- Al Shirawi becomes a founding member of MEFMA (Middle East Facility Management Association- founded by RERA) to help promote standardisation in facilities management -

Pan-Arab: Al Shirawi FM, a leading facilities management company head quartered in Dubai, has today signed a strategic partnership with the Middle East Facility Management Association to become a founding member and help the organisation promote best practice guidelines at a time when the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) is giving responsibility to owner associations.

Under the umbrella of MEFMA, Al Shirawi FM will help contribute to the development of facilities management across the Middle East, an industry which generated revenues of more than $3.8 billion in 2009 according to research by Frost and Sullivan.

This market is expected to grow at the rate of more than 20 percent over the next 5 years, especially with the rise of owner associations who will demand higher standards from facility management operators. As a consequence MEFMA will play a vital role in establishing a platform for best practices and standardisation in the market, one which is supported by the leading stakeholders in facilities management such as Al Shirawi.

Jamal Lootah, President of MEFMA added: “The board of MEFMA has gathered the industry’s leading companies and encouraged a culture of transparency and the sharing of knowledge, so that we can create the very best training programmes and guidelines for best practices. We are delighted that Al Shirawi has become part of this process and is similarly committed to the standardization and promotion of facilities management in the Middle East.”

Navin Valrani, CEO of Al Shirawi FM said of the strategic partnership with MEFMA: “It is imperative that the exponential growth of our industry is controlled and MEFMA is perfectly structured to ensure its development moves in the right direction. Our remit is to pool our experience in the market place with other leading stakeholders, and under the management of MEFMA, ensure that best practices are shared with the wider industry, which will ultimately benefit the end-user.”

. . . . . . . .

About Al Shirawi FM
Al Shirawi Facilities Management L.L.C is the premier Facilities Management Service Provider in UAE. With a focus on commercial, residential, hospitality, industrial and retail projects; Al Shirawi FM has the necessary in-house infrastructure and resources to offer world-class service for world-class properties. www.alshirawifm.com

About MEFMA
MEFMA , a non-profit association initiated by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), aims to establish a platform of recognized knowledge and best practice for the facilities management industry. In addition to being an expert source for all FM stakeholders including authorities, buildings owners & facility managers’ professionals, MEFMA’s Vision is to standardize & create effective facilities management benchmarking in the Middle East region. More information is available at www.mefma.org.

Al Shirawi FM continued its march towards quality by opening its very own training centre. “Al Shirawi FM takes is an organization that upholds its people as its most valuable resource. We further believe that people are our most valuable asset and therefore we will seek to develop our staff in line with business needs and personal aspirations” said Navin Valrani, CEO, Al Shirawi FM, as he inaugurated the Training Centre .

The Training Centre has been set to serve as a centre for learning, personal and professional advancement to support the organization’s current and future needs for trained, skilled and dynamic personnel. Previously, such training and development was conducted through affiliated training institutions. Keeping up with changing times, training and development is now a core component of the overall business strategy and hence will be conducted in-house.

Al Shirawi FM, a member of the Al Shirawi Group of Companies, an integrated Facilities Management Service Provider, with over 800 contract and 300 people across the UAE. The company boasts an impressive IT infrastructure, dedicated personnel and a high work ethic to make it one of the leading FM providers in the UAE.

Al Shirawi FM participated in the recently held “FM EXPO 2010” at the World Trade Centre in Dubai. This internationally acclaimed facility management event is held every year and attracts a diversified following.

Al Shirawi FM presented an exclusive preview of its FM solutions to the visitors which included Integrated Facilities Management packages such as Account Management, Cleaning, Security and MEP services.

With its vast experience in the field, Al Shirawi FM has 400+ projects across the U.A.E and is immensely proud of the 900+ professionals who strive together in the endeavor of delivering consistent quality service across its clients in different sectors.

The FM Expo creates a platform for new business relationships and enhancement of professional growth within organizations. Al Shirawi was proud to contribute innovate ideas and share its best practices with the peer members in the industry.

Earth Hour for 2010 took place on Saturday 27 March at 8.30pm (UAE time). As a corporate citizen, to show the corporate social responsibility and Al Shirawi's concern on the sustainable future of our planet, Al Shirawi FM participated in the 2010 EARTH HOUR in all the properties under its management.

Almost all the common area lighting and unwanted additional equipments in the above buildings were put off between 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM. Al Shirawi achieved an energy saving of about 2000 KWH during this period, which is about 1080 kgCO2 of carbon emissions.

Earth Hour is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community through out the world. It is a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating.

In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative.

Al Shirawi Facilities Management, a member of the Al Shirawi Group of Companies, is an integrated Facilities Management Service Provider, with over 800 contracts and 300 people across the UAE. The company boasts an impressive IT infrastructure, dedicated personnel and a high work ethic to make it one of the leading FM providers in the UAE.

Al Shirawi Electrical & Mechanical Engineering has further expanded its operations by now opening a branch office in Fujairah. With operations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah already in place, the latest geographical extension into Fujairah will provide even greater opportunities for the firm.

"We continue to see significant construction activity in the Northern Emirates, and in particular in the Emirate of Fujairah. With the level of projects already in construction as well as those under planning, we see significant opportunities in both our new construction side of the business as well as the facilities management business." said Navin Valrani, CEO of Al Shirawi Electrical & Mechanical Engineering.

Established in 1974, Al Shirawi Electrical & Mechanical Engineering is one of the oldest mechanical and electrical contracting companies in the region. With over 2000 employees, the firm today provides mechanical and electrical services to the construction sector, as well as the facilities management services across the United Arab Emirates.

The first ever World FM Day is scheduled for 28th August, 2009. Facility Management (FM) associations around the world will be celebrating this event in their respective countries by promoting recognition of the contribution that facility management makes to the workplace and home alike. Some FM associations are staging public events to bring attention to the important role facility management plays, not only in the business world but also in ensuring environmental sustainability and building life cycle costs are managed effectively.

With businesses and high-rise residents increasingly occupying complex, technology-dependant buildings, facing greater cost pressures and responding to calls for better stewardship of the Earth’s resources, professional facility management has emerged as the best way to establish adaptability, flexibility and sustainability within the built environment. World FM Day will highlight facility management’s role as a critical, strategic business discipline that makes real contributions to an organisation’s overall success.

World FM Day activities will include governmental partnerships, networking events, award presentations, luncheons, video presentations, social media campaigns and more, all with the goal of raising the profile of the facility management profession worldwide

"I am pleased to see the first-ever World FM day taking shape" said Global FM Chairman Steve Gladwin. "Each local event will enable our members to demonstrate the objectives and progress of facility management and how critical it is as a strategic business discipline. Moreover, we will be able to showcase the ideals of facility management, not only within the profession and industry, but also to governments and the general public."

"Lionel Prodgers created one of the first FM companies in 1984 and has been involved in several major FM business deals. He was BIFM chairman from 1997 to 1999, chairman of EuroFM from 2000 to 2005 and a board director of IFMA from 2006 until 2008.The biggest challenge for FMs, says Lionel, is “understanding that buildings as assets are now only a part of their responsibility. Because businesses have social responsibilities, FMs must ensure these are met and that takes them way outside the confines of the building”.

"To learn more about the impact of the plans for the 28th August, try Googling World FM Day or BIFM’s website for further details as to how FM companies, including Al Shirawi FM, are developing as a leading service providers in a challenged property market.

Al Shirawi Group has implemented Salesforce.com, one of the leading CRM and Sales Applications in the world. "Salesforce.com will allow us to leverage the sales process and provide faster response times on sales requirements. It will effectively allow us to monitor the sales cycle which is critical in today's environment." said MN Chaturvedi, Director of IT at the Al Shirawi Group.

Salesforce.com's flagship sales application gives businesses the upper hand with their sales data. Extensive training to over 50 Users and the management has been given in various group companies and the system has gone live in record time of 4 weeks including data migration and various customizations for the effective use of information.

Al Shirawi Group has realized that quick support, along with the use of the same language as a sales person's dictionary, is one of the key attributes for a successful life cycle on a CRM tool and therefore the Group has put in place a three level support structure of sales coordinators, systems administrators at thegroup level and finally the customer support at Salesforce.com.

The Group has invested in the product and services and hopes to recover this through improvements in the sales process improvement and bringing in the CRM culture at all levels of the sales staff.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, presented Al Shirawi Engineering Services’ CEO, Navin Valrani, with the Roads and Transport Authority Award for Sustainable Transport in a glittering ceremony at the Monarch Hotel in Dubai. Al Shirawi Engineering Service Group (ESG) was awarded the 2nd winner prize in the Transport Safety Category.

In order to establish, implement and maintain a system that continuously works to enhance road and transport safety, Al Shirawi Engineering Services Group (ESG) deputed a team of professionals to develop an organisational level campaign called “BEST“ (Better Environment and Safer Transportation System )

When RTA announced transport safety campaign in the second quarter of the year 2008, a steering committee was formed at to get the programme benchmarked with regional best practises.

The objective behind the core group formulation was to work continuously and improve commercial vehicle efficiency, performance level with investment in state of art technology, training, measurement and monitoring accidents and incidents and to reduce them with targets .The implementation process was kicked off with the help of a well defined commercial transport management system procedure generated to give directions to the campaign.

The campaign title “Better Environment and Safer Transportation System” was chosen taking into account the organisational commitment to build an accident free Dubai through improvement of safety standards adopted by commercial vehicles.

Since joining Al Shirawi as the Manager of A+ Environmental Cleaners in May 2003, Roger de Beaufort has seen the company grow from a young upstart into one of the UAE's leading cleaning organisations. "When I came to A+ Environmental Cleaners the company was in its infancy. As with any new company, there was very little in the way of equipment, processes and training. We've gone from that to now being an ISO certified company," Roger says.

Roger has extensive experience in project management and is passionate about his involvement in the cleaning world. It hasn't taken him long to develop strong opinions about what the industry needs.

He is one of the leading proponents for the establishment of a set of legislated guidelines for cleaning companies operating in the Emirates.

Currently there is no standard procedure in Dubai for cleaning water tanks and this is something Roger believes needs to be changed. "I've been working hard towards getting legislation in process and Dubai Municipality is getting close to finalising on a set of standards," Roger says.

When not working, Roger enjoys an active lifestyle and can often be found playing rugby, cycling, running or swimming.

What started as a surprise birthday party for the boss has turned into a monthly celebration for the staff at Al Shirawi. Each month, the entire company is invited to a party to celebrate with the staff who have had a birthday that month. "The idea came about in July when we held a surprise party for Navin Valrani, our Executive Director", said Human Resources Manager Ashfaq Kazi.

"Staff don't' usually get an opportunity to meet each other outside the scope of their official work. We decided it would be a nice idea to celebrate the birthdays that take place each month and invite everyone to join the fun."

Each month, Ashfaq sends out an email, inviting staff to meet in the company dining room on the last Wednesday or Thursday of the month. The party starts an hour before the office closes, so the impact on work is minimal.

"We decorate the dining room and provide a cake that is cut by the birthday celebrants, who also receive a card, flowers, and a gift voucher. We provide refreshments and snacks for everyone else," said Ashfaq. "Everyone comes, including the department managers and Mr. Navin.”

"The gatherings are a great opportunity for staff from all eight companies to meet each other in an informal setting, as well as to meet the senior managers."

Al Shirawi Electrical and Mechanical Engineering has enhanced its commitment to customer satisfaction for its After Sales Service business with the recent creation of a customer service department. Managed by Pooja Rangwani, the customer service desk was established in December 2003 and monitors and responds to all customer feedback received for its service business be it positive or negative. Feedback is passed directly to the Executive Director, Which ensures all customer comments are heard at the top level of the company and acted upon immediately.

"Customers are free to tell me any small details," Pooja explained.

"Through the Customer Service Desk we can know how satisfied our customers really are and how we can improve our services for them."

Once maintenance is completed Pooja analyses the job report and contacts the customer directly to get feedback on the work done and overall performance of Al Shirawi. She also notifies customers when the next maintenance on their air conditioning system is due.

So far the customer feedback has been predominantly good, according to Pooja, however it hasn't all been positive.
"No-one's perfect, although we are striving to be," Pooja said.
As part of the dedication to customer service, all technicians now undergo a new training programme, given by supervisors, to teach them how to better deal with such things as maintenance work, technical details and interaction with customers.

Customers who wish to contact Pooja Rangwani at the customer service desk can email her at customercare@alshirawi.ae or call 04-3338700.