BizBahrain April 2016

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 2016
25