The Hi-Finity range of sliding systems.
Reynaers to tap ‘huge’ Saudi potential
01 March 2015
Bahrain-based Reynaers Middle East is looking at tapping the huge potential for growth offered by the Saudi market, particularly in Riyadh’s booming commercial and residential sectors.
The Middle East office of Reynaers, the leading European aluminium systems provider, anticipates a surge in demand for its quality systems in Riyadh over the medium term.
“The city will see a housing boom over the next two to three years and we expect to cater to this surge in demand for housing compounds units through our cost-effective ES 45 Pa window system and CP 45 sliding system,” says Ali Khalaf, managing director of Reynaers Middle East.
“The malls and hotel business is also another growth area for Reynaers,” he adds.
To cater to this buoyant market, the company appointed a dedicated area manager three years ago, which has helped enhance its reach in Riyadh. Reynaers is also targeting contractors, consultants and real estate developers to further entrench itself in the market.
Saudi Arabia is one of the most important markets for the company, where an estimated $960 billion worth of projects are reported to be planned or under way, says Khalaf.
Reynaers Middle East, which has been operational in the Saudi market for some time now, has witnessed exponential growth in the 2012-2014 period, in terms of the projects acquired and executed.
“Saudi Arabia is somewhat different from the rest of the markets that Reynaers Middle East serves, given its geographical expanse, diverse population and varied projects base,” comments Khalaf.
The company has been consistently deploying various initiatives to gauge the dynamics of the aluminium systems sector in the region in order to identify the appropriate channels and position its marketing mix for the different market segments in Saudi Arabia.
“Well-formulated strategies have been used to assess the requirements of this very active construction sector,” he says.
He continues: “We have divided our target market into three main regions of the kingdom namely, the east, west and central regions – each with a dedicated area sales manager, who is responsible for the business development of his territory. “We felt it was important to carefully segment this particular country in the portfolio of 10 markets that we are currently serving. This is because we have witnessed contrasting needs from one region to another, for example, we can say that while the Central region – predominately Riyadh – is a pure projects market with high-rise towers and commercial buildings, the Eastern and Western regions are a mixed bag of residential and project based requirements.
The 2012-2014 period also reflects the evolving needs of the Saudi market where clients have been moving away from standard façade, doors and windows solutions to more sustainable, safe and environment-friendly systems. “This change in customer preferences is evident from the surging demand for different variants of the Reynaers Aluminium systems,” Khalaf points out.
He elaborates: “Initially when we started supplying our products in this region, our core product offering – the CW 50 curtain-walling solution – seemed to fit its requirements. However, now we are witnessing an increase in requests for other systems like the sliding systems CP 155 or CP 45 Pa.
“The doors and windows systems requirements are also becoming more and more sophisticated with the demand for bullet-proof and fire-proof options.”
In Riyadh, for example, there is increasing demand for security systems and our fire- and bulletproof systems have been chosen for some projects.
More recently, Reynaers Middle East has been taking concrete steps to gain a competitive edge in the market and this has included setting up a full-fledged warehouse facility in Dammam to strengthen the value preposition offered in its products and services.
Additionally, the company is now geared to serve the B2C (business to consumer) segment through dedicated showrooms and a fabrication unit catering to the villa and homes market. Some of Reynaers newly launched products like the Hi-Finity range of sliding systems, the Sensity variant of the aluwood doors and windows and the luxurious Purity handles will be getting the most appropriate launchpad through this medium of retail selling.
Over the past year, Reynaers has managed to secure some prominent projects in Riyadh including commercial developments such as the Aloft Hotel and Mathalek Tower as well as private villa projects such as Abdulla Jammas Villas and Omran Villas.
It has executed a number of projects elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, the most recent being the Bay La Sun Hotel (waterfront hotel), Bamarouf Tower, Prince Khaled Faisal commercial and office building, Al Ammary office building, Jaleel Mosque and Murshed Tower in Jeddah as well as the Basem Tower and Bin Dahesh Place in Makkah.
Its earlier projects included Ramada Hotel and Sehamiya Tower in Al Khobar.
Some of the luxury villa projects undertaken in Saudi Arabia include the Jameel Beach House, Ahyar Villa, Bakheet and Sami Sahbaan Villa.
Elsewhere in the GCC, well-known and bespoke projects undertaken by Reynaers Middle East include the Four Seasons hotel (set to open this month) and Tala Islands in Bahrain; Ferrari Theme Park at Yas Island and the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, UAE; the Sports City (Aspire) Tower and Qatar National Convention Centre, both in Qatar.
Reynaers Aluminium is a leading European provider of innovative and sustainable architectural aluminium solutions including window and door systems, curtain-walling, sliding systems, sun screening, conservatories, skylights, screens and systems to incorporate blinds and ventilation grids.
Established in 1965 and headquartered in Duffel (Belgium), Reynaers Aluminum has offices in more than 30 countries worldwide.
