- IHG Brands along with its retail brands, Desroch and LEDWORLD Lighting has invested US10 million (Dh36.7 million) in expanding its footprints in the UAE over the last 5 years;
- Architectural design and home design industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the Gulf, and the GCC interior design market is worth nearly US$18 billion currently;
- More than 41,000 new apartments and villas are being delivered in Dubai and 15,000 in Abu Dhabi in 2021, according to reports;
- In Saudi Arabia, around 60,000 residential units have been handed over in 2020, bringing the total residential supply to 1.3 million and 835,000 in Riyadh and Jeddah, respectively.
Desroch, a UAE born top-notch urban furniture, trendy light and living products, luxe art décor solutions provider, is expanding its network of Experience Centers across the UAE to create a UAE home-grown brand to expand across the region and tap the booming US$18 billion (Dh66 billion) furniture and home décor industry in the Gulf.
The announcement comes as 41,000 new apartments and villas are being delivered in Dubai and 15,000 in Abu Dhabi in 2021, according to property consultancy Asteco. The market is also likely to see 1.5 million square feet of additional office space this year, a figure that could go up if projects that were put on hold or delayed last year will resume activity.
In Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, around 60,000 residential units have been handed over in 2020, bringing the total residential supply to 1.3 million and 835,000 in Riyadh and Jeddah, respectively. While the total stock for Makkah and Dammam Metropolitan Area (DMA) stood at 400,000 and 363,000, respectively. These houses and offices would drive the demand for lighting products in the region.
The luxury art design and furniture solutions provider has recently opened its latest Experience Centre in Ajman that will cater to the UAE’s luxury top-end home décor and furnishing sector. Desroch is part of IHG Brands, a business-2-business architectural solutions company and LED World Lighting – a ecological and sustainable lighting brand – that compliments the group’s creative proposition in home improvement sector.
LED World Lighting has seven fully-owned showrooms and 50 franchise outlets in the UAE while Desroch has four Experience Centers. The company, which has been in business for the last 16 years, has invested more than US$10 million in expanding its network of branches in the last five years.
The group employs 200+ professionals and added 26 people on payroll this year so far. It will open a 200,000 square feet factory and distribution center in Al Quoz Dubai near to Dubai Creative Zone that will create more employment.
“We are a group of creative designers, industrial designers and manufacturing experts. We not only can design and produce lights, but we could also craft unparalleled signages, decor elements, artifacts, objects, and furniture and so on. As a sustainable business group, we are expanding our network of creative Experience Centers even in these challenging times that reflects our long-term commitment to the UAE and the Gulf region,” says Althaf Ali, Chief Executive Officer and Director of IHG Brands.
“Despite the challenges, our business is growing up between 22-28 percent per annum. We are obviously going to hire more people this year to manage the growth in business. The fact that expansions and the growth, speaks a lot about the inherent strength of our business, its resilience.
“It also reflects that certain business sectors are still expanding and one of them is the creative home décor, art and the furniture sector as well as creative lighting where we offer customised solutions to our customers, be it family homes, offices, retail outlets or stores.”
After the successful launch in India now we are focusing to expand our physical presence in other GCC countries even though we have decade old distribution network is there for some of the brands we own,” he says. “Simultaneously, we are looking to expand in Africa through franchise concepts and joint ventures. With the right investors and partners, we shall pursue those opportunities in other markets.”
Safar Ali, Group Operations Director and a creative designer, said, “Desroch – Light and Living is a purely inspired store for luxury art design and furniture. We work extensively with highly skilled artisans to create exceptional product lines which are uniquely affordable luxury.
“Our goal is to bring artist and unique manufactures from all around the world which gives us true inspiration from art that awakens our imagination transforms our homes and expresses who we really are. We opened our first showroom at Zabeel road and then opened a few more showroom in Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Nahda, Al Karama and recently launched a new Villa Themed Concept showroom at Ajman where we have Desroch and LED World both together.”
The company is upbeat about the future prospects of its business growth due to the delivery of homes where occupants will start to look for luxury art décor for their homes. With Expo 2020 knocking at the doors, Desroch officials are preparing the company for increased orders, visits and close customer engagement.