Alshaya Group set to more than double its existing store portfolio

"We are spending US$6 million on our head office to give us the infrastructure to deal with adding so many stores in such a short time," he said during a session dedicated to the reality of franchising for the retail industry around the world.

Alshaya holds the franchises for H&M, Starbucks, Boots, Arcadia and Debenhams, among a raft of high-profile international retail brands in the Middle East. Alshaya added: "It can be very difficult for a retailer to find the right real estate, in the right positions and understand the local laws and rules."

Other experts who participated in the session, included, Ben Gordon, Chief Executive of UK baby and child retail group Mothercare, which has successfully pursued a franchise operation internationally. He said: "It is a very strong model for us. As a retailer you can bring the brand, skills and product, the franchisee brings all the local knowledge."

Gordon also confirmed that Mothercare will pursue rapid growth in India, where it has 11 stores, and has plans for more than 100 more within five years.

Ashish Sen Sarma, vice-president of consumer sales at Dutch fashion retailer Mexx, added his view on brand and marketing to the discussion, stating that he sees his company's role as a brand marketer and that Mexx has renamed all its franchisee relationships as partners.

Sarma added: "We take control of everything including the architecture, the window displays, the interiors and the product buying. The partners are charged purely on transactions and that way we keep a strong hold on our brand equity."

Massimo Plombini, international development director for Swiss luxury shoes retailer Bally pointed out that real estate prices and market competition made the franchise model far more difficult to operate in Europe. However, Artur Grynbaum, Vice President of Brazilian retail company, O Boticario, affirmed that he felt franchising was a viable route for companies to grow their business internationally.

The very first World Retail Congress (28-30 March, Barcelona) has welcomed 1000 delegates to Barcelona to look at issues such as access to emerging markets, the implications of the Doha round on world trade and the critical need to attract and nurture retail talent, providing a timely opportunity for the world's retailers to influence some of the biggest issues and opportunities facing domestic, international and global retailers. The majority of attendees are drawn from the c-suite level.

The World Retail Congress is a unique event created in cooperation with the retail industry, which will bring together the world's leading retailers to address and debate the key issues. It will provide retailers with a clear and coherent voice that will be heard by key influencer groups such as politicians and policy makers.

The programme of plenary session and business streams features a massive 129 speakers and panelists and other participants, representing over 60 countries worldwide. Speakers participating include some of the most successful and well-respected figures in retail today, including Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco; Terry Lundgren, President of Federated Stores; Pablo Isla Álvarez de Tejera, Deputy Chairman and CEO of Inditex; BS Nagesh of Shoppers Stop and Anders Dahlvig, President and CEO of Ikea.

Retailers are also very well represented among the delegates, with attendees from Brazil, China, Dubai, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kuwait, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US, hailing from 17 individual retail sectors in total. Many of the leading international organisations associated with retail are also in attendance, including World Bank (via IFC), WTO, UNCTAD and the European Commission.

The congress is organised by Emap Communications, with Visa the Congress headline partner and KSA (Kurt Salmon Associates) as Awards headline partner. Co-sponsors include CB Richard Ellis, Deloitte and Oracle.