Face to face: ASGC's Bishoy Azmy

Bishoy Azmy remains

RELATED ARTICLES: Cash flow still bedevils UAE construction: ASGC | 2012 will be the year for growth, says ASGC | ASGC wins Jumeirah Heights contract

Established in 1989 by two partners, Shafar and Azmy, ASGC is today one of the top ten contractors in the UAE, with a significant share of the Dubai construction market in particular.

“Due to the contraction in the industry as a result of the global financial crisis, we have actually maintained a higher percentage in what is actually a smaller absolute market,” says Azmy, who took up the position of CEO when he was only 28.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

Azmy says his strategy to take the company forward has evolved since he took over the reigns.

“We had a very different strategy from 2006 to 2008. Our strategy was to expand ASGC in terms of numbers. We were focusing solely on Dubai, with 100% expansion year-on-year.

Our expectations in 2008 were that we were going to continue this 100% expansion through 2012, so our three-year plan was that we were going to increase the number of people, increase the turnover, we were going to get more massive construction work in Dubai, and the company was just going to grow and grow.”

In order to facilitate this expansion, ASGC had started putting in place the trappings of a larger organisation, including “running a proper ERP system such as Oracle, introducing a stiff environmental and health policy, having multi-cultural managers to introduce diversity into the company. We were trying to move out of the realm of a small, family, local business into a larger company, with a larger turnover.”

Then the downturn dealt a particularly severe blow to the construction industry in Dubai.

“Well, it was a very bad shock; it was a rude awakening. It happened very suddenly; we had work that was cancelled and clients who stopped paying, we had tenders that were shelved, and so we were left to cope with the mess. How we reacted to it was that we laid off a lot of people.

“We reduced our direct monthly costs, and we were one of the earliest companies in Dubai to do so. In fact, the media was quite critical, or at least quite vocal, in its coverage of that because they wanted news about the downturn, and not a lot of construction companies had taken that step or admitted to it.

We did, and we said we laid off thousands, mostly blue-collar workers, but I think that is what saved us.

“We also took some time to work on cost-cutting strategies, how to be more efficient in operations, how to work with a fewer number of people, how to save money both big and small.

I must say we succeeded, and that is why we have survived to date, with much a lower turnover, but we have also maintained a healthy profit margin through the downturn. We have maintained a decent fiscal policy, we have a good relationship with our banks, and we have honoured our larger commitments by and large,” says Azmy.

In terms of recent project completions, Azmy says: “We have completed a villa project in Dubailand and Vision Tower in Business Bay, two properties developments by the Dubai Properties Group. A while back we completed the very successful Golden Mile residential development on the Palm Jumeirah.

We have also just recently completed the Wasl Square residential development by Meraas in the Al Safa area of Dubai.” And looking to the future: “About two months ago we were awarded a five-star hotel on the crescent of the Palm Jumeirah. We are also undertaking a significant amount of work on behalf of Emaar in Egypt, both residential and commercial, as well as a five-star Luxor hotel development by the Egyptian government.”