6 minute read
COMPANY PROFILE: AREA FOUR
AS THE WORLD’S LARGEST SUPPLIER OF TRUSS OPENS A DEDICATED MIDDLE EAST OFFICE, TPMEA CATCHES UP WITH THE MEN TASKED WITH RUNNING THE OPERATION –GENERAL MANAGER, KEVIN BOUJIKIAN AND SALES MANAGER, PAUL HADFIELD.
While many planned company expansions, mergers and acquisitions around the world have been put on hold since the emergence of COVID-19, when it came to Area Four Industries opening a new outpost in the Middle East, not even a global pandemic could get in the way of progress. Having signed on the dotted line at ISE in February 2020, for the past year, Kevin Boujikian, General Manager, Area Four Industries Direct Middle East, has been busy providing clients with direct access to the world’s best-known truss, staging and hoist brands belonging to the group, including LITEC, MILOS, Prolyte, James Thomas Engineering and EXE Technology.
“We are very excited to be part of this dynamic and innovative truss group, as it gives us the opportunity to develop our customer relationships, provide better service with faster delivery of products, and expand our technology expertise and innovation across the GCC and Middle East region,” commented Boujikian, who will be familiar to TPMEA readers through his work as General Manager of Provision AVL – a role he will continue to hold alongside his new duties with Area Four Industries.
Based in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the company now has an extensive stock ready to service clients throughout the region. “JAFZA is the ideal strategic location,” Boujikian commented. “It’s close to the port, so it gives us a logistical advantage. And the fact that it’s in a free zone is also extremely advantageous.” The organisation received a boost recently with the appointment of Sales Manager, Paul Hadfield. Bringing a wealth of industry experience, over the past decade, Hadfield has been Distributor Manager for Prolyte, working in the UK, Europe, South Africa and UAE.
“We’ve been working on this for quite a while now, and we felt that this was the right time for Paul to join the company so we can take over the challenge of managing Area Four Industries Middle East together,” Boujikian commented.
“This is my first position in Dubai,” Hadfield added, speaking to TPMEA just a week into his new role. “I’ve worked out here on a supply basis many times over the years and it was always a dream of mine to take on this challenge and move over full time. Kevin and I hit it off immediately and connected on many levels, so
Facing page: Area Four Industries Direct Middle East’s Kevin Boujikan and Paul Hadfield.
it’s great to be able to work alongside him and the team.”
Clearly full of enthusiasm for his new challenge, Hadfield shared his understanding of the regional market. “There’s no doubt that there is a strong business base in the region,” he began. “However, it has never really had a dedicated supplier of this type, with the major trussing, staging and hoist brands, all under one roof. With Area Four Industries Direct Middle East, we’re very much a one-stop turnkey solution that will provide value added benefits to our clients.”
Having worked in the industry for the past two decades, the new Sales Manager has an extensive contact book – many of whom are now based in the Middle East. “There are a lot of familiar faces out here, which is useful for me to be able to hit the ground running,” Hadfield remarked, adding that most of the groundwork had already been done for him. “There’s a huge amount of respect for what Kevin and the team have done already. There are undoubtedly strong foundations in place with Provision AVL, and now we’re carrying it on with the new venture.”
‘THE CREAM RISES TO THE TOP’ While live events projects have been few and far between of late for obvious reasons, the installation market is still performing strongly for the business.
“We get involved in a lot of installation work, so we’re not pigeonholed into working only on live events,” Boujikian revealed. “It’s so important for us to be able to spread our skills and our experience across many different sectors, which has kept us going throughout this period.”
COVID-19 has, of course, had an effect. “From a business point of view, we would have been further down the track and some projects that are currently being worked on would probably have already been installed by now,” Hadfield conceded. However, the Sales Manager is confident about the overall prognosis for the industry in the Middle East.
“There’s a very bright calendar going forward here – particularly from October onwards and the start of Expo 2020, which is sure to be a massive ground-breaking global event,” he pinpointed. “There’s a real sense of the size and scale of the event. All the indications are that it will be an incredibly safe and successful event, which will provide a major boost for our industry.”
Hadfield was under no illusions as to his purpose within the organisation. “There needs to be business coming in for me to have a purpose here,” he stated plainly. “While we are not currently at full capacity due to the restraints of the pandemic, we have a steady stream of work coming in and we’re confident that the industry will bounce back bigger and brighter than ever. The challenge then becomes being agile enough to facilitate that increased demand – something which we feel we’re in a good position to do.”
While the installation market is the primary focus this year, Hadfield was keen to stress that the company is always on the lookout for other ideas and ways in which to help the business grow. “When you look at our business, more often than not, you’d associate it with rock ’n’ roll or theatre. However, there are other aspects of the business such as TV, broadcast, sport, retail, leisure and other opportunities such as esports, which are massive sectors and are growing very quickly,” he commented.
As the official representatives to the GCC and Levant regions, while the headquarters is located in Dubai, there are plenty of projects going on outside the UAE. “Saudi Arabia is a strong market for us,” Boujikian revealed. “Looking at the growth that is taking place outside of Dubai, there are so many opportunities now that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.”
With such a wide range of trussing options now available, Hadfield conceded that the market has become somewhat diluted. However, he maintains that, in terms of quality and longevity, the equipment Area Four Industries carries is a cut above the rest. “We carry globally recognised brands from the world-leading manufacturer,” he commented. When I first started in the industry 20 years ago, there were limited options for trussing, for example. Nowadays, you’ve only got to type the word ‘truss’ into Google, and you’ll get a million and one options, but we believe strongly that the cream rises to the top and the quality speaks for itself.”
He added: “In this industry, quality and safety is paramount, and we’re proud to be able to offer the very best equipment from the world’s most trusted manufacturers. History has taught us that by investing in the right products, our customers not only get long-lasting equipment, but also receive a high level of dedicated support long after orders have been delivered.”
Hadfield went on to share his vision for the future. “In the short term, my remit is to continue building the profile of the business in the region. Kevin and the team have already built incredibly strong foundations long before I arrived on the scene, so I’ll look to use that solid base to build from,” he commented. “In the long term, who knows? We both have extremely high aspirations for the company. At the moment we’re a dedicated, customer-focused team and we all want to grow together and thrive.” Photos: Area Four Industries Direct Middle East www.areafourindustries.me
