Vicken Deyirmenjian

TBY talks to Vicken Deyirmenjian, Co-Founder and General Manager of Gulfcrafts, about the company’s growth history, market demand, and events.

Gulfcrafts was established in 2001. How would you summarize the company’s growth since then?

Originally, we were known as a company manufacturing awards, trophies, and medals, and we were also active in signage. After a year, I started understanding how things work in the local market. I realized we should change the focus and bring things up to a different level because in some other countries, when you set up a factory, you can count on multiple subcontractors who specialize in their services. In our line of work, we deal with various production processes, such as carpentry, metalwork, acrylic work, painting, illumination, and printing. Each one is a specialty, and it’s tough to have them all under one roof. Similar companies in Europe or other countries do not produce everything internally. I noticed that the market lacked quality service, cost-effectiveness, and timely delivery. So, I decided to build everything in-house, and it took almost 10 years to make it happen. Every year, we expanded our capabilities in a different direction. In recent years, under the signage division we worked on numerous projects. Among others, we handled about 80% of all the projects for Msheireb and the Qatar Foundation. We also changed the signage for 17 ministries following the introduction of the new national emblem of the State of Qatar, which was a particularly challenging task regarding its extremely tight time frames and confidential nature. In space branding, we executed multiple sport events of world and national level. For the FIFA World Cup 2022, we undertook quite a large number of major FIFA-related projects, which was another significant challenge for our company.

Gulfcrafts has a number of business areas (Space Branding, Signage and Wayfinding, Bespoke Accessories, Bespoke Gifts and Awards). What area does the majority of clients come from?

Demand is determined by market conditions. For instance, last year there was a construction boom, so the demand for signage increased as every building requires its signage system, whether safety signage, directional signage, parking and so on. Consequently, we had significant presence in the construction sector providing these services. After the World Cup, the construction business slowed down, thus we had to adopt to the new dynamic and divert into other areas. However, there is always a constant demand for trophies, medals, and gifts, especially from the government sector; and we have an advantage of being a local manufacturing company. So, building relationships with clients in the government sector and gaining their trust helps maintaining a steady demand. Sometimes, we work as a sub-subcontractor under event contractors, providing our services to the end user. And sometimes, the end user, for example, Olympic Committee, directly hires us to execute their projects.

Innovation is key for Gulfcrafts. Could you elaborate on Gulfcrafts’ approach to research and development for product enhancement?

R&D is one of our strengths based on our expertise and passion we have for our work. And we take pride in being known as pioneers in introducing new products to the market. Consequently, we need to maintain this image and reputation. I am personally involved in this part of our business, which is also the part I enjoy the most, and I have a team who shares this passion. When it comes to equipment, we always employ the latest technology, investing annually in this area even if it wasn’t originally planned. This year we introduce several strategic partnerships with the world leading producers of machinery for printing and engraving, as well as bring to Qatar a revolutionary solution for exhibition stands. We are especially proud of those innovations as they will enable us not only to gain new unique production capabilities, but also to be increasingly efficient in our corporate social responsibility activities, especially in its eco-friendlier approach.

Gulfcrafts is currently focused on expanding its presence in the events sector. Could you elaborate on your approach to achieving this goal?

Mainly for our company services we are an event contractor. In order to expand in this area, technically we need to put more emphasis on building structures. This is exactly one of the plans that we are currently working on. Additionally, having skilled personnel and organized operations is vital because decisions in the events sector are often last-minute. We invest in machines, even if they are not used year-round, so that we always have backups when we work in two shifts during events. Maintenance is crucial in this case as it is imperative to avoid any interruptions in the production flow in order to ensure timely delivery.