is constantly dedicated to give top notch supply of electricity, water and natural gas, and in addition bottled water services rendered by Zulal Water Factory, and fulfill

the requirements of our clients.

In line with keen interest of SEWA to provide reliable and convenient services, modern computerized facilities with state-of –the-art technologies have been established at its 6 customer care centers located in (Industrial Area, Halwan, Al Mareejah, Al Jazat, Al Qassimia, Al Majaz and Al Taawun) Alongside its head office in Sharjah City to encourage the routine exchanges of our clients.

In this impact, SEWA empowered bill installment through Empost.

Alongside this, SEWA enabled bill payment through Empost and launched its on-line bill payment and presentation service on its website with its new look in order to ease up the process of bill payment and presentation for our customers. This new stride comes as a continuation of the started ventures here, which incorporates the instalment of utilization bills through 17 major banks. In addition to smoothing the communication between SEWA and the public through SMS system. This was introduced in various shopping malls and cooperative societies throughout the city and two additional collection offices were opened at the premises of Al Qarain Cooperative Society and Al Batayah Municipality to enable our customers to easily and conveniently pay their utility bills.

Overall, SEWA’s aim is to be successful and sustainable delivery of right projects on time. Innovation is something important part of SEWA’s future.

The utility has signed long term partnership agreements with companies such as Siemens, ABB, GE, Rolls Royce and IBM to introduce smart technologies across various operations.

Another area of innovation for SEWA is electric vehicle. This vehicle will be fully electrical and not hybrid. This is to spread the message of green power and help people to change their thinking towards sustainable solutions. We also plan to deploy solar powered charging stations in future.

Recently SEWA was awarded 50001: Energy management ISO certification. The firm are the first in the Arab world to attain this certification, and the Energy management principles push for a sustained and better tomorrow.

Using energy efficiency helps organizations save money and conserve resources and tackle climate changes. SEWA believes that using renewable and lean technologies will ensue a secure and prosperous future and healthy environment for generations to come. SEWA has started looking into “greener, cleaner energy resources” by retrofitting the conventional bulbs to LED Lamps on all street lights in the emirate of Sharjah. LED lights use less energy and last longer. Solar panels installed in SEWA’s parking areas light up the street lamps as well as the residential area.

Additionally, SEWA aims to have a persistent supply of power, water and natural gas for its residents, business and

commercial areas. Its robust and diverse energy utility framework guarantees get reliability to match the demands of its clients at an affordable cost. Its priority is to make energy and water accessible as a basic figure advancement of economic and social development of the emirate of Sharjah. As such the firm are focused on conserving many resources with which we have been entrusted. SEWA is thus taking small yet meaningful steps towards a greener future.

Ultimately, moving forward SEWA hopes to maintain its leading role locally and international level in the field of sustainability and the rationalization of energy and water consumption in association with the noteworthy research institutions. This underlines the importance of the cooperation with UAEU, and one of the top research universities in the GCC and the Arab world.

To achieve this the firm has depended on scientific research and development as one of the strategic priorities in the path towards sustainable development and in regards to this, SEWA had made cooperation agreements with the American University of Sharjah and the University of Sharjah to promote joint action and contribute to the development of the society.

Company: Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority Contact: Boutheina Manai Email: chairmanoffice@sewa.gov.ae Address: Sharjah, PO Box 135, UAE Phone: 00971 6528 8888

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 81

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Best Party & Events Company 2017 & Business Woman of the Year 2017 Special Occasions Party Planning & Events UAE is an innovative party and events specialist. We invited Sophie Gamble to talk us through the vast array of services that the firm provides.

Special Occasions Party Planning & Events offer Party Planning and Event Organizing Services from small scale to elite, luxury and exciting packages, tailor made to suit the clients’ needs and create a truly special occasion. The firm cater for everything, from birthday parties, bridal or baby showers, engagement and graduation parties through to business or product launches, corporate events or any occasion in need of special recognition. Sophie outlines the firm’s client focused approach and how this ensures that every event they organise is unforgettable for all the right reasons.

“Here at Special Occasions, our systems for party planning and event organizing have been drawn up, evaluated, practiced, worked, and reworked to ensure the maximum efficiency while minimizing the possibility of error, while we as the team are approachable and communicate with clients every step of the way.

We cater to any request, any budget, the best we can to make sure everyone celebrates their special occasion the best way they can.”

Having started the business in a less competitive market, Sophie has found many similar firms opening over recent years as the party and events planning market grows. Despite this, she believes

that her attention to detail and bespoke, tailored service are what sets her firm apart, and moving forward she is keen to drive Special Occasions to even greater success, as she proudly concludes.

“Special Occasions Party Planning & Events has come a very long way since I started this company from just and ‘thought’ one morning. From having no experience in the field and no funding, this company was started alone, using my laptop and creativity to create a company which today is more busy and successful then I could have ever imagined.

each client myself, decorating, buying, sourcing, whatever it took, I succeeded in making a company, a business, a solution, a family, a brand. Hard work does pay off eventually and these days aside from my business being one of the most sort after party planning and events companies in the UAE, I aim to help other start up entrepreneurs with my story, experiences and just some straight forward advice for others to succeed like I have.

“Looking to the future, I am always taking on bigger projects and looking into gaining clients all around the GCC, and am excited for the developments and opportunities this will bring.”

“For the first few months I worked alone, at home, trying to get the word out and promoting it via any social network I could for free. As bookings slowly started coming through, I had to expand, as much as I wanted to, I could not handle it all by myself. Still working from home and making everything by hand, meeting Company: Special Occasions Party Planning & Events UAE Contact: Sophie Gamble Email: sophie@specialoccasions.ae Address: Dubai, PO Box 487156, UAE Phone: 00971 4 3992917 / 00971503435203 Website: www.specialoccasions.ae

82 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

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Best Luxury Business Hotel 2017 - Dubai & Award for Excellence in German Hospitality - Dubai Part of the international hospitality group Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, Dubai’s Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay is a brand new luxury 5-star hotel offering the very highest standards of service. We profile this extraordinary establishment to find out more.

The group’s first Steigenberger Hotel in the region, Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay introduces renowned German hospitality to this already spectacular city and destination of Dubai. The hotel is located at the heart of the Business Bay district with very close proximity to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, as well as The Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world and the Dubai Downtown area, with a convenient access to and from Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road, making this the ideal location for those seeking to explore Dubai.

Guests can choose from unique rooms and suites, spread across 19 floors and offering stunning views of the Dubai Canal, the Dubai skyline and the iconic Burj Khalifa. Elegant and modern designs, spacious working desks with Wi-Fi connectivity, 42-inch HD smart TVs, marble-fitted bathrooms and an array of inroom luxury amenities make this hotel ideal for both business and leisure stays. In addition, three meeting rooms and a beautiful ballroom with natural daylight offer business guests the perfect amenities for their conferences and events.

Convenience is paramount, therefore the hotel is home to six dining venues including Brothaus, a German Bakery/ Bistro serving traditional German freshly-baked bread; The Backyard, the city’s most unique street-art inspired garden terrace; Swim & Tonic pool bar and lounge with breath taking Burj Khalifa views; Bayside Restaurant & Terrace, serving freshly prepared international dishes; and finally Das Café, for stylish afternoon tea and Neunzehn, an eclectic executive lounge serving all executive room and suite guests.

beautiful view of the exquisite Burj Khalifa and Downtown, outdoor Jacuzzi and separate men’s and women’s locker rooms fitted with sauna, steam rooms and rain forest showers.

Overall, Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay is a modern, cosmopolitan hotel, which also houses a spa, gym, squash court and outdoor pool offers a comfortable, contemporary stay and high standard facilities in the heart of this vibrant and invigorating city.

For those seeking relaxation, the hotel’s four room spa is ideal. Dubai Spa experience is deepened by the inclusion of fully complimentary access to stateof-the-art fitness center, squash court, outdoor lap-pool with a Company: Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay Contact: Stephen Meredith Email: Stephen.meredith@steigenberger.com Address: Steigenberger Hotel Business Bay, P.O. Box 413311, Al Abraj St., Business Bay, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 369 0000 Website: www.steigenberger.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 83

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Best Global Energy Project Management Company 2017 TechnipFMC are a global leader supporting clients around the world with their oil and gas projects, technologies, systems and services. We profile the firm to find out more about the services it offers.

Founded in 1958, TechnipFMC is a global leader in subsea, onshore/ offshore and surface projects. With its proprietary technologies and production systems, integrated expertise, and comprehensive solutions, the firm are transforming its clients’ project economics.

In today’s oil and gas market, the oil and gas reserves of the world cannot be fully developed unless project economics are significantly improved. As such, TechnipFMC offer the broadest portfolio of solutions for production and transformation of oil and gas.

By providing integrated offerings which range from individual products and services to fully integrated solutions with a single interface to ensure seamless execution. By bringing together complementary skills and innovative technologies, the firm can boost efficiency, lower costs, and accelerate schedules.

The company provide expertise across three distinct segments: subsea, onshore/offshore, and surface projects.

Each of the firm’s employees is driven by a steady commitment to clients and a culture of purposeful innovation. They challenge the conventions of the energy industry and rethink how the best results are achieved. The company believe in innovation, smarter design and seamless ways of working. Its culture inspires us to challenge convention and find new and better ways of doing things to unlock possibilities for clients.

Overall, TechnipFMC are uniquely positioned to deliver greater efficiency across project lifecycles from concept to project delivery and beyond. Through innovative technologies and improved efficiencies, the firm’s offering unlocks new possibilities for its clients in developing their oil and gas resources.

Company: TechnipFMC Contact: Anju Pillai Email: anju.pillai@technipfmc.com Address: Sh. Zultan bin Zayed 1st (Muroor) and Dhafeer Street, Abu Dhabi, PO Box 7657, UAE Phone: 00971 2 611 6000

84 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

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Best Business Critical Financial & Administrative Services Provider and In-House Legal & Governance Director of the Year 2017 TMF Group is a global business services provider with offices in over 80 countries worldwide. We invited their UAE Legal and Governance Director Stephanie Williams to tell us more about the company’s work.

Established in 1988, TMF Group expanded rapidly across the world and today has more than 120 offices in over 80 countries.

The company employs over 6,500 qualified accountants, lawyers, corporate secretaries, HR and other professionals.

TMF Group has been in the Middle East for over 10 years.

Its experts know and understand the local business culture, market complexity, processes and procedures. Stephanie outlines how the group works to provide its clients in the region with the most relevant and cutting edge services.

“Here at TMF Group, we have the expertise and knowledge to help businesses of all sizes expand and operate within and beyond their home markets. We believe that complexity should not be a barrier to opportunity.

Regulation and administration should not hold businesses back and we are dedicated to make sure they do not. Based incountry, our independent experts understand the local market and all its associated legal, financial and regulatory compliance requirements.

“Our hallmark is the delivery of solutions tailored to each precise location. Providing services that will allow you to operate smoothly from day one. TMF Group’s

distinct delivery model leverages local market knowledge and enhances regulatory compliance.

Our core services can help companies of all sizes with HR and payroll, accounting and tax, corporate secretarial, international corporate structuring and structured finance – whether a company wants to globalise, or whether they need support to streamline existing operations.

“In order to better support our clients throughout the UAE, our Abu Dhabi office also focuses on structured finance and private wealth services. TMF Group has been involved in a large multiaircraft leasing deal through Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in which we are registered.

The deal was the first of its kind in the region. We are also the first and only service provider offering shelf-company Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) and Orphan SPV structures with independent Directorship options. We have become a first mover, and a market leader locally, mirroring our global positioning in the area.”

Looking to the future, the biggest challenge TMF Group sees for the next 12 months in the UAE is the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the Middle East.

The draft taxation legislation for the UAE was approved by the Federal National Council (FNC) in March, meaning that

the introduction of VAT at a rate of 5% will be going ahead as of January 2018.

TMF Group will support its clients through this development, as Stephanie concludes.

There will be a one year grace period to allow companies to adjust and ensure compliance.

VAT will be applied on all products and services with some exceptions including: education, health care, real estate and local transport. The exporting of goods to jurisdictions outside of the GCC will be subject to a zero-tax rate. It is proposed that a zero rate will be applied to those in the oil and gas industry as well as the financial services industry.

What will happen with Free Zones and how the tax will be applied to companies operating within these, is still unknown.

Also included in the draft taxation legalisation is an excise duty for tobacco, and fizzy and energy drinks, which is expected to be issued and applied this year.

“Moving forward, our core focus is supporting our clients through the taxation changes in the Middle East. Although there has been no formal announcement as to how the UAE Government will tackle the implementation of VAT, we would strongly recommend clients starting preparing now for the introduction. We advocate best practice; we fully expect the UAE to adopt a process similar to European standards and this should be the benchmark to aim for. Clients might need to upgrade IT systems, train their accountants, review all their contracts and identify if VAT is included or excluded, examine how import and export duties might impact their business and how their invoicing could be affected. It will be important to engage with experts who are aware of all the developments as they happen.”

Company: TMF Group Contact: Stephanie Williams Email: stephanie.williams@tmf-group.com Address: Nassima Tower, Office 1401, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, PO Box 213975, UAE Phone: 00971 4 321 8498 Website: tmf-group.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 85

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Best Oil Tanker Chartering Company 2017 Unico Marine are a Dubai based but global operator of Marine vessels. We spoke to Sapna Lawish to find out more about the firm and the services it provides.

Founded in 2013 with the acquisition of its first vessel, Unico Marine has since grown to a fleet of five vessels ranging from oil tankers to Offshore crew boats. The firm’s core role is to move petroleum products and chemicals globally for its clients.

Sapna outlines the firm’s services in more detail and describes how it works to ensure success for its clients.

“Unico Marine are the one of the globally recognized owner, operator and charterer of quality marine assets with a strong commitment to the industry, clients and the ecosystem and an unrelenting eye on quality and operational excellence. Our Clients include the SAHARA Group, WOMAR Tanker Pools, ISASA Energy & Logistics, FOREGUARD Shipping, FLEET Management, Sea Spead marine Management Ltd and NOAH Ship Management

“Supporting such a wide range of industry leading clients, here at Unico Marine we have to work hard to ensure success, which is in line with our vision, which is to build a solid and globally recognised ship owning and chartering business. The Board and Management have extensive exposure in the marine industry space and the promoters have widespread business interests, spanning various industries and strong commercial networks in the Middle East, Asia and West Africa.

“Fundamentally, Unico Marine is strongly committed towards delivering quality-assured and customized services to its clients.

As a vital measure of integrity, the firm pledges an unwavering commitment to sound and fair business practices, the health and safety of its people, and to protect the environment in all it does.”

Moving forward, Sapna is excited for the future as she outlines the firm’s ongoing focus on growth and excellence.

“Looking ahead, UNICO Marine are keen to maintain our status as a world-class international ship owning / chartering establishment, capable of delivering a wide range of services that are truly complete and tailor-made to each client’s direct needs. We will continuously explore new business opportunities, while remaining at the forefront of developments by fully utilizing our people’s expertise and knowhow. To keep developing strong relationships with international market players, while maintaining our strict standards of due diligence. We keep investing in our people; for us our human capital is the first pillar of our dedication to our clients and an integral part of our success.

“To achieve this, Unico Marine will continue to own and operate a young and diverse fleet of vessels that is in alignment with our strategy and would leverage on the depth and breadth of our capabilities and expertise. In the medium term, the Promoters are committed to building a fleet of 20 vessels that can help in achieving the vision of a sizeable international presence and scale of operations.”

Company: Unico Marine DWC LLC Contact: Sapna Lawish Email: sapna.l@unico-marine.com Address: Suite 3101, JBC3, Cluster ‘Y’, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 458 0629 Website: www.unico-marine.com

86 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

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Middle Eastern University of the Year 2017 The United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) is the very first university in the country and is also one of the most comprehensive academic institutions in the region. We profile this innovative education provider to find out more.

Founded in 1976 by the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. UAEU currently enrols approximately 14,000 Emirati and international students. As the UAE’s flagship university, UAEU offers a full range of internationally accredited, high-quality graduate and undergraduate programs through nine Colleges: Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Food and Agriculture; Humanities and Social Sciences; IT; Law; Medicine and Health Sciences; and Science.

Since its establishment, UAEU has embarked on a deliberate path to achieve excellence that is externally verified and meets international standards.

Thus, a wide range of academic programs have attained recognition from international professional accreditors such as AACSB and ABET. The university has international institutional

accreditation from WASC, The Western Association of Schools and Colleges which is one of six academic bodies responsible for the accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States.

With a distinguished international faculty, state-of-the art new campus, a full range of student support services, UAEU offers a living-learning environment that is unmatched in the UAE. Its research intensive profile and its strong focus on innovation make it the ideal partner for collaborations with industry and business.

UAEU’s academic programs have been developed with market needs in mind, so our graduates are in high demand. UAEU alumni hold key positions in industry, commerce, and government throughout the region. Our continuing investments in facilities, services, and staff ensure that UAEU will continue to serve as a model of innovation and excellence.

The university is internationally recognized by QS, a Londonbased international ranking of the world’s leading universities and rates UAEU in the top 500 in the world. QS also includes UAEU on its list of the top 60 world universities that have been founded within the past 50 years.

In its drive to achieve international research stature, UAEU works with its partners in industry such as Mubadala to provide research solutions to challenges faced by the nation, the region, and the world. The University has established research centers of strategic importance to the country and the region which are advancing knowledge in critical areas ranging from water resources to cancer treatments. UAEU is currently ranked among the top research universities in the GCC and the Arab World, and among the top 25% globally.

Over the past two decades, the UAE has seen changes in higher education that are nothing short of revolutionary. As a higher education institution, UAEU

is not operating in isolation.

In 1992, there were only two in the country, UAEU and the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT). Since then the number of universities in the country that are licensed by the federal government has grown to 79.

Higher education in the UAE is becoming a complex, competitive and crowded market. The UAEU distinguishes itself through research intensive direction and its close connection to the aspirations of both the nation and individual Emirates. The university’s vision and mission reflect this connection. The most recent example of the close link between UAEU and the development of the country is seen in the establishment of science and innovation park which will enable the linking of key university research centers and laboratories with industry and government. The university is planning to expand its role in research by collaborating with industries and institutions internationally.

Company: United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) Contact: Mohamed Madi Email: MMadi@uaeu.ac.ae Address: College of Business & Economics, Al-Ain, PO Box 17555, UAE Phone: 00971 3 7136504

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 87

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Best Technical Security Consultancy 2017 Whispering Bell provides integrated risk management solutions to enable our clients to operate safely and securely in hostile or complex environments. We spoke to Technical Security Director, David Michaux to find out more.

Founded in 2009, Whispering Bell has been growing year on year to offer advisory services to both local and multi-national clients. The specialties that have grown within the team have always been customer driven, now with extensive skills in the telecom, oil and gas, and banking fields. David discusses the service that the firm offers and how it works to provide its clients with the support they need.

“Here at Whispering Bell, we build unique solutions, which equip our clients to withstand the rigors of the evolving regional security landscape and ultimately achieve their objectives. Since inception the firm has rapidly expanded its offerings across the region in support of oil and gas, critical national infrastructure, energy, telecommunications and government clients in complex and high-risk environments.

The British and Arabic origins of our company have afforded us the flexibility and cross-cultural

understanding necessary to develop long-term, sustainable solutions for our clients. Our primary objective is to provide a quality service delivered on time and within budget.”

The success of Whispering Bell sits with the people, building a close eco system for cooperation between all levels inside the company allows everyone to express their opinions and share their ideas, this has meant that the company has had a very low turnover of staff and offers good job security to the teams. David outlines the importance of staff and how the company works to support them and ensure that they, in turn, offer their clients the very highest level of service.

“The company works on a very flat structure, meaning that there is a free exchange of information and ideas, this is essential for helping the company to grow.

We also believe strongly in not discriminating against any ideas junior staff members bring to the

company, this is important to help build confidence in new junior staff rather than belittling ideas and killing the urge of staff to contribute ideas.”

Moving forward, the focus is firmly on growth as the company seeks to continue to offer clients the very highest standards of service and support, as David concludes.

“Looking ahead, big data analytics has to be the foremost request that we receive, companies are trying hard to build a balance of what data is and is not relevant in order to accurately predict security issues they have or may face in the future. As such, we are exploring more work in this area, as Whispering Bell is in a constant state of growth, looking to expand into new technology areas and grow geographically.”

Company: Whispering Bell Website: whisperingbell.com Contact: David Michaux Email: info@whisperingbell.com Address: Office 401, JBC5, JLT Cluster W, Dubai, PO Box 487151, UAE Phone: 00971 4 448 6690

88 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

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Most Innovative Transport Service 2017 Yalla Pickup is an innovative app and a web-portal that allows clients to order a pickup truck at a click of a button.

We caught up with CEO and Founder Elie El Tom to talk us through the firm and the services it offers.

Founded in 2016, Yalla Pickup is often described as ‘an Uber for your belongings’. This remarkable concept, which won ‘’Transport App of the Year’’ at the Mobile App Awards 2016, is tailored to meet client needs, as Elie outlines.

“Here at Yalla Pickup our service is tailored for individuals as well as business owners who have valuable items to move and they’re getting frustrated with going to look around the city for a pickup truck or calling out drivers who may not be there when you need them. Whether you are a business owner or an individual, with Yalla Pickup, you can now order a pickup truck from the comfort of your home or office.

“Central to our approach is our constant focus on client service.

We intend to offer an on-time and safe pickup truck service with the primary mind set being to offer the best client experience.

We maintain our high standard through our feedback loop with the client and with the alignment of our team to our vision which will help us improve our service.

Our uniqueness stands in our personalized service; we work with every customer or prospect as if our life depends on how well we could serve them.”

The UAE population comprises of 85% of expats; due to the nature of the work in UAE, the cities are very dynamic; people are always on the move and businesses rely heavily on transportation with the existing

free zones spread across the country. It is a consumer country so basically almost everything is imported (except for oil) and this entails a lot of transportation between suppliers and clients.

The UAE logistics accounted for $27 billion in 2015 out of which $5 billion was for transportation.

One theme of the Dubai vision 2021 is a ‘smart & sustainable city’ which opens up a wide range of opportunities in terms of smart logistics; as for the challenges, we would need to create awareness among businesses and individual to the fact that there exists a smart way to book a pickup truck which will save you the hassle of going to look around the city for pickup truck or calling out drivers who may not be there when you need them.

Therefore, looking ahead, connectivity will be the firm’s core focus as it seeks to remain at the forefront of emerging market developments, as Elie concludes.

“Moving forward, we are moving toward smart cities and our service is totally aligned with the future. We are in discussion with Intel to integrate IoT solutions in our fleet in order to optimize our trips and contribute in the reduction of carbon emission in our cities, something that is totally aligned with the UAE vision 2021. We have on our roadmap penetration to other countries in the region starting with KSA next year.”

Company: Yalla Pickup FZCO Contact: Elie El Tom Email: info@yalla Address: Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Center, Silicon Oasis, Dubai, UAE Phone: 971507013431 Website: www.yalla-pickup.com

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 89

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Best Construction Best Child Welfare Company 2017 Advocacy – GCC Al Jihan Gulf Horizon General Contracting LLC, operating under the brand name of Green Bridge, is a G + Unlimited EPC Contracting Company. We invited Mr. Anand Kolappa Pillai, Business Head, to tell us more.

Arabian Child is an innovative child welfare agency which works to catalyse the sector to move towards improving their policies for regulating quality of early childhood education and care. We invited Samia Kazi, CEO, to tell us more.

Established in 2009, Green Bridge specializes in providing complete construction packages from design to execution, to a wide range of clients. Mr. Anand outlines how the firm works to provide excellence to each of these clients through its customer focused approach.

highest quality standards, health, safety and environment best practices and providing green building solutions towards a sustainable future.

Founded in 2010 Arabian Child provides consultancy, advisory, and training services in all aspects of child education, care and protection at individual and organizational level. Samia discusses the firm’s vital service offering in more detail.

“At Green Bridge, we value our clients and treat them with respect and give them our full attention. With the expertise and proven competence of our team of professionals and diversified labour force, our company always ensures that we execute and complete all our projects on time. Our projects follow the Highest Quality Standards and adhere to the Best Safety Practices. As part of continued customer focus, we provide proactive maintenance services during the Defects Liability Period (DLP).”

Looking ahead, Mr. Anand is keen to outline the firm’s future plans and how these will contribute to its ongoing success.

Green Bridge has successfully completed numerous projects in UAE and overseas in various segments, including schools, luxury residential buildings, highend villas, warehouses, labour accommodations, light industrial units, commercial buildings.

“Overall, Green Bridge envisions a bright future for the company.

We have laid down strategies, clearly defining where our company will be heading. In addition to our current portfolio, our company is leaning towards getting projects that include hospitals, hotels, high-rise buildings, group of villas, substations, networks and services lines.”

With ISO 9001-2008, ISO 14001 AND OHSAS 18001-2007 certifications and a full-fledged team of 1,800+ people, the company is committed to the

Through sustained efforts, the company recently received 4 Star Taqdeer Award from the Government of Dubai for Excellence in Labour Welfare & Relations.

“Currently, the UAE’s Construction Market is very encouraging. Our company has been receiving a lot of tender opportunities and enquiries as compared to 2016. Projects connected to Dubai Expo 2020 have also started to roll out and we are looking forward to taking advantage of this development over the months and years ahead.

Company: Al Jihan Gulf Horizon General Contracting LLC Contact: Mr. Anand Kolappa Pillai, Business Head Email: anand.k@greenbridgeuae.com Address: Office No. 204, Al Qayada Building, Etihad Road, PO Box 84088, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 299 7205; Fax: 00971 4 299 0881 Website: www.greenbridgeuae.com

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“Here at Arabian Child our approach to the improvement of the childcare sector is to work in a collaborative partnership with entities that share similar objectives and complement each other’s goals, from the public and the private sector, national and international. We provide the services and technical knowhow to support our partners in raising performance standards, increasing human capacity, expanding accessibility and disseminating best practices in the field of education while following national vision and goals, with special emphasis on local identity and culture.

“Through the training academy, we have trained over 5,000 teachers, parents, directors, social worker and police officer within a range of 92 training programs certified by the UAE educational councils as well as international awarding bodies from the UK and USA. Arabian

Child has worked with Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Interior, IBM, Family Development Foundation and Zayed University. Arabian Child has also worked with over 300 nurseries and kindergartens in the GCC certifying their teachers, conducting quality audits, credentialing of teachers, education consultancy and offering international accreditation.”

Looking to the future, the firm’s main focus will be the achievement of its ongoing goal, as Samia concludes.

“Overall, Arabian Child has one core goal, which envisions a positive quality of life for all children in the GCC, regardless of their nationality, socioeconomic class, or religion.

We use this goal planning to creating our Macro, micro, processes and inputs. We have created a system and process for all of our products and services. Our system is scalable to other regions, and can easily be shared with other partners.

We also have an internal quality assurance process, in which we implement quality assurance on all of our services, monitor student progress, and share feedback with sub-site locations.”

Company: Arabian Child Contact: Samia Kazi, CEO Email: info@arabianchild.org Address: Rm. F05, Block 6, Dubai Knowledge Village, King Salman Bin AbdulAziz Road, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971-4-4356933 Website: www.arabianchild.org

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Award for Excellence in Childcare - Dubai Asya’s nursery is a British nursery based in the majestic Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. We profile the firm to explore the secrets behind its success.

Established in 2011, Asya’s operates under the philosophy that “children should be treated with warmth and respect and encouraged to reach their full potential”.

To ensure that this is achieved at all time, the nursery puts a high priority on reaching the highest standards and maintains them by keeping up to date with the latest teaching styles and having a good relationship with feeding schools as to what the necessary requirements are to enter actual school.

Children at Asya’s have priority placement in a number of schools. The nursery places themselves at a high priority on continuous professional development, with all staff having at least 18 hours of training each year. Courses include paediatric first aid, fire safety, and child development.

As such the curriculum at Asya’s, in addition to the nursery’s regular EYFS curriculum delivery by its own teachers, the nursery has specialist instructors for French, Arabic and Gym for all of its little charges, including babies. These are free of charge to children enrolled in the morning. There are also other optional extra-curricular activities offered which parents may

choose to sign their children up for. These include ballet, judo, golf, and football.

Supporting both parents and their children, Asya’s offers flexible timings to help busy working families, with fees including meals to reduce the workload for parents.

Overall, it is this client focused approach that has led Asya’s to the success it enjoys today, alongside to the dedication and consistent hard work of its support staff and admin team, as well as to the teaching and learning carefully run by the nursery’s Room Leaders.

Looking to the future, the next step for Asya’s is to begin the Go Green initiative. Currently, two volunteer mums have formed a Gardening Club with the support of the teachers. They are helping children explore the life cycle of plants and where our food comes from. With the plants that they grow, they have started to make salad and bake muffins. To build upon this and gain entry into the initiative the nursery is seeking to continue the club and develop its outdoor space in which to grow more plants with the children.

Company: Asya’s Nursery Email: manager@asyasnursery.com Address: Palm Jumeirah, Shoreline 10, Dubai, PO Box 117452, UAE Phone: 00971 4 435 6627 Web Address: www.asyasnursery.com

Best Educational Management Company 2017 The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation established in Australia, with branches around the world, all of which are dedicated to education research. We profile the firm’s UAE office to explore the secrets behind its success.

ACER United Arab Emirates (ACER UAE) is a branch office of the Australian Council for Educational Research Limited, one of the world’s leading educational research centres.

The office undertakes commissioned educational research, capacity building programs and provides assessment services to the UAE Ministry of Education and a range of clients in the Middle East including government ministries, and schools.

This work helps ACER to achieve its overall mission: to create and promote researchbased knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the lifespan.

Among the recent projects ACER UAE has undertaken is the establishment and implementation of the International Benchmark Test (IBT), an internationally administered program of assessments with tests

appropriate for grades 3 to 10 in English, maths and science.

The IBT allows schools to compare student performance internationally, between grades and overtime. Reports provide schools with detailed information about a student’s strengths and areas for improvement in all subjects. It is a high-quality skillbased assessment not linked to any national curriculum. This allows students from all countries to be compared fairly.

The UAE office has also been working to implement the International School’s Assessment (ISA), which is designed specifically for students in international schools in Grades 3–10. It is based on the internationally endorsed reading, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy frameworks of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Looking ahead, ACER UAE will continue to innovate and adapt in order to support the education market in the region and ensure that it remains at the forefront of the latest market developments.

Company: Australian Council for Educational Research Limited Contact: Alan Egbert Email: Alan.Egbert@acer.edu.au Address: Block 11, Office G 06, Knowledge Village, Dubai, PO Box 502339, UAE Phone: 00971 4 3664098 Website: www.acer.org

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 91

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, Best Zero Best Convenience Energy Design Retail Chain 2017 Consultancy – U.A.E. Build Green World is an innovative sustainable construction consultancy dedicated to offering support and services to help make our environment green, ecofriendly and self-sustainable. We caught up with Eng. Malik Abdul Razzak to gain an absorbing overview of the firm and the range of services it provides.

Since its inception in1989, Build Green World have been the pioneers of Zero Energy Design (ZED) consultancy in the UAE, successfully setting the standard for best sustainable design practices by achieving seven prestige awards from private and government sectors. Eng. Malik discusses this creative approach in more detail and explains how it can help clients to reduce the emissions of their home to almost nothing.

“Here at Build Green World, we are providing Zero Energy Design services to the consultants and architects who are willing to work on these values. We strongly believe our region has great potential to convert all the future buildings 100% on ZED standards.

By adopting ZED Building standards our region can save approximately 250 Billion Dollars subsidies given on energy by the regional governments.

“Through supporting clients to implement ZED construction we decrease the energy used by 70% to 80%. The remaining 20% to 30% will be consumed from the grid and the same will be produced by solar panels and feed back to the grid in span of a year. All this can be implemented

without increasing the cost of the project. Through this unique approach, the energy bills shall be almost zero, offering both great savings and environmental impacts.”

Looking to the future, Eng. Malik is confident that ZED will remain a crucial aspect of the construction industry as it seeks to combat the energy issues and reduce global warming.

“Ultimately, we strongly believe that ZED is the future for construction in the UAE. Sooner or later the whole MENA region has to adopt it on a vast scale which will help to reduce energy consumed 85% by buildings in our region to the lowest level by adopting ZED standards.

As such we remain committed to supporting our clients and ensuring that they understand and correctly implement this vital approach. With the energy crisis increasing, ZED really is the ideal option to combat global warming and sustain our natural resources.”

Company: Build Green World Contact: Mr. Nisar Ahmed Email: nisar@buildgreenworld.co Address: Office No. 206, 2nd Floor, Al Hilal Bank Building, Al Nahda Road, Al Qusais 2, Dubai, U.A.E Phone: 00971 4 2382336 Web: www.buildgreenworld.co

92 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Circle K is an international chain of convenience stores which forms part of Alimentation Couche Tard, a Canadian-listed convenience store retailer. We profile the firm to learn more about the secrets behind its success.

Founded in 1951 in Texas, Circle K has flourished since inception into an international chain since inception, with stores based around the world including the UAE. Circle K is a pioneer in new markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where it is transforming the market from traditional groceries into modern convenience stores.

Convenience Arabia is bringing Circle K to the region with the aim to upgrade the traditional grocery store sector and to provide consumers the ultimate experience in convenience store shopping.

Parent company Couche Tard operates several convenience store brands including Circle K, Couche Tard, Macs, On-TheRun, and the recently acquired Stat Oil. Currently one of the world’s largest convenience retailers, Couche Tard has a

network of about 13,000 stores globally.

Offering a wide range of branded food, beverage and toiletries, as well as a number of in-store services such as gift card recharging, every Circle K store offers the selection that its customers need, and it is always striving to ensure that they always find what they want first time.

Looking ahead, the Middle East is a core focus for Circle K and Couche Tard as the firms seek to build upon their current presence in the region and continuously improve its clients’ satisfaction.

Developing strong relationships with clients, partners and shareholders throughout the region will be crucial to the firm’s ongoing success in the Middle East, and as such will be central to its ongoing focus.

Company: Circle K UAE Contact: Laurent Guitart Email: laurent@circlek.ae Address: Office#: 2904, API World Tower, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 4 3336644 Website: www.circlek.ae

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Best Surveillance Systems Provider 2017 - GCC

Best Teacher Training Programme 2017

Originally founded in the United Kingdom, CITA is a leading high quality security systems provider that specializes in the manufacturing of top CCTV and Access Control products. We profile the firm to find out more.

Early Years Educational Services (EYES) offers first rate UK accredited teaching qualifications and ongoing professional development opportunities to meet the needs of educators in the UAE. We profile the firm to explore the secrets behind its success.

Part of the Smart Solution Group and a dominant powerhouse in its sector, CIT A started as an answer to the market’s growing need for integrated security solutions.

The company has grown to over 50 employees in its current locations, continuing to provide and deliver reliable, state-ofthe-art and fully integrated technological security solutions and products.

A growth and the demand for CIT A products from the Middle East Region led the company to invest in opening its first International branch in Dubai, U AE in 2013.

Fallowing the success in Dubai, CIT A embarked on an expansion plan of satellite locations with the opening of second international location in Istanbul, Turkey in 2015 as a support office for both the UAE and UK offices.

Overall, in developing costeffective technologies, CIT A remains at the forefront of technological advancements in integrated security, ensuring it meets and exceeds the demands and requirements of its customers, and this will remain the firm’s ongoing focus as it looks towards a bright future.

Founded in 2008, Founder, Owner and CEO, Sarah Rogers set the firm up with the belief that well-trained and educated professionals would ensure better outcomes for every child and make teaching more rewarding and enjoyable. Sarah believes that early years and primary professionals deserve to be recognised for the important role that they play in nurturing and supporting a child and setting the foundations for the adult they will become. The highly-qualified team at EYES work with many individuals, schools and nurseries as well as government organisations to promote and share best international teaching practices.

The vast technological advancement coupled with the ideal landscape of the Middle East region enabled the company to quickly develop new innovative solutions and technologies.

Through solid partnerships with key installation experts and prime software developers, CIT A slowly expanded its outreach, nurturing and growing its client relationships as well as its solid list of customers and distributors over the years.

Company: Cita Solutions Contact: Richard Thomas Email: ms@cita-solutions.co.uk Address: Unit 2106, Al Thanyah Fifth, HDS Tower, Cluster F, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, PO Box 191946, UAE UAE Phone: +971 4 557 9828 UK Phone: +44 203 675 7411 Website: www.cita-solutions.co.uk

The firm’s philosophy is to inspire and enable educators to understand what best practice looks like and how it can be achieved in every classroom.

Being an overseas accredited centre for the Council for Awards in Childcare, Health and Education (CACHE) and for Highfield International, both UK awarding bodies, EYES enables learners to achieve internationally recognised high quality qualifications.

Quality is very important to every member of the EYES team, and

they believe in offering courses that combine both knowledge about best practice and practical examples of how to change and promote the best learning environments. As such they are committed to working in long term partnerships and are proud of the strong relationships that we have achieved based on expertise, integrity and respect.

The EYES team work with their sister company Quest Direct Professional Services, set up in 2014 to further meet the needs of primary educators.

Education is high on the UAE government’s agenda, as it understands what is needed to produce the workforce of the future. Educators are working hard to meet the ongoing challenges of the ever-changing face of education. The staff at EYES ensure that they keep up to date with current best international practise and work with energy and passion to support educators as they face these changes.

Ultimately, this award is a recognition of the hard working, passionate team at EYES who really believe in providing the best quality teacher training courses to benefit all and will continue to offer the very highest quality of service as they look towards a bright and exciting future.

Company: Early Years Educational Services FZ-LLC Contact: Alison Hunter Email: alison@eyes-me.com Address: Office 2606, Tameem House, Barsha Heights, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 276 6737

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 93

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, Best Interior Most Innovative Decorating & Design Branding Agency Business - Dubai - Dubai Elemento LLC is a Dubai based interior design firm drawing on over eight years’ experience providing the very highest quality service to clients throughout the UAE. We invited Kris Wanamaker (CEO) to tell us more.

Established in 2009, Elemento has grown by leaps and bounds since inception through referrals, an enthusiastic support network and extensive experience of the target market and has been recognised as one of the leading design companies in the UAE. Specializing in high-end projects, Elemento prides itself on creating inspiring interior spaces with a professional and open approach focused on absolute client satisfaction, as Kris explains.

“Here at Elemento, we offer full turnkey projects from design and project management to complete fit-out and furnishing. For us, client service means assisting them to dream their dream, think it through technically, design all the elements that will bring the look and experience together, and finally to create the space, turning the dream into reality.

Our high standards of customer care reflect both the authentic care Elemento demonstrates to everyone it interacts with in one of the most competitive markets in the UAE today. Quality and brilliance are not affected by the whims of the economy – they are timeless benchmarks that continue to set Elemento apart.”

In order to ensure that clients receive the very highest standard of service, Elemento’s

organizational culture is a hybrid of dedicated people working within a collaborative and consultative management system.

The design and fit-out business is potentially stressful, and as such a successful project delivery is the result of a harmonious bringing together of people, equipment, and materials., which Elemento works hard to provide.

Looking to the future, this focus on quality and excellence will remains the firm’s ongoing focus, as Kris concludes.

“Strategically, Elemento continues to develop solid long-term relationships with current and past clients that usually lead to referrals and recommendations.

Elemento very much seeks to live one of Steve Jobs’ sayings - “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Steve set the bar for Apple so high that it took the rest of the industry a decade to catch up.

Elemento builds its yardstick each day in a marketplace where claims of quality and excellence are sometimes not matched by reality. Though the industry commentators have identified sustainability, workplace wellness, and employee engagement as key trends, and Elemento has already embedded these within its culture and practices and will continue to do so over the months and years to come.”

Company: Elemento LLC Address: Office 411, Pinnacle Building Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai UAE Phone: +971 4 399 1140 Email: customercare@elementome.com Web Address: www.elementome.com

94 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Fludium is a strategic branding agency based in Dubai, UAE. We spoke to Lawrence Flude to find out more about the firm and its service offering.

Fludium creates, refreshes and organises brands to give clients the winning edge. The team builds brands that boost business. Lawrence outlines the firm’s service offering in more detail.

services have been on the rise over the last few years due to clients being attracted by their favourable pricing, solid skillsets and big-project experience.

Technology is enabling small agencies to move swiftly and deliver top-notch solutions at very competitive rates.”

“At Fludium we distil the purpose and vision of a business to a brand promise that is both distinctive and magnetic to its target customers. The firm’s laboratory is comprised of talented and experienced strategists, project directors, copywriters, art directors and designers focused on finding simple answers to complex questions. Our team is wellversed in formulating insightful, strategic and creative solutions.

As a company Fludium ignites all types of brands – from corporate to personal, product to service.

Our clients range from large businesses to start-ups, nonprofit to government.”

Moving forward, Fludium has a number of exciting developments in the pipeline that will allow it to grow and prosper over the months and years ahead, as Lawrence concludes.

“We are positive about the future as we grow. We are developing a number of innovative tools, models, products and programmes to make the power of strategic branding available to a broader base of clients.”

Currently, within the Middle East, and specifically the UAE, there are many great prospects for growth for firms such as Fludium, as Lawrence is eager to highlight.

“There are always opportunities in emerging economies for smaller agencies to thrive, due to there being less competition than they would face in developed markets. However, boutique agencies offering specialised Company: Fludium DMCC Contact: Lawrence Flude Email: lawrence@fludium.com Address: Office 1409, Goldcrest Executive Tower, Cluster C, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, UAE. PO Box 336220, Dubai, UAE. Phone: +971 50 469 4920 Website: www.fludium.com

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Best Business Aviation Services Provider 2017

Best Airline Catering Company 2017

Gama Aviation is a dynamic and innovative firm offering private jet management, charter, VIP passenger and aircraft handling, maintenance and aviation software solutions. We spoke to Oliver Hewson to find out more.

Gate Gourmet is a leading global provider of airline catering and provisioning services. Snezhana (Jana) Vakova talks us through the firm and how it works to achieve excellence.

Founded in 1983

by Marwan Khalek, Gama Aviation is a global business aviation services organization, operating over 250 aircraft, with more than 45 bases across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East. Oliver outlines how the firm works to provide excellence to its vast array of clients, who include Royalty, HNWIs, athletes, celebrities, musicians, government departments, ministries of defence, air ambulance operations, fellow business jet operators, and helicopter operators.

“Here at Game Aviation, we aim to deliver unparalleled service, in the air and on the ground by going the extra mile with our attention to detail, respect for our clients’ requirements and our care for their assets. Throughout Gama Aviation’s global locations, we conduct regular Customer Relationship Management training courses in addition to continual on-job-training by line managers to ensure the company’s client focused culture is adhered to. One of our core values is to remain authentic and true; to be honest with our clients and shareholders, and to act responsibly for them. We look to achieve this by encouraging staff to consistently improve, and we enable them to do so

with focused investment that increases their expertise.”

Looking ahead, Game Aviation is keen to grow as a business by creating a new base, which Oliver is eager to discuss in his concluding comments.

“In 2018 we plan to open our new Business Aviation Centre in Sharjah International Airport, which will replace our existing facility. It will be the cornerstone to our company’s continued expansion in the region.

Once completed, the facility will comprise of world class passenger and crew facilities; two 5,000 square metre hangars; hangars able to accommodate all business aircraft including Airbus ACJ & Boeing BBJ aircraft; Approx. 20,000 sqm’s of external aircraft parking and roughly150 sqm of commercial office space for Business Aviation tenants.

“Sharjah International has seen business aviation traffic rise due to its proximity to the financial districts of Dubai. Capacity restrictions at Dubai International and the driving distance to Dubai South have also helped Sharjah International develop as a business aviation destination.

As such we are proud to be working with them to develop our business further and support even more clients.”

Company: Gama Aviation Contact: Oliver Hewson Email: oliver.hewson@gamaaviation.com Address: Middle East HQ, Gate 3A, Sharjah International, PO Box 122389, UAE Phone: 00971 65 027703

Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, with 39,000 employees, gategroup-Gate Gourmet operates over 200 facilities in 50 countries on six continents.

Full catering services by Michelin Star chefs are offered, in addition to a full range of concierge services, including but not limited to daily international magazines and newspaper delivery, fine luxury equipment washing, and flower delivery. Snezhana outlines how the firm works to achieve excellence in every aspect of its work.

“To maintain the highest culinary levels and a consistent product, our chefs around the world are supported by a global program of investment in their development and the latest food technology, called Sustaining Progress in Culinary Excellence, an award winning culinary program that brings together customers and chefs alike in a true collaboration of passion, creativity and expertise ready to exchange skills and knowledge as well as to enjoy great food and company.”

A division of Gate Gourmet, Executive Gourmet is a separate brand offering a complete catering executive aviation solution which opened in Al

Bateen Executive Airport in 2011 and has since gone from strength to strength.

“At “executive gourmet” every request is special and exclusive.

We offer unparalleled flexibility, efficiency and warmth - all tailored to execute the guest specific requests. To maintain the highest culinary levels and a consistent product, our executive chef Thomas Harker is at the helm of the kitchen and has a natural flare and instinct when it comes to food and what a high end customer expects.

With experience providing the highest quality meals to royalty, he is able to offer the very finest level of quality and produce memorable and flavourful dishes to entice even the most discerning of palettes.”

Looking to the future, growth is the firm’s primary focus, as Snezhana is keen to emphasise in her concluding comments.

“Moving forward, we are eager to continue increasing our customer portfolio and are currently working in partnership with Emirates Catering for both Dubai Airports (DWC-OMDW and DXB-OMDB) in order to facilitate this. We are also extending our offer to other airports in the UAE working along with other stakeholders in order to grow and build upon our current success throughout the region.”

Company: Gate Gourmet Catering Arabia LLC Contact: Jana Vakova Email: SVakova@gategourmet.com Address: Al Bateen Executive Airport, Abu Dhabi, PO Box 3333, UAE Phone: #00971 50 899 0403 Website: www.executive-gourmet.com

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Best Exhibition Stand Design/ Build Company Dubai

Most Accommodating Resort Hotel - Dubai

Global Branding is one of the fastest growing exhibition companies in Dubai for all types of exhibition stands management services. We invited Manoj Nair to tell us more about the firm and its service offering.

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham is a beautiful hotel set within the popular Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai. We profile this stunning retreat to find out more.

Global Branding specializes in everything from exhibition stand design, truss, lights, audio, video, furniture renting through to graphic printing.

Manoj discusses the firm and the secrets behind its success.

Hawthorn Suites

by Wyndham JBR is located at the heart of The Walk, Jumeirah Beach Residence, a popular tourist destination in Dubai which features a variety of dining, leisure and entertainment options. It features 188 rooms and suites, which are suitable for all types of travellers. The property’s main clients are family travellers from the GCC region.

In order to accommodate these clients, the property features spacious and fully-furnished accommodation with options ranging from Studio, OneBedroom, Two-Bedroom and Family Rooms with convertible sofa-beds.

“Here at Global Branding, our company runs on a family business model. Making a seamless environment by being approachable is one of our strengths. There are no barriers of age and hierarchy. Every individual has the freedom to express ideas with a sense of pride and ownership that runs deep in our work culture. We follow a solution finding approach rather than making small hiccups overwhelming. As owners we connect with exhibitors at ground level to take personal care of the tiniest details to meet client’s expectations.

“Ultimately, the heart and soul of our company is creativity and innovation. Exhibition is all about creating something new every day. To keep abreast with the prevalent trends and adding freshness to design is our core strength.”

Moving forward, the firm has a number of exciting developments in the pipeline which Manoj is keen to share with us.

“Overall, the future holds fresh promises to us. We have started expansion by venturing into full production facility. We make our client feel pampered that they keep coming back to us even when they exhibit in other countries. As a result, not only do we have a good reputation in UAE but we also have partners in over 30 countries. They execute orders on our behalf adhering to our company’s ‘tag line’ and ‘motto.’ Our target is to do exhibition stands in every country around the globe.”

Company: Global Branding Contact: Manoj Nair Email: sales@globalbrandings.com Address: Business Tower, Business Bay, Dubai, PO Box 19031, UAE Phone: 00971 55 2022 455 Website: http://globalbrandings.com/index

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The establishment offers an all-day dining venue, a café, an Asian fusion restaurant, and 24hour in-room dining service. In addition, leisure facilities include a fully-equipped gym, spa, and temperature-controlled swimming pool. It also has three meeting rooms for corporate functions or special gatherings.

In order to ensure that clients receive the very best service possible, the property places high importance on the feedback and reviews on travel and booking sites, and takes notes on the areas for improvement.

Alongside this, the management ensures to keep its team engaged and motivated by acknowledging its team members who have been specifically mentioned by guests, and even gives rewards in special gatherings to further inspire them.

Ultimately, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham is the ideal setting for a blissful Dubai break. Moving forward, the establishment will be looking to move into new markets and strengthen its presence in the GCC leisure market, ensuring guests receive an even greater array of services and amenities.

Company: Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Contact: Abigail Bautista Email: abigail.bautista@hsdubai.com Address: The Walk, JBR, Box 120253, UAE Phone: 00 971 309 8151

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Best Wastewater Treatment Specialists 2017 Headworks International Inc. supplies wastewater treatment and reuse technology to municipalities and industries with a focus on delivering sustainable solutions to our clients’ needs. We caught up with Bojan Vukovic to find out more.

Headworks International is the number one choice among experienced owners, engineers and operators who know that quality construction, innovative design, and low lifecycle costs translate into long-term success for their biological process technology and wastewater screening investment. Bojan discusses the firm’s focus on supporting its clients and how it works to ensure that they receive the very best service which meets their needs.

“At Headworks we are focused on providing high-quality, robust and long-lasting solutions to our customers. We work hard to ensure the technology is appropriate to the needs and will deliver long-term economic and technical benefits. Alongside this, we recognize the importance of understanding our clients’ holistic needs and delivering a tailored solution to satisfy their requirements and see the value of developing and maintaining long-term client relationships so we focus on providing continuous long-term support to

our customers. A satisfied client is the best reference and as such we aim to ensure every client gets the best possible service when they work with us.”

Based in Houston, Texas and with offices around the world including the USA, Canada, India, and the Middle East, Headworks’ staff offer a diverse mix of cultures, creating a rich combination of experiences and forming a unique understanding of the global market place. This will be invaluable as the firm seeks to build upon its current success, as Bojan concludes.

“Currently, we are very actively engaged in new (beside many completed) projects throughout the MENA region as well as the rest of the world, as we look to maintain and build upon our current market position. These are exciting times for Headworks as we work hard to continue our aggressive growth. We are developing new technologies to help our customers both in the municipal and industrial sectors and look forward to sharing those with the market as they are developed.”

Company: Headworks International Inc. Contact: Bojan Vukovic Email: bvukovic@headworksintl.com Address: 11000 Brittmoore Park Dr, Houston, Texas 77041, USA Phone: +1 713 647 6667 Web Address: www.headworksintl.com

Best Global Automated Safety Solutions Provider 2017 HIMA Middle East FZE is a global supplier of safetyrelated automation solutions. We invited Managing Director Denrich Sananda to tell us more.

HIMA Middle East FZE was established in 2001 as service support office for Middle East customers to supply Safety Integrity Level 3 PLC systems.

Currently, HIMA Middle East has a team of experienced engineers and professionals providing customers with a full suite of services including sales, application engineering, integration, project management, system maintenance, start-up, training, commissioning support as well as functional safety consultancy. HIMA Middle East is ISO 9001:2015 certified and is considered among Dubai’s 100 top performing SMEs, said the company.

and first-class services. Our mission is to enable the client to achieve maximum benefits while protecting people and their facilities, thereby helping them achieve increased revenue, maximum process uptime and improvement in risk assessment.”

The falling oil prices have impacted various oil and gas explorers, as well as companies related to the sector. However, Germany-headquartered automated safety solutions provider HIMA, which has operations in the Middle East, is seeking to explore opportunities in non-hydrocarbon markets such as building or civil infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, energy and power sectors. Denrich outlines how the firm works to ensure that it offers clients the very highest standards of support and the solutions they need.

Overall, the company vision is drilled from senior to mid management level to the entire organization and this vision is alive- every employee is motivated to achieve their KPI’s based on this vision, as Denrich concludes.

“Here at HIMA, our vision is to be customer’s first choice for safety and critical control solutions through superior technology

“Everyone at HIMA is really honoured to win this award. The reason for our success is good team work and synergy with which all the teams function as one unit – One HIMA Team. Along with this great team, we have world’s renowned safety system / product which by far is one of the best safety systems in the world. We believe at HIMA all our employees are ACE’s – Available Customer Centric Excellent.”

“Ultimately, at HIMA we live our vision every day and this makes us unique from other organizations and helps us maintain the high standards in the industry. We believe our success lies in providing the best services to the client. We aim to stay connected at all times, with the client, providing with the very highest standards of service which exactly meet their needs, and this will be our ongoing focus moving forward.”

Company: HIMA Middle East FZE Address: RA#8, UC-6, PO Box 261487, Jebel Ali Free Zone,Dubai Phone: +971 4 8834489 Ext:701 Fax: +971 4 8834778 Mobile: +971 50 7126158 Email: d.sananda@hima.com

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Best Welding Technology Provider 2017 HÜRNER Gulf provides its clients and partners with professional engineering services and equipment.

We invited Hassnain Waqar to tell us more.

Established in 2009, HÜRNER Gulf was designed to oversee the distribution of HÜRNER Schweisstechnik GmbH and Nupi Industries Italiana products in the GCC countries. The company’s direct involvement in the construction market has resulted in a continuous expansion and diversification of its activities, introducing new technologies and innovative products to provide feasible solutions to various problems encountered on construction project sites throughout the region. Hassnain outlines the firm’s values and how it drives to ensure excellence across every project it undertakes.

Here at HÜRNER Gulf we have chosen our core values and always aim to achieve these through our services. The firm is to always be innovative, and as such we are constantly inspiring our clients with constant innovation in our machines and HDPE products, so it is imperative to be intimately aware of your market and always think about how you can serve its needs in better ways.

“The second value is to be patient, as in our industry we must maintain the integrity of every product you produce to keep your customer’s trust and continued loyalty, and this takes time. We know that we cannot rush the research and development stage as this will result in inferior products.”

Looking ahead, the firm an exciting new project underway which Hassnain believes will bring it even greater success.

“In December 2016 HÜRNER Gulf received approval for our ELOFIT HDPE fittings from ADWEA (Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority), hence we are now their approved vendor for HDPE Pipes and fittings.

Currently we are in project bidding phase, and we are hoping to have several ADWEA water infrastructure project in second quarter of 2017.”

Company: HÜRNER Schweisstechnik Gulf L.L.C Contact: Hassnain Waqar Email: hassnain@hurnergulf.ae Address: Damascus Street, Al Qusais1, Dubai, P. O. Box 233586, UAE Phone: 00971 4 2584886

98 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Best Radio Content & AV Solutions Provider - MENAP K Kompany offers a complete audio and video solution for post-production, providing high quality and creative results for all their clients’ audio and video requirements. We profile the firm to find out more.

K Kompany, one of the largest Asian media content provider in the Middle East was launched more than eight years ago by celebrated media personalities, Gaurav Tandon and Kritika Rawat. The company now has 5 verticals including radio production, television production, instore radio solutions, media planning and buying and digital.

Since inception the firm has grown considerably and now offers a wide range of services including ideation, conceptualization, research, documentation, permissions, shooting, set development, animation and post production.

With the use of state of the art technology, a highly qualified team of Audio and Video engineers and producers, and a comprehensive library of voice overs, the firm commit to provide high quality results for its clients.

K Kompany believes in stepping ahead with time to guarantee customer satisfaction and have a progressive approach in its business.

Alongside its vast array of services, K Kompany is also the official Radio Promo production partner of Yash Raj Films worldwide, for the last five years. YRF Studios, the only privately owned Studio in India, is spearheaded by Yash Chopra, a leading light of the Indian entertainment industry for the last five decades. He celebrates 50 years as a filmmaker in 2011. YRF Studios has also widened its horizons into Home Entertainment through its offices in UK, USA, UAE and India.

Ultimately with over 8 years’ experience in the industry and the testimony of a vast array of satisfied clients, including Yash raj Films, Arla Foods, GSK, ADVOC, Mall of the Emirates, Colgate, Aldo, Unilever, Fitness First, Burjuman and Reef Malls, Yoplait and Danube, K Kompany is the ideal partner for all your audio and visual needs.

Company: K Kompany FZ-LLC Contact: Gaurav Tandon Email: gaurav@kkompany.com Address: BS 10-101, Dubai Studio City, PO Box 390412, UAE Phone: 00971 44 508133

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Luxury Nails’ Salon of the Year 2017 - UAE

Best Apartment Style Accommodation Provider 2017

After over 14 years of serving loyal clients, nails® has set the standards for the nail care and grooming industry in Abu Dhabi - a lofty statement indeed but one which the firm have proven over and over again across all the years of serving one blissful client after the other. We invited Founder Nadine Abdou to tell us more.

Oaks Hotels & Resorts is one of Australasia’s largest apartment style accommodation providers, managing a portfolio of over 52 properties across five countries including Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and India. We profile the firm to find out more.

Nails is an innovative nail salon based in the heart of the Abu Dhabi. Nadine outlines the secrets behind the establishment’s success so far.

Oaks Hotels & Resorts offers a unique blend of stylish city hotels in central, sought-after locations and relaxed, resort style properties in picturesque tourist destinations. Accommodating short and extended stays, the firm is an affordable option for singles, couples, families and groups alike looking for superior accommodation, friendly service and quality onsite leisure. An upscale brand, Oaks offers guests a genuine and flexible service, ensuring peace of mind and essential comforts combined with homely and, honest guest service.

“Here at nails, the rationale behind our success is quite simple; throughout our history we never lost sight of what mattered to us most: our clients.

We set out to lead and the only way to do that was to ensure a 100% commitment to client satisfaction each and every time. It was not only the awards, nor the number or location of our studios, or even the qualifications of our staff that got us here today: It was our clients’ unconditional love, support and loyalty. It is our single-minded obsession to guarantee we give what is expected from us – a superior quality of services in an immaculate setting by expert technicians at a great value.

to complement our high-end services, it is very important for us to provide a calm relaxing ambience that will allow our clients to feel comfortable and relaxed. This is accomplished by our customized interior assets and props that are designed to give this unique memorable feel. Also, our attention to the slightest details that range from music, design, arrangements to the attire and hosting attitude of our technicians all join together to deliver an exceptional upscale experience.”

Looking ahead, Nadine is keen for nails to grow even further and support even more clients, as she proudly concludes.

“Our plan for the future is to grow organically across the Middle East and make our superior services accessible to all those who wish to indulge in the simple pleasures of being a woman.”

“Fundamentally, we believe that nails® has a uniqueness in every aspect that ranges from the quality of services to the interiors of its studios. In order Company: nails – the modern manicure studio Contact: Nadine E. Abdou (Founder of Nails) Email: nails@nails.ae Address: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Al Muhairy Center (Flat no. 502), Khalidiya Street Phone: +9712 885 6000

Part of Minor International (MINT), Oaks is able to leverage the support of one of the largest hospitality and leisure companies in the Asia Pacific Region, operating over 150 hotels and resorts, 1,900 restaurants, and 307 retail trading outlets in Thailand and in 32 markets from Africa to Australia, including South America and Europe.

Based in Bangkok, Thailand, it operates hotels under the

Anantara, AVANI, PER AQUUM, Oaks, Tivoli, Elewana Collection of hotel brands, and also owns The Pizza Company, Thai Express, and Riverside Restaurant franchises, and operates restaurants under the Swensen’s, Sizzler, Dairy Queen, Burger King, and The Coffee Club brands in Thailand and other countries.

Currently, Oaks operates two properties in UAE apart from the 52 properties in Australasia and soon to open doors in Doha.

Considering the vibrant economy of UAE and the larger GCC market, the firm are definitely pursuing some key projects in the region, and this will provide it with many great opportunities to build upon its current success.

Company: Oaks Hotels & Resorts Contact: Siva Ram Putta Email: sputta@oakshotels.com Address: Dubai, P.O.Box 31303, UAE Phone: 00971 4 436 3434

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Best Electronic Device Solutions Provider 2017

Best Hospitality Fit-Out Contractor 2017

Phoenix Contact Middle East is a Dubai based arm of the world renowned Phoenix Contact, a leading manufacturer of electrical connection, electronic interface, and industrial automation technology.

We caught up with Iyad Madanat to find out more.

Plafond Fit Out is an innovative Fit Out and MEP contractor, part of the Emirates Airlines Group of companies, which was established in Dubai and operates across the UAE and Qatar. We caught up with Dimitri Papakonstantinou to learn more.

Phoenix Contact Middle East, established in Dubai under TECOM in 2008, is a member of Phoenix Contact’s ever expanding network of global sales subsidiaries and distribution centers. Iyad outlines the services the firm offers in the region.

Plafond has extensive experience across several sectors from hospitality, F&B, airports to theme parks and medical. With over 1800 staff and labour ranging from gypsum carpenters and marble masons to electricians, the firm offers a vast array of service to clients who range from end users to main contractors. Therefore, the company either subcontract to main contractors as a single trade sub-contractor or offer turnkey solutions contracted directly with the client. Dimitri outlines the techniques the firm uses to set itself apart from the competition.

At Phoenix Contact Middle East our reliable presence in the region brings Phoenix Contact’s products and expertise into closer proximity to our clients and partners in the Middle East and Northeast Africa. Our highly trained and qualified sales, marketing, technical support, logistics, and operational teams are available to support and accommodate the growing demand of our clients throughout the area.

“As a firm we work with customers and business partners to bring the latest innovations in the world of industrial automation to the region. Our innovative products and solutions cover wide areas of connection technology, signal processing and transmission, surge voltage

protection and monitoring, power conditioning, in addition to a wide range of intelligent control systems, industrial PC’s and HMI’s. With this offering, we are able to address numerous applications in plant automation, energy transmission and distribution, process engineering and control, water/wastewater, renewable energies (solar and wind), security and monitoring, electrical vehicle charging systems, in addition to a wide range of solutions for the smart city infrastructure.”

Moving forward, Phoenix Contact Middle East will continue to adapt in order to offer the very highest standard of service, as Iyad concludes.

“As a global player we are represented in markets all over the world. We are successfully involved in shaping the digitalization of the industry, and looking ahead, we will continue to operate as an independent, family-owned company.”

Company: Phoenix Contact Middle East FZ-LLC Contact: Iyad Madanat Email: info-me@phoenixcontact.com Address: Office 301, Third Floor, Block 10, Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), Dubai, P.O. Box 345002, UAE Phone: 00971 43 70 324

100 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

“Plafond is one of few companies that offers both fit out and MEP as in house services. In a turnkey fit out project, this gives us and the client more comfort in the delivery of the project as we’re in control of all the functions from engineering and procurement to installation and hand over.

Having our labour deliver the majority of the trades allows us to deliver the quality and reliability that we want Plafond to be synonymous with”.

“Central to our client service is the fact that the words ‘Reliability, Quality and Safety’ appear all over our office, brochures and

most importantly in the mind set of our staff. These principles were fundamental to us when Plafond was established and remain very current to us today.

We believe that delivering on your word on a day to day basis earns the respect of your client.

Following with that is delivering a quality product that we are proud of and doing this in a safe and professional manner sets you apart from many other companies in the market.

“For several years now our workload has comprised of approximately 70-80% of repeat customers whether they be main contractors or end users. We believe that this is testament to the relationships that we build with our clients and the service that we provide.”

Moving forward, the focus will remain on growth and expansion, as Dimitri is proud to conclude.

“Over the past three years we have experienced substantial growth and plan to continue on this path into the future. We have recently been awarded the MEP package for the new HSBC headquarters in Dubai and are tendering on some very interesting hotel fit out projects that will move the company to the next tier of contractor.”

Company: Plafond Fit Out LLC Contact: Dimitri Papakonstantinou Email: dimitri.p@plafondme.com Address: Office 3121, Building 3, Gold and Diamond Park, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, PO Box 24689, UAE Phone: 00971 501 4800

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Best Hospitality Communications Consultancy 2017

Best Consumer Health Technology Provider 2017 & Non-Invasive Screening Product of the Year: Automated Assessment Chair

Shamal Marketing Communications (SMC) is a leading B2B communications specialist working in a variety of industries, with a focus on hospitality. We profile the firm to explore the secrets behind its success.

SPOTCHECK’s preventive care technology delivers holistic wellness – a drive against neglect. We spoke to Mr. Manoj Menon. to find out more.

Established in 2004, SMC are B2B specialists with extensive experience across multiple industry verticals. The company produces strategic, focused, creative and cost-effective English-Arabic communications’ solutions, that enable its clients to successfully position their business and brands, as well as enhancing their visibility, in an increasingly crowded and highly competitive commercial environment.

solutions throughout the entire communications spectrum, providing its clients with the quality assurance and the results they demand.

SMC works with specialist English and Arabic writers who have PR and journalistic backgrounds and leverages the strengths of their in-house professional resources to deliver results across traditional print media and broadcast channels, as well as the fast-paced digital and social media arena.

Recent developments for SMC include the a comprehensive rebrand, creating a structure which now accommodates new standalone divisions Shamal Public Relations, Shamal Digital and Shamal Broadcast. This enables the firm’s clients to heighten their visibility across a broader range of platforms, throughout the increasingly competitive markets in the Middle East and Asia.

Another area of expertise is consumer PR. SMC has a proven track record of success, keen insight into client motivations and an in-depth understanding of the regional markets in which it operates, all of which form the basis for SMC’s expertise in the B2C arena and mark it out as the best option for its clients.

From new restaurant brands to healthcare services, SMC bring senior level strategic advisory capabilities and dynamic campaign strategies to the table; and are experienced in delivering

In addition, the firm’s experienced team provides strategic advice for success around business-critical issues, plans and projects, as well as public affairs campaigns and engagement with stakeholders and communities, in addition to providing support for major bids.

Ultimately, companies today have never had such a variety of communication channels open to them to connect with their target audience. Therefore, SMC decided to add these new dedicated divisions, to keep up with market demand and ensure that it is always providing the latest and most creative strategies for clients. This will remain its ongoing focus as it looks towards an exciting and prosperous future.

Company: Shamal Marketing Communications Contact: Doris El-Geresy Email: Shamal@smc-pr.com Address: Office 106, Arjaan Office Tower, Dubai Media City, Dubai, PO Box 502701, UAE Phone: 00971 4 3652711

Founded in 2015 Spotcheck is 100% owned by Mr. Nasser Sulaiman Al Haider, Chairman - Al Sulaiman Holdings. Led by Mr. Sulaiman Al Haider, Managing Director. Spotcheck’s Dubai operations focuses on preventive care screening technology and holistic wellness other than population management solutions.

Mr. Manoj discusses the firm’s service offering in more detail.

“Here at SPOTCHECK, we have offered our services to Dubai Health Authority, Government of Ras Al Khaimah, Serco, Petronash, Expo2020, Procter&Gamble, Abu Dhabi Golf Club, DPworld, Ministry of Education, Ooredoo, Dulsco, OMD to name a few.

“The backbone of the solution is our screening device, the Automated Assessment Chair (AAC). As the name suggests, this device is in the form of a luxury chair and has the capability of conducting an entirely non-invasive health screening within 8 minutes. This time frame is sufficient to provide information on approximately 30 health parameters related to body composition, stress and vascular health. The user is simply required to sit on the chair and follow the onscreen instructions on the tablet that is attached. Upon completion of the

screening a color coded report can be produced immediately as either a hard or soft copy.

“The second part of our solution is the Spotcheck Web Portal and Spotcheck Life Mobile App. The integrated web portal and mobile based health application effectively captures the screened health information. Graphs and charts can be created to display health progress. Another highlight of the portal is the availability of health experts such as doctors, yoga experts, fitness experts etc. Individuals can contact them to schedule both online and offline consultations.

The individual is constantly apprised and advised of his/her health status and is provided with advice to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. The health application constantly monitors the dietary requirements and physical activities of the user.”

Moving forward, Spotcheck has a number of exciting opportunities ahead of it, as Mr. Manoj is proud to conclude.

“Looking ahead, we are focusing to be a MNC and servicing people across the globe. Our vision is to be a model health care system across the globe by providing extraordinary concern and superior service in a caring, convenient, and cost-effective manner, using the latest and upto-date technology.”

Company: Spot Check L.L.C Contact: Mr. Manoj Menon (CIO) Email: manoj@spot-check.com Address: Office No. 2116. Burlington Towers, Business Bay, Dubai, PO Box: 123036, UAE Phone: 00 97156 470 8973

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, Best Business Intelligence Best Business Advisory & Analytics Company Firm 2017 - MENA 2017 & Most Innovative Synergy Group is a fast-growing and trusted partner Banking Business in the MENA region, providing integrated business solutions for individuals, SME’s, mid-size corporates Intelligence Solution: and MNC’s seeking to establish a presence or restructure in the UAE or wider-GCC. We caught up Vision with Stuart Curtis - Managing Partner, to find out more.

Sunoida Solutions is one of the fastest growing Business Intelligence and Analytics Company in the emerging markets, with headquarters in Dubai and additional offices in London, Nairobi, Hanoi, Singapore and India. We invited Sukirat Singh Kochar to tell us more.

As a niche player in the area of Business Intelligence for Financial Institutions, Sunoida provides technology solutions on the back of very strong domain consulting in the banking space. Sukirat outlines the firm’s focus on client support and how this underpins every aspect of the company.

order to support a wider client base across the emerging markets in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

“At Sunoida, our goal is very simple and clear. We want “Customers for Life”. To achieve this, we aim to delight every customer and dramatically change their experience working with us to a point where they start treating us like partners.

We want them to become our brand ambassadors and it is only because of our clients’ support that we have seen spectacular growth in a short period. All of our customer service staff have been mandated to go out of their way to delight customers and create goodwill. This is very refreshing for our clients and they really appreciate our work.”

“As part of our development in the region we have recently successfully delivered a huge project to a central bank in Africa where we have connected the Central Bank with all Financial Institutions within the country.

Instead of banks submitting reports to the central bank manually every month, quarter or annually, now the central bank is able to extract data automatically from all financial institutions in the country on a daily basis and get a complete overview of the financial situation in the country through a few dashboards and manage the policies pro-actively. Many other central banks in the region are in discussion with us to replicate the same model for them and we are looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunities this affords our firm.”

In conclusion, Sukirat believes that the firm is set for a bright and prosperous future as it focuses on growing and expanding in

“Looking ahead, we are very excited to be experiencing massive growth in our field especially in the emerging markets and banks are at the forefront of this growth.

Company: Sunoida Solutions DMCC Contact: Sukirat Singh Kochar Email: sukirat.kochar@sunoida.com Address: 2106, Tiffany Towers, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, PO Box 450487, UAE Phone: 00971 56 7454019 Web Address: www.sunoida.com

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With an extensive network, professional expertise and successful trackrecord, The Synergy Group provides a seamless and efficient route-to-entry for businesses in the region. The group also offers first class customer service ranging from corporate structuring, local partnerships, consulting and government liaison support.

Stuart explains: “Entrepreneurs and professionals benefit from our assistance on all aspects of corporate structuring and residency/employee matters. I would like to thank our dedicated team of experts and strategic partners that we work with; without them it would not be possible for our Group to have become this successful to date.”

Synergy maintains total transparency and provides bespoke solutions to each client.

The firm’s strict adherence to customer service, quality control and our continuous investment in employee training enables its staff to remain fluid with the best practices in the region and beyond, as Stuart outlines.

“As part of our service offering we provide end-to-end solutions taking into account every aspect of business establishment.

Exclusively available to our clients is the option to lease

office space at our business centre - Synergy Serviced Offices, located in Dubai’s emerging district, Business Bay. Each office is cost-effective and customisable to ensure complete client satisfaction. In addition, our range of consulting services support all types of businesses looking to grow and enter new markets. On this basis, Synergy works with a wide range of clients internationally across all industry sectors; what unites them all is the quality of service they receive when they work with us.”

Looking ahead, the firm will remain focused on continuing to grow, as Stuart highlights in his concluding comments.

“In the near future, we are set to launch a second business centre. We are exploring a coworking project that will provide an excellent environment for people who are self-employed, freelancing or contracting.

“This will be a great way to collaborate on business ventures and network with others. It is also a highly cost-effective way of accessing office space and support facilities on a shortterm basis. Our aim is to offer affordable, value for money co-working spaces that will significantly reduce business overheads. We want to ease the financial burden for businesses, in particular start-ups.”

Company: Synergy Group Email: info@synergy-gulf.com Website: www.synergy-gulf.com Address: Synergy Group, PO Box 33279, Suite 101-104, Bay Square 3, Business Bay, Dubai, UAE. Phone: +971 4 563 7302

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, Best Management Development Training Provider - MENA & Award for Excellence for SME Human Resource Structures 2017

Hotel of the Year 2017 - Dubai & Award for Excellence in Customer Service 2017

Tamayyaz is a complete solutions provider for leading organizations across the MENA region and has been engaging with clients from different sectors, including Automotive, Telecommunication, Information Technology, Banking & Finance, Pharmaceutical and NGOs. We spoke to Rita Rizk to find out more about Tamayyaz’s continuous achievements and success stories

TIME Hotels offers a range of hotels, serviced apartments and residences with a focus on quality.

We spoke to Eddie Ignatius to find out more.

As human capital developers, Tamayyaz has been working collaboratively with its clients to personalize and tailor the right approaches and processes towards the creation of higher performance. Rita outlines how the firm aims to achieve this and the secrets behind its success.

“Here at Tamayyaz, we believe that our success stems from our customer focus approach, our emphasis on delivering quality services, the expertise of our consultants and facilitators, and our adapting approach to meet customer needs and expectations.”

“Our philosophy is based on the belief that all organizations and their human resources are unique and require individual solutions to fulfil their potential.

Our prime focus is to leave our mark on individuals, organizations, and stakeholders.

This has been the ‘raison d’être’ of our business and success, and we pride ourselves in challenging the status quo in order to improve performance.”

Rita emphasizes on the firm’s dedication to offer clients the best possible service, and on her team’s collaborative, supportive, and enthusiastic approach to ensure success.

“Ultimately, our uniqueness results from our team’s diversity, expertise, and methodology. We believe that our methodology and approach differentiates us from competitors in the market.

We are practical: we listen actively to the exact needs and expectations of our customers; we design for them a low-cost/ low-risk and high profit or ‘best fit’ solution; we provide them with the tools, techniques and best practices that will improve their performance and we follow up with them to ensure successful implementation of the solution.”

“Finally, and most importantly, our culture is centred on openness and acceptance, transfer of knowledge and continuous development, support and flexibility. We achieve this together through active communication, emphasis on target goals rather than on work hours, and attention to the individual’s needs.”

Company: Tamayyaz Contact: Rita Rizk Email: Ritar@tamayyaz.com Address: Farrania Building, 2nd Floor, Hazmieh City – Facing Pepsi Co., Lebanon Phone: 00961 81 611 699

Regional hospitality group TIME Hotels was founded in Dubai in 2012, and boasts an exciting collection seven hotels, resorts, hotel apartments and residences located in the UAE.

“Our activities are always correlated and in relation to the four pillars that we base each initiative on; workplace, marketplace, community and environment. Through this approach our business has become unique and sustainable.”

TIME Hotels’ corporate philosophy is centered on accommodating the individual needs of its well-travelled international audience through the development of a portfolio of unique and distinctive brands located in key markets and gateway destinations. The firm is also committed to creating a sustainable future within the communities in which it operates and supporting regional government goals for carbon footprint reduction.

Eddie discusses the factors that make this innovative group truly unique.

Building upon this success, the firm hopes to grow even further and create a portfolio of hotels all of which are dedicated to the same exceptional level of hospitality, as Eddie concludes.

“Here at TIME Hotels, we are a homegrown company focused on local hospitality traditions and taking pride in committing to service excellence. We work hard to deliver our promise to the each and every guest, team members, suppliers and owners.

“Looking to the future, TIME Hotels is approaching a fruitful year and future with widening its scope of development with several projects in the pipeline for 2017-2018 and 2019 as we aim to reach 20 properties by 2020.

“To capitalise on our success, our expansion will be across the GCC to start with, and then moving to North Africa, making sure to expand the portfolio across all brand and not to forget the biggest share always for UAE with new establishment to cover all the Emirates.”

Company: TIME Hotels Management LLC Contact: Eddie Ignatius Email: eddie.ignatius@timehotels.ae Address: Dubai, P.O. Box: 282366, UAE Phone: 00971 4 416 1000 Website: www.timehotels.ae

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 103

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Best Shop Fitting Company 2017 The Umdasch Shopfitting Group is a leading European shop fitting company which draws on its vast experience from almost 150 years of corporate history and focuses on the sectors Lifestyle Retail, Food Retail, Premium Retail & Digital Retail.

Umdasch Shopfitting Middle East has a dedicated team of approx 120 Employees locally available and experience with projects in the Middle East since 1985. The regional headquarters and local factory of the firm is based in Dubai and applies European quality understanding balanced with a local cost structure, which is vital to meet the needs of its clients, as their local Marketing Executive Esther discusses.

“The Umdasch Group, comprised of the Doka Group and the Umdasch Shopfitting Group, is an international enterprise. Our range of products and services in the fields of formwork technology and shop fitting are specifically geared to the requirements of our customers. The quality of our work, our reliability of delivery, as well as our competitiveness form the basis for our success.

Within the constraints of an ever-changing market, it is our innovation strength especially through new technologies and interactive integrations, flexibility and close customer contact that enables us to profit from market opportunities. Thus creating and securing greater sustainable benefit for our customers and other interested parties.”

As a business we are always in a position to understand our customers and offer them the best possible solution for their individual store development needs. Operating in a global market, Umdasch sees their key focus in customer service.

Refined quality management processes go in accord and beyond international and local standards to ensure absolute reliability when it comes to client satisfaction. Investments in a continuous improvement process are at the core of the firm’s operations, as Patrick Fallmann, Managing Director concludes.

“Ultimately, we take great pleasure in our success as a company, and seek to continue to cultivate this by working with enthusiasm every day to fulfil the requirements and needs of our customers and what the future holds. Our customer’s success provides the basis for the long term stability and development of our company. In addition to this, Umdasch Shopfitting plans on expanding within the GCC region, which will provide us with many great opportunities to grow and support a new client base.”

Company: Umdasch Shopfitting LLC Contact: Esther Roy Email: esther.roy@umdasch-shopfitting.com Address: 22nd Street. Al Quoz Industrial Area 3, Dubai, P.O. Box 182774, UAE Phone: 00971 4 3417715

104 MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

Best Online Wedding Services Platform 2017 WEDDINGSONLINE DMCC is an innovative online wedding services specialist dedicated to supporting clients through every step of planning their big day.

We spoke to David Moore to gain a fascinating insight into the firm and the services it offers.

Following in the footsteps of the firm’s existing wedding websites in Ireland and India, weddingsonline.ae launched in 2014, giving brides and groomsto-be creative inspiration and useful information for planning every step of their big day.

The website guides couples who are planning to tie-the-knot in the UAE or abroad through the whole process. The website also shares ideas and advice by offering access to a host of planning tools and relevant articles, all tailored for this region. David discusses how the platform allows hosts to easily and conveniently plan every aspect of their wedding.

“Here at WEDDINGSONLINE we are here to alleviate wedding stress and to give couples the support and guidance they need to plan their wedding day. We pride ourselves on being targeted in the requests and data we share with our clients, to avoid spamming our engaged couples with information which does not meet their needs, and ensuring the quality and relevancy of the leads we deliver. We take the same approach in the marketing of weddingsonline.ae, whether it be Google AdWords or Facebook ads manager, we always strive

to directly target our market of engaged couples and wedding industry professionals, thus driving interested traffic to the website and increasing our conversion rate.”

The success the firm has enjoyed so far in the UAE has led it to explore more opportunities in the MEA region as it seeks to build upon its current success and grow even further, as David concludes.

“Over the three years that we have been operating in the UAE market, we have seen website traffic increase to include the entire MENA region, inciting us to begin the initial steps into launching our second office in the region in Egypt later this year. We are also looking to expand into other countries with another possible office being in KSA in 2018.

“During this time, we have also grown to understand clearly the diversity in the wedding market in the UAE specifically, due to the many nationalities and cultures of those who reside here. We are continuously adapting our content and approach to encompass these diversities, to ensure that our website and brand is relatable to our community of brides and grooms.”

Company: WEDDINGSONLINE DMCC Contact: David Moore Email: davidmoore@weddingsonline.ae Address: DMCC Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, UAE Phone: 00 971 50 957 9234 Website: www.weddingsonline.ae

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Best Fire Security Contractor 2017 Zener Fire & Security LLC is a market leader in Turnkey Fire & Security projects and services.

We spoke to Michael Cronin to find out more.

Established in 1974, in Dubai, the Zener Group of Companies has become one of the leading Fire and Security Companies in the Middle East. Zener Fire & Security LLC is a joint venture between Zener Group and UTC Kidde, a pioneer in fire protection systems.

Michael outlines how the vision of their senior management and the combination of firms helps drive the partnership to the success it enjoys today through its focus on quality and safety.

“At Zener, we are committed to delivering products and services to help keep people and property safe. This is our Core Principle.

To do this we have a constant focus on quality. From contract finalization, right through to engineering, project execution, commissioning and after sales service. We put the upmost care at every stage to allow the project run smoothly. This leads to a successful project which ultimately has a knock on effect to the success of our clients and critically the successful protection of people and property.

“Overall, our principle philosophy is focused on quality and reliability. We let our work do the talking. Fire and security are serious topics and this is

our motivation as we seek to educate and support our clients.

When the time comes and there is a fire/emergency situation our system must work without question. We maintain these high standards by putting pressure on ourselves to achieve the highest standards in our industry. Zener Fire and Security is now a UL Registered Company which is unheard of in this region.”

With industries across the corporate landscape increasingly focused on sustainability, Michael is keen to highlight, in his concluding comments, that this will be Zener Fire & Security’s ongoing focus.

“The future of Zener Fire & Security is centred on sustainable and calculated development. Due to the current volatile market situations and unstable socio-political climate throughout the Middle East, we must be careful on what steps we take. That being said we will continue to work hard in the MENA Region and build on our old relationships. We are now turning our attention to new markets for example East African and CIS Regions where there is a lot of potential for our Company.”

Company: Zener Fire & Security LLC Contact: Michael Cronin Email: michael@zenerfire.com Address: Plot No:S20206, Jebel Ali Free Zone (South), Dubai, UAE Phone: 00971 8860456 Ext-206

MEA MARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 105

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