Interview | Faisal Jawad Faisal Jawad Chairman & CEO 24 May <strong>2016</strong>
Interview | Faisal Jawad The Art of Running a Multi Faceted Business Faisal Jawad, Chairman and CEO of the Jawad Business Group, is a well-known figure not just in Bahrain, but also in the region. No surprises there, for the Group he heads operates over 500 stores spanning restaurants, fashion, food retail, supermarkets and a whole lot more in Bahrain and the GCC. “Jawad is because of what Bahrain is. If it wasn’t for Bahrain, Jawad would not be what it is today,” says Faisal Jawad. Through the windows of the Capital Club’s beautiful Jade Room a panoramic vista of Bahrain is in gorgeous display; a perfect setting for a distinguished Governor of the Board of Capital Club as he sits down for an interview with bizbahrain Publisher and CEO, Ahmed Khalfan and Group Editor, Reena Abraham. “I remember it was 2008. I don’t know who mentioned my name to Guy Guillemard, the founder, but he came to my office and told me about the concept and the idea behind the Capital Club. Without missing a beat, I said, ‘Give me a paper right now and I’ll sign it.’ There were no two ways or second thoughts needed about it. He said, ‘Hold on, we are not ready yet!’ In an hour after he left, I sent him my written approval. “The idea was so good it didn’t need any deliberation. I don’t come here to make deals. I come to participate, to join in, to entertain and to support. If they need my support I am here. The Capital Club has been good for Bahrain and good for the business community. We have a place that we can show people. Many of my initial meetings with VIP guests visiting Bahrain is right here. I bring them at night and I show them the lights and the magnificent view of Bahrain, and I feel so proud.” It has been a journey of over five decades for the Jawad family, a journey which has led to the formation of a multi faceted business conglomerate with a trail of memorable milestones and achievements. At first reluctant to talk about the amazing trajectory of the company which he says has been said too many times, Faisal is philosophic as he recalls the journey. “You go and buy a small plant, and you nurture it and soon it fills the pot. Some time during the lifetime of that plant, you have a choice - either you leave it in that pot so your plant will stay as it is for eternity or you put it in a bigger pot and let it grow. I think for us, the growth happened organically. We started with one element of fashion, and the focus at that time was one location, and that’s all. So you go along on your journey, and there comes a new brand. This new brand is not a one-location brand, so you either leave it in the pot and it will die or maybe it will still grow a little within that pot. But then the brand owners come up and say, 'Thank you but we have other aspirations. We want to be in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, and we want to be in Saudi, Oman, Qatar.' Unless you are a player who will take on challenges and allow growth, there are other people who are ready to play.” Perhaps it was in the genes, this propensity for business. The Jawads are today one of Bahrain’s best-known business families. From the cream in your coffee, or the chocolate you relish, to the dress you choose to wear, or the car you rent at the airport, to the fastfood restaurant you might visit or the quick cuppa you pick up at the mall, chances are you will have some contact with a Jawad franchise or outlet during the course of your day. The decision to focus on several huge businesses at once, including supermarkets, fashion and restaurants was itself a bold one. How do those three things work together or is each one dealt as a separate business? “I used to save the stones of dates when I was a young boy, thinking that I can grow date palms, but then I was told that palm trees grown from those stones are not good. You have to have ‘faseela’, which to translate literally are the children of the palm tree. The ones that spring up from the side. Those it seems are really the ones that we should be looking after. “If I implement the same thing in what we have done, I can say that we needed to take the ‘faseelas’ out of this brand. So we grow and establish in Bahrain, and then we bring one to Dubai because at that time Dubai had just one mall, but then the second good mall came, and the third, and then the largest mall in the world came. “Our growth, in some ways, was a process of the brands themselves May <strong>2016</strong> 25