Serial entrepreneur Mahmoud Awad, the managing director of Concorde Corodex, was exposed to business at a very young age. Victor Besa for The National
Serial entrepreneur Mahmoud Awad, the managing director of Concorde Corodex, was exposed to business at a very young age. Victor Besa for The National
Serial entrepreneur Mahmoud Awad, the managing director of Concorde Corodex, was exposed to business at a very young age. Victor Besa for The National
Serial entrepreneur Mahmoud Awad, the managing director of Concorde Corodex, was exposed to business at a very young age. Victor Besa for The National

After 40 years in the UAE, serial entrepreneur knows his business


Michael Fahy
  • English
  • Arabic

If there’s anything Mahmoud Awad has learnt over the course of a business career spanning more than 40 years in the UAE, it is the importance of knowing your numbers.

“Many companies close because the manager is not really involved in the accounts,” he says. “I advise any man who wants to run a company to have courses in accounts. Because if an accountant wants to play dirty, he can destroy you.”

Mr Awad, 68, is the managing director of Concorde Corodex – a group of companies making fire protection, water purification and specialist gas products that now has a turnover of about Dh400 million per year. He also has a string of other, seemingly unrelated investments, ranging from an industrial gas manufacturer, a metal fabrication firm, a manufacturer of emergency vehicles, a VAT refunds business and a chain of fish restaurants.

As a result, interviewing Mr Awad about his career as a serial entrepreneur leads off into many different tangents, but to him, it is simple.

“Life is full of opportunities. If you are in the right place at the right time, grab it,” he says. “Not everything I did succeeded. Some things failed and we lost money. But if you don’t grab opportunity, you go nowhere. This is life – you take the chance.”

Mr Awad, who is from Palestine, was exposed to business at a very young age. As soon as he was able to ride a bicycle he made deliveries from his grandfather’s shop. His arrival in the UAE came in 1968 after he completed a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from Beirut University.

Here, he spent six years as manager of a gas plant owned by Qatar’s Almana group before spotting a gap in the market for firefighting equipment.

“People kept bringing their fire extinguishers to be refilled [with carbon dioxide]. Sometimes they were not suitable – they were either too old, rusty or damaged. So I started bringing in new extinguishers.”

But his decision to set up Concorde Corodex caused some distress for his former employer, who implored him to carry on running the gas plant in return for an investment in his new venture. Mr Awad agreed, and with a third shareholder, Englishman Leslie Nassey, they each put in Dh50,000 of start-up capital. Mr Nassey sold his stake in 1987 and passed away three years ago, but Almana remains a joint partner in several businesses.

Initially, the company imported fire extinguishers from the UK firm Chubb and later imported fire clothing, cabinets and doors from Bristol Equipment. It moved to its main site at Al Quoz in Dubai in 1986 and began manufacturing in 1991, when it had just 30 staff.

Its current staff numbers of about 1,000 are now split between its 220,000 square feet Al Quoz site in Dubai and a 350,000sq ft facility at Icad in Abu Dhabi, where it manufactures water and desalination equipment, water treatment products and vehicles for the emergency services.

He credits both the UAE’s regulatory regime and his employees as contributors towards his success, stating that a successful leader needs a competent army to succeed, and vice versa.

“You should be fair with your employees. I have some people working with me since 1979. If I’m not fair with them, they won’t stay so long. You have to take care of them – even their personal problems.”

His other businesses include Dubai Industrial Gases, steel fabricator Al Mana Metal Construction and Fexco Middle East – a company that reclaims the VAT levied on hotels and other business expenses incurred by Middle East firms in the UK and Europe. It carries out all of the paperwork and returns 75 per cent of the proceeds to clients, keeping the other 25 per cent as commission.

Surprisingly, the businesses that have given him the greatest pleasure have been his six fish restaurants – two in Dubai, three in Sharjah and one in Ajman. This isn’t because of any culinary passion, but their ability to generate cash.

At Concorde Corodex, he explains, there are 10 accountants and four credit control staff. The restaurants have about 120 staff, but none are required to chase payments.

“It’s all cash – there is no credit. And there’s no inventory. We buy daily – it’s all fresh food. We don’t keep stock.”

The fire safety business, in particular, still offers plenty of potential, though. According to Frost & Sullivan, the Gulf’s fire safety market is set to grow at 15 per cent a year in the run-up to 2020 to $3.15 billion, driven by demand from Saudi Arabia (which currently has a 46 per cent local market share) and the UAE (34 per cent). The UAE market is worth $476m per year.

Although much of Concorde Corodex’s day-to-day activities are now handled by Mr Awad’s two sons, there are certain activities he likes to keep a close eye.

“I don’t go out and sell any more, but when there is a big amount [owed] from some companies, I go to collect money,” he says. “Because after all, I feel my responsibility is to pay salaries, so I cannot let my money lie sleeping with other people.”

mfahy@thenational.ae

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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes

HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India  1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps

Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.

The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?

My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.

The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.

So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.

 

 

The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Transmission: ten-speed

Power: 420bhp

Torque: 624Nm

Price: Dh325,125

On sale: Now

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Omar Yabroudi's factfile

Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah

Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University

2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship

2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy

2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment

2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment

2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager

 

 

 

 

TEST SQUADS

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.

WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Biog:

Age: 34

Favourite superhero: Batman

Favourite sport: anything extreme

Favourite person: Muhammad Ali 

Cricket World Cup League Two

Oman, UAE, Namibia

Al Amerat, Muscat

 

Results

Oman beat UAE by five wickets

UAE beat Namibia by eight runs

 

Fixtures

Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia

Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE

Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia

Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia

The Penguin

Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz

Creator: Lauren LeFranc

Rating: 4/5

The bio

Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions

School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira

Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk

Dream City: San Francisco

Hometown: Dubai

City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO

Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13 

Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier

Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife 

What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents. 

Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.

THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

The bio

Favourite book: Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

Favourite quote: “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist

Favourite Authors: Arab poet Abu At-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi

Favourite Emirati food: Luqaimat, a deep-fried dough soaked in date syrup

Hobbies: Reading and drawing

Europe’s rearming plan
  • Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
  • Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
  • Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS

Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League 
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals

2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25  

The%C2%A0specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.4-litre%2C%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeight-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E617hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E750Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh630%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Washmen Profile

Date Started: May 2015

Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Laundry

Employees: 170

Funding: about $8m

Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures

How green is the expo nursery?

Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers

About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is  ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months

Barbie
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Du Football Champions

The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.

The%20team
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ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

UAE%20athletes%20heading%20to%20Paris%202024
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEquestrian%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EAbdullah%20Humaid%20Al%20Muhairi%2C%20Abdullah%20Al%20Marri%2C%20Omar%20Al%20Marzooqi%2C%20Salem%20Al%20Suwaidi%2C%20and%20Ali%20Al%20Karbi%20(four%20to%20be%20selected).%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EJudo%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMen%3A%20Narmandakh%20Bayanmunkh%20(66kg)%2C%20Nugzari%20Tatalashvili%20(81kg)%2C%20Aram%20Grigorian%20(90kg)%2C%20Dzhafar%20Kostoev%20(100kg)%2C%20Magomedomar%20Magomedomarov%20(%2B100kg)%3B%20women's%20Khorloodoi%20Bishrelt%20(52kg).%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECycling%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESafia%20Al%20Sayegh%20(women's%20road%20race).%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESwimming%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMen%3A%20Yousef%20Rashid%20Al%20Matroushi%20(100m%20freestyle)%3B%20women%3A%20Maha%20Abdullah%20Al%20Shehi%20(200m%20freestyle).%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAthletics%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMaryam%20Mohammed%20Al%20Farsi%20(women's%20100%20metres).%3C%2Fp%3E%0A