horns Group is a major

European supplier for exhibition and event furniture and displayed its latest update of its invention,-45dB, noise reducing meeting room technology, at International Confex in London.

Having done work for governments and international organisations needing very private and bespoke noise cancelling, private meeting space, the company’ s MD Jon Noonan has his eyes set on Gulf horizons. Already supplying the-45dB product to Dubai, his idea is now to open an office in the Emirates and expand the business. I sat down with him at Confex and asked him about this new and exciting strategy:

What prompted the decision to set up an office in the Gulf and push into this new market? The Middle East and Gulf market gives us a global centric footprint which will allow us to deliver events across the world from our operations in UK and Western Europe. Adding this new region the portfolio allows

us to establish a footprint centrally to allow us to grow into the markets further East. Also, the market in the Middle East, Gulf and Saudi, particularly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is growing exponentially and, in terms of long-term planning, appears to be the area of the world that is seeing significant investment and an area we believe the-45dB product should be showcased.

How has the product been received? The product is being exceptionally well received by venues, agencies, direct corporates and sporting events alike. The scale of the events in the Middle East and Gulf is unbelievable and looking at events like Middle Beast as well as Arab Health gives a real understanding of the scale of potential growth for the product.

What about the challenges in entering a new market? The biggest challenges tend to be cultural and operational. The cultural challenges being around the way business is operated in region and

Left:-45dB – ready to make some noise in the Middle East

understanding these nuances and making changes to the way you operate to accommodate them. Scaling a business 4,000 miles away is a challenge in itself. Getting the right people within the organisation which fits with your company culture, while understanding the local culture is a challenge, but time in region really helps. Outside of this, it’ s understanding and staying on top of the forever changing landscape of government requirements. Without that local knowledge or boots on the ground, this could be quite onerous.

What of aims / goals and the logistics of opening a new office? We are in the process of getting warehouse space within UAE, which will have an office and core team to start with. This will scale throughout the rest of the year and we appointed our first full time employee in March. We will work with strategic partners in the region, which we are in the process of appointing, to handle any variable elements such as freight and outsourced staffing. We are currently identifying internally whether people within Thorns Group or-45dB are seeking to relocate and will support fully. We launch officially at the Middle East Event Show on 18 June.

We are exceptionally excited to be opening our operation in the Middle East and believe it is the next natural step for an aspirational, disruptive business like-45dB. EW