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Halton has delivered thousands of projects in the region including the Thai Restaurant at Park Hyatt in Dubai.

Halton’s service is a breath of fresh air

01 November 2019

Halton’s success in its mission to enable people’s well-being in demanding indoor environments has catapulted the Finnish company into the wide global arena, where it has been providing a unique selection of indoor air solutions.

The company caters to the specific requirements of challenging environments, ranging from commercial kitchens, marine vessels, industrial environments and public and work spaces to operating theatres and laboratories.

Halton took its first steps in the Middle East in the early 1990s, and established its regional office in the UAE in 2008. Over the past decade, the company has doubled its business in the region, expanding to the neighbouring GCC countries and the wider Middle East including Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.

Hunjul: The Gulf region continues to be an important strategic growth area for Halton.

To date, Halton has delivered thousands of projects in the Middle East. Halton’s biggest business area in the region, Halton Foodservice, provides indoor air and integrated lighting systems for professional kitchen and restaurant environments. The company’s solutions can be found in various five to seven-star-hotels such as the Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa. Its other references in the region include high-performance kitchens for Bluewaters Island, Emirates Flight Catering, Jewel of the Creek, Address Skyview Hotel, all in Dubai, UAE; Sofitel Jabal Omar Development and Nobu Hotel Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia; and the Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah Hospital kitchen in Kuwait.

Besides high-class food service environments and fine dining, Halton Foodservice is gaining ground in quick-service chain restaurants and schools.

Halton’s second biggest business area in the region, Halton Marine, provides solutions for oil and gas production and industrial environments as well as marine vessels. Halton Buildings, meanwhile, provides indoor air systems for public premises and work places.

The Gulf region continues to be an important strategic growth area for Halton, Azzam Hunjul, director of the company Middle East operations, tells Gulf Construction.

To support the growth, solution development and customer service in the region, Halton today employs 20 people in the UAE and four in Saudi Arabia and gets involved in its customers’ projects from the early stages of design to the final execution and commissioning and also provides after-sales services.

Halton Foodservice is gaining ground in quick-service chain restaurants.

“Being close to our customers and partners enables us to develop our technologies based on local standards and tailor our solutions to meet even the most demanding customer needs – which is at the core of Halton’s business philosophy. Our local operation is also supported by the global network of Halton’s professionals as well as Halton Innovation Hubs, our R&D (research and development) centres around the world, that allow us to test and apply lessons gained in different target environments,” Hunjul says.

The company’s business journey in the Middle East has provided the Halton team with useful lessons. One important aspect comes from the climate.

“Without any doubt, the climate is a major challenge in the Gulf area especially during the summer season which is when energy consumption peaks and this highlights the importance of energy-efficient indoor air systems,” Hunjul continues.

“We have managed to play a significant role in cutting energy consumption in commercial kitchens, for instance, and at the same time provided premium indoor conditions for chefs and their customers and minimised kitchen emissions into the atmosphere.”

According to him, Halton relies on R&D. “Halton Foodservice alone has got 261 patents issued and filed another 211 during the past 10 years. Our technologies include what we call a ‘Technology Circle’ covering all stages of kitchen ventilation systems. This circle follows the air “journey” from the fresh air taken from the outside to its return back to the atmosphere and all steps in between.

Halton’s technologies cover all stages of kitchen ventilation systems.

“Ideally, if these products and technologies were combined, you would benefit from the healthiest replacement air, the best working conditions for chefs and their staff, the highest hygiene and safety levels combined with unrivalled energy savings – all this while enabling restaurants to be established where they are of most value without fearing the neighbourhood or guests’ complaints because of unwanted emissions and odours.”

“Even when the products and technologies are not all combined, they bring demonstrated benefits for all types of professional kitchens,” Hunjul adds.

Energy-efficient and effective heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems not only enhance the indoors and generate monetary value in terms of cutting operating costs and increasing people’s work efficiency but also help meet environmental standards and fight climate change.

“We can help facilities and businesses utilising our systems to enhance their sustainability. Investing in high-quality indoor environments is a service to the outdoor climate too. Considering this aspect together with the rest of Halton’s long-standing values base also highlighted in our Sustainability Report, I feel confident of our future in this region,” Hunjul concludes.

A family-owned business founded in Finland in 1969, the Halton Group is a global technology leader in indoor air solutions for demanding spaces. The company has 12 production units in nine countries and eight R&D units in seven countries, with a new one currently being set up. Halton’s solutions are sold on all continents. Today, the Halton Group employs 1,600 people in 36 countries around the world, and the company’s solutions are sold on all continents. In 2018, the group’s turnover was €218 million ($234 million).