BECOMING A GLOBAL LEADER

Yasser Taher is the Chief Executive Officer of MAGRABi Retail Group. With more than 20 years at MAGRABi, and having served as Chief Operating Officer for 14 years, Yasser has successfully overseen the Group’s ongoing expansion and evolution, contributing to record results, and continually turning challenges into opportunities, as evidenced during the pandemic. Prior to joining MAGRABi, Yasser founded and managed multiple businesses in the luxury segment, of both jewelry and fashion. Yasser is also passionately engaged in mentoring and supporting young Arab graduates at the start of their careers.

Having worked at MAGRABi Retail Group for 22 years, I was honoured to take up the position of CEO earlier this year.

I am the first non-family member to become CEO, and that is why I feel especially privileged to lead this innovative organisation as we move onto the next chapter of our growth story, during which we will prepare the Group for global leadership.

The company has grown to become the leading eyecare and luxury eyewear retailer in the Middle East, since its founding in 1927, nearly 100 years ago by distinguished ophthalmologist Dr. Amin El-Maghraby, the grandfather of the current Chairman of our Group, Amin Magrabi.

I pay tribute to Amin for bringing us so far and accelerating our growth so effectively in the past 20 years particularly. For me, having dedicated over two decades of my career to MAGRABi Retail Group, I have watched it evolve under Amin’s leadership into an organization that has the power to move the industry forward.

When I joined the organization, our retail network consisted of 40 stores only, whereas now it includes 160+ stores across five countries, KSA, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt. My vision is to consolidate our leading position across the Middle East and unlock the opportunities that can enable us to transform the MAGRABi Retail Group into a global leader.

This strategic expansion relies on a new mission statement “Re-envisioning the world of eyewear to empower the lifestyles of millions.” It really is about taking an industry that’s quite an established, historic one and reinventing it. Moving it more into a lifestyle and experience, while also democratizing the sector.

We have a strong market segment strategy: to develop both the MAGRABi banner, as the largest luxury eyewear chain in the region, as well as our lifestyle chain DOCTOR M, multiple owned brands and a robust wholesale and distribution arm. We have opened the Lens Innovation Center (LIC), one of the world’s most advanced facilities and one of the region’s biggest and most efficient manufacturers of ophthalmic lenses.

Making an impact is what I really would love to achieve. For me, that means delivering the growth.

My promotion marks the beginning of an inspiring new chapter for 2023 and beyond, with the unveiling of our strategic expansion plans, timed with a newly-formed leadership and board structure.

As the newly appointed CEO, I intend to drive the Group’s transformation with unrelenting vision, to position it as a worldclass leader in its category.

My plan is to capitalize on our team’s exceptional skills to expand the group further.

We have fantastic talent in this organisation. I feel this team is more than capable to become a global leader and it is my responsibility to make sure this happens. That is my role, as I see it – bringing together and motivating our great Magrabi team.

We are determined to succeed and grow. This year we relaunched the new Board, an entire new mission statement, updated core values, cultural norms, refreshed strategy house – the entire pack of organisation structure, strategy implementation office, performance management and KPIs.

The new leadership structure mirrors the transformation within the Group and will be followed by the announcement of an innovative and progressive Board of Directors structure.

This thought leadership in our Board and corporate governance is such that one of the world’s leading university business schools has asked to use Magrabi as a corporate case study.

These shifts are also strategically aligned with the Group’s accelerated gender equity commitments, targeting a 50:50 gender balance at all levels of the organization by 2025. Our target is ambitious - not just in the Middle East - but even in companies across Europe and the US.

I believe if we get super effective and efficient, then I will be able to scale up this organisation and ensure this great and strong team returns on our investment in them.

My role, as I see it, is someone who removes frictions. We have a great mission. We have a great strategy. If we simply remove all the frictions, we will scale up and become a truly global leader.