Equity Mag Sep_17 Book Folder

ENTREPRENEUR
Amer Abdulaziz Khansaheb, Managing Director of
Khansaheb Investment, is one of the few. Not because he’s
Emirati and has learned about it through his UAE Social
Studies’ books – as anyone who grew up here would – but
because his company is 83 years old. For those of you who
can’t be bothered to do the math, that makes the company 37
years older than the UAE.
Currently the longest serving contractor in the UAE,
Khansaheb was founded in 1935 by Khansaheb Hussain Bin
Hassan Amad, Amer’s grandfather’s uncle. “Somewhere in the
late Fifties my grandfather took over the reins and now we
have about three generations working here,” Amer says.
“Currently we have about 12 people from the family.”
The Khansaheb family business started out as a trading and
maintenance company that mainly worked with oil companies
before Amer’s grandfather, Hussain Abdulrahman Khansaheb,
grew the company with an emphasis on construction. In fact,
the company was responsible for building the first causeway
that connected Abu Dhabi to the mainland in 1952. “Before
that, the island could only be accessed during low tide. During
the high tide… nothing,” says Amer. Imagine having to sit
through that. Sheikh Zayed Road at peak-hour traffic isn’t
looking so bad now, is it?
By the Seventies, Khansaheb started facing numerous
difficulties in terms of finding the right personnel to lead the
company. “Dubai was a desert at that time. It was empty. Who
would want to come to that?” says Amer. Fair enough, but the
company needs to keep evolving. Enter R.M. Douglas
Construction. “The partnership with RM Douglas helped us
through a rough time, but we helped them too,” says Amer.
“You see, they had the engineers but were struggling to get
work. We had a lot of work but didn't have the right personnel.
Plus, they were a family business too. We shared similar
ideologies. It was the perfect marriage.”
“I remember building the City Tower on Sheikh Zayed
Road,” reminisces Amer. “At the time, it was one of the tallest
buildings in the country and we were progressing so fast. We
were going at about three floors every week. Even H.H. Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum was curious to find out
how we were doing it so quickly.” The secret, it turns out, was a
construction method called slip forming wherein concrete is
poured into a continuously moving form. This enables
continuous, non-interrupted, cast-in-place “flawless” (i.e. no
joints) concrete structures that have superior performance
characteristics to piecewise construction. Of the many
structures that Khansaheb has had a hand in creating over the
years – including the likes of Bab Al Shams and the Mall of the
Emirates – Amer takes particular pride in the Khan Murjan
restaurant at Wafi Mall. “It was my first job as an engineer,”
Amer says. “That’s why it will always be close to me.”
Growing up, Amer always knew he would join the family
business. It’s what he wanted. When he came back to Dubai
after completing his Bachelor’s in Engineering from the
University of Beirut, there was no hesitation. He worked in the
family business for about a year and a half before moving to
Deloitte. There he completed the Chartered Financial Analyst
programme that helped him see things from a financial and
investment perspective. He soon returned and helped diversify
Khansaheb Investments.
Why the time away from the family business though? The
whole point of owning a company means you don’t need to
work again, right? Wrong. Despite being an owner, Amer had
to earn his stars. The problem that then arises is you start at the
bottom with no one to really guide you. You become ‘one of
them’ and people start to keep you at a distance. “It becomes
difficult because you’re not being managed by anyone. There’s
no feedback or appraisal. It’s a bit frustrating,” Amer says.
“That’s one of the reasons I left. I needed experience outside.
It’s precisely why everyone from my generation who’s working
here has spent at least one-and-a-half to two years outside the
family business.”
On paper, Amer took over Khansaheb in 2012, but
there’s a stark difference between what happens on paper
and what goes on behind closed doors. “Back then, although
I saw many opportunities, I had trouble convincing the
people here to see where I was coming from and to invest,”
says Amer. “We only broke the ice two years later.” Owner
or not, you need to prove your mettle to take a seat at the
big table. In time, everyone came around. Amer had to take
baby steps. Once he got his first big decision right, he could
decide the next order of business. Business has boomed
though. “Since January 2014, we’ve delivered four realestate
developments in three years, which is something
we’ve never done before,” announces Amer. “We’re even
diversifying into healthcare, manufacturing, food and
beverage and fitness.”
When he isn’t busy with Khansaheb, Amer takes charge as
the President of the CFA Society Emirates. The title sounds
fancy but again, is a lot of work. “The society has been growing
fast. We were about 500 members when I became president.
We’re now at 800,” Amer says. “Managing volunteers, who
have other jobs, families, and are not paid anything for the
work they do on behalf of the society is an interesting
experience,” he adds coyly.
Khansaheb isn’t just a construction company anymore but
the question remains, with all the competition from
counterparts in the construction industry, where does the
company see its future and its vision of Dubai?
When posed with this question, Amer takes a minute to
gather his thoughts before answering meticulously, “Dubai
has grown a lot. It’s time for it to start maturing. By that I
mean it’s time to find innovative services, technologies and
industries that are geared towards energy efficiency.”
Not to be snooty, but I'd like to point out that in the same
year that – an old, “developed nation” – the United States
pulled out of agreements that champion the cause for
climate change and energy efficiency, one of the oldest
companies in the UAE – a young, “developing country” –
has set its sight on and urged other companies in the region
to going greener. Make of that what you will.
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EQUITY