Bell joins hands with Al Gurg Leigh's Paints to enter UAE

Dubai: Bell Group, one of the UK's largest paint application companies, is partnering with Al Gurg Leigh's Paints (AGLP) to enter the UAE's painting industry.

The UK-based company, that does maintenance painting and protective treatment to decorate finishes and industrial cleaning, will deal with the local company which has the license to manufacture Dulux paint in the UAE.

The company deals with the same brand in the UK and is expecting to have its existing customers follow them to the UAE. Officials said they are already in advanced talks with contractors here.

Officials have observed that there is a "distinct lack of sub-contractors and no proper infrastructure for paint application," said Craig Bell, group director of Bell Group. The company will be entering this market as the only international firm in the industry.

The partnering with AGLP will allow them "to apply paint properly. Dulux has a high quality product but there is no control or proper system. We will provide a controlled environment for its application," said George Bell, chairman of the Bell Group.

Benefits

Listing the benefits of having a paint applicator, Craig Bell mentioned the reduced costs for the contractors, increasing the life of the paint from three to five years and the right application in terms of thickness of the paint.

The UK-based company will start small, train employees and then grow gradually, officials said. "We don't want to be big for a short time and fail," said George Bell.

Meanwhile, AGLP is also planning expansion. Sunil Gudur, chief manager of Al Gurg Leigh's Paint said its plans include increasing production capacity as well as increasing their finished goods, a move forward from high raw materials storage.

The local company has about seven Dulux Décor Centres currently, which combine their interior products under one roof. The company is planning to increase that number to about 50 centres within a three years time period, officials said.

With annual turnover of Dh100 million last year and a 10 per cent market share in the UAE, the company has a million litres of paint per month of production capacity.

Gudur said the company employs about 150 people, spending six to seven per cent of turnover on expansion, and two to three per cent on research and development.