Byrne Interview with Sudhir Menon

BYRNE INTERVIEW WITH SUDHIR MENON national operations, logistics & service manager KSA

1. TELL US ABOUT BYRNE'S PRESENCE IN KSA AND YOUR ROLE IN THE

BISAL is the KSA arm of the wider Byrne Group and since its inception 20 years ago, it has grown exponentially from one single branch in Dammam to 7 branches across the Kingdom.

BUSINESS

From Dammam in the east to Yanbu in the west, Jizan in the south and Turaif in the North, we have in total 140,000 sq mtrs of operational depot space across the Kingdom, with a dedicated team of 450 employees to cater to the needs of our clients. We are headquartered in Jubail which houses the largest petrochemical complex in the world and we will be moving to our new state of the art facility in Jubail in early 2023. Today, Byrne is one of the largest single sources for plant and equipment rental in Saudi with an extensive rental fleet of over 5,000 units of equipment which is growing rapidly to meet the current and anticipated future demand.

My role in the company is multi-faceted; I look after the service, operations, logistics, purchase and stores functions. All the necessary functions that are the backbone of the business operations in KSA. I work closely with the sales teams to create an exceptional customer experience for our existing and prospective clients and this for me is the most important aspect of my role.

2. HOW IS THE CURRENT RENTAL

The KSA rental market is in one of the strongest positions we have

MARKET IN KSA?

seen since the start of the pandemic in 2020 and is poised for growth in line with Vision 2030. The government have given the green light to a huge number of projects that were delayed due to the on-set of the pandemic and this has resulted in an increased demand for rental equipment across the Kingdom. On the events side, in recent months many events that were on hold due to the pandemic and its associated restrictions have gotten underway, resulting in a huge demand for rental equipment and supporting services. We are optimistic that this will continue and we anticipate many other opportunities that will come our way. What benefits us as a rental model is that, companies are reluctant to invest capital expenditure into equipment after the uncertainty of the pandemic – they view rental as a safer, more cost effective and reliable option.

3. WHICH AREAS DO YOU SEE THE We foresee significant growth in the construction sector fueled by upcoming MOST POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

projects such as Neom and the Red Sea project, Qiddiah and Jafurah to name but a few. These projects will drive exponential growth in their respective regions and will drive growth across the entire Kingdom. The number of expected events across the country is on a level we have never seen before and furthermore, while the Petrochemical sector gears up further to meet global demand which is growing.

4. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF OPERATIONS IN KSA IN GENERAL AND THE RENTAL MARKET AND WHAT STEPS DOES BYRNE TAKE TO OVERCOME THEM? The KSA market is the one of the biggest in the GCC and this coupled with Vision 2030 and the projected growth of the economy has opened up opportunities and led to an increase of rental players in the market, resulting in some challenges which are to be expected such as pricing. However, our main strength is that we are a single source solution, providing a wide range of equipment and not just focused on one or two product offerings which ensures that we typically build relationships to become the preferred supplier.

Localization is becoming mandatory in the Saudi market in the form of Saudization and here we see huge opportunities for new local talent to join our growing teams. We have taken a

proactive approach to hiring and retaining local talent focusing on younger graduates who we can support further with their education and experience in the industry. We are committed to continuing our support for the Saudi nationalization scheme and have developed and implemented a unique training program for them in-house.

5. TO WHAT EXTENT IS BYRNE'S GOALS IN

Saudi Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to

LINE WITH VISION 2030?

diversify the economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation, and tourism and Byrne are unique in that we can support across all of these industries and

we

look

forward

to

leveraging

the

opportunities offered by Saudi Arabia’s expansive vision. As the Kingdom diversifies, so will Byrne; we intend to adapt and expand our product offering in line with the demands of our clients in the country, as has always been our strategy. In addition, we intend to compliment these plans with a strong talent agenda; as mentioned Saudization is a key focus in our people strategy with a focus on hiring and developing local Saudi talent. We are also committed to the localization of our services, goods and materials and have strategies in the pipeline to see this through.