Luxury retailer flies the nest

Barely a year into taking over as CEO of Bin Hendi Enterprises, 28-year-old Amna Binhendi could soon be presiding over an IPO to help fund expansion plans in line with the company's impressive growth target.

"We have grown and have been talking about [an IPO], but nothing has been confirmed yet," she told Emirates Business in an interview. At the time of going to press, she clarified that any such offering would not happen this year.

The Dubai-based conglomerate – which is perhaps best known for its luxury shops and innovative casual dining concepts but straddles businesses as diverse as construction, media and money exchange – aims at a "minimum 40 per cent increase" in size and turnover each year, according to the CEO.

It expects to invest Dh400 million in expanding its operations, and Binhendi says the money will be raised both from banks and from current profit streams. "Any profit we make goes back into the company for expansion, it isn't used by the owner at a personal level," she says.

It's a growth path that will see the company grow its operations into the GCC as well as select new markets around the world both directly and through the franchise route.

In total it will be operating 139 outlets by the year-end, up from 102 at the moment. The largest increase will be in restaurants and fashion stores, which will increase from 42 to 61 and 35 to 48 respectively.

Nearly half that number of new stores – 18 outlets – will be at the much-anticipated Dubai Mall, set to open at the end of August. Expect standalone stores at the mall for well-pollinated brands such as Hugo Boss and Second Cup, and new outlets for Jacob & Co and Ulysse Nardin and luxury mobile phone Goldvish. "When I saw the phone, I couldn't let go of it," says the CEO. In her Fendi headscarf, Gucci shoes and Bottega Veneta handbag (she designs her own abayas that are executed by a personal tailor) it's clear she loves brands – and as you might expect, she goes shopping in her downtime. "Sitting here [in Bin Hendi Avenue at Deira City Centre], I'm just thinking, what shall I go and buy now?"

But what's the need to be in every mall? Will new outlets at Dubai Mall not cannibalise existing stores? After all, when the Mall of the Emirates opened, for the first time in the city's history, it pulled traffic away from other malls.

She says experience proves otherwise. "You have to be in every mall, otherwise you lose track. And with Dubai growing and expanding tremendously, you have to keep pace with the competition. People like to see the number of Hugo Boss stores you have; it shows how important the brand is. And amazingly, our sales figures have not dropped with new stores, but they've grown in line with the expansion."

Some of those new stores are also brands new to the region, including the chocolate boutique Cacao Sampaka from Barcelona; Lebanese franchise Burj Al Hamam; the pan-Asian restaurant Duck King and from London, the upmarket Joe's Café.
Beyond the UAE, new markets that the group has ventured into recently are Oman and India, where it has exported its successful UAE-grown Japengo international dining concept. But it will soon open outlets in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and it has been approached to open in Egypt, Lebanon and Singapore.

It hopes that Japengo – an idea its President, Mohi-Din Binhendi, thought up when none of his business partners wanted to meet over a sushi lunch – will be franchised all over the world, including the United States. "Anything new is always wanted. And I think Japengo with the different types of cuisine – from Japanese to Iranian to Indian – is something unique, there aren't a lot of restaurants like that," says Amna Binhendi, who says she always orders the Nasi Goreng when she stops by one of the chain's many outlets here in Dubai.

"Our main priority is to find the right partners," she continues. "At the biggest franchising exhibition in Dubai, there were queues of people who just wanted Japengo."

But the group will only tie up with companies that have experience in hospitality and that have the money to invest in the brand. "We go and visit them and see how they run their outlets before we train them and approve a franchise. We have to ensure quality, because if a partner takes the brand and ruins it, they ruin the brand's entire reputation."

Up close in person, Amna is an interviewer's delight. Like everyone else in Dubai, the Jumeirah resident moans about the traffic and confesses to missing the old days when there were camels outside the family house.

She is forthcoming on everything from her love of shopping to the cars in her garage (an X5 and a Bentley GT) but is frustratingly close-mouthed about figures. When I press further, all she will say is she leaves that to the President, who made way for her last September when she was announced as CEO. "It's challenging for a young woman like me who has only just turned 28," she says of her job. "I'm so into my work, I'm always talking about it – even after work and on vacation."

And while some might say she was guaranteed the position by birth, Amna says she's had to prove herself since the day she joined in 2002. "When Mr Binhendi gave me the offer a year before, I said no. I said, let me finish my MBA – he said OK, waited a few months, and then I got a letter of appointment. And I'd been in interviews, interviewing people for my position, and I didn't know what he had in mind. But it's like a mother with her child – why give the child to a nanny?" she says. "I think he tested me for five years, which is more than enough. He saw how cautious I was with the company, he saw my leadership skills – being born the eldest, you need to have leadership skills."

And it is always Mr Binhendi or the President. She rarely ever refers to him as Dad, unless it is in a personal context. Her father, now 60, is still very involved with the company, she says, showing up at work every morning at 7.30, and putting in a full day's work like the rest of them.

"Whenever I need help, I just pick up the phone and take advice from my father, he has much more experience than me," she confides. From her conversation, the senior Binhendi comes across as the ideal boss: someone who supports his staff and leaves them a free rein to do their jobs. And whether or not that is just his own way of ensuring the hands that guide the family business into the next generation are steady, it's an management approach the region's family businesses could do well to learn from.

A graduate of Zayed University with a bachelor's degree in information systems and business administration, Amna went on to do her work placement with Dubai e-government and was offered positions with both government and private sector companies. "But I thought about it – why work somewhere else when I can gain experience in my own company?"

Her route to the corner office, she says, took in every department and saw her go on buying trips and business negotiations meetings. And while people on the shopfloor were friendly ("You have to prove yourself – and I did. I don't eat, I don't bite, I'm here to be a part of your team"), she did occasionally come across someone scared she might take their job. "One person in particular would never call me to meetings – but I'd take his schedule from his secretary and push my nose into every meeting because he was the only person I could learn from."

She soon settled in as vice-president of human resources, where she put a grading structure into place and created an employee handbook for a group that is now 3,000-people strong, a far cry from the 30 employees in 1998, when Mohi-Din Binhendi quit a job with the airport to focus on his business.

Human resources, a department she calls the heart of any company, was an experience that left her with empathy for her colleagues and she talks of her wonderful team again and again. One initiative she put in place since taking over is an open day every Monday afternoon, where anyone from within the company can come and see her, she says.

"I've had people in construction come in who could not speak a word of English. But we brought in translators, we found out what their problems were. It benefits us and people are happier. You've got to make them feel they're wanted, that you care for them, that's the only way to retain and keep our people in times when everyone is headhunting other people's employees."

It's this approach that makes Bin Hendi a favoured employer, with even former employees wanting to come back once they've left, she says. But clearly, Amna Binhendi is going to need every bit of support she can get as she takes her company from strength to strength.




The Numbers


Dh400m
The amount Bin Hendi Enterprises will spend on an expansion bringing new brands into Dubai and taking the group into new markets


139
Number of outlets the group will have by 2008 – up from 102 at the moment


3000
Number of people on the rolls at Bin Hendi Enterprises

14
Number of sectors the group operates in, from construction to paints and media

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