Empa opens new warehousing facilities, strengthens manpower pool to drive expansion program in KSA

The revamp will enable the company to effectively pursue its expansion plans in the Kingdom, which remains an important growth market with over USD 20 billion in yearly ICT expenditure.

Empa has revealed that it has enhanced its central warehouse at Al Khumra area in Jeddah, along with the local warehouses close to Khaled bin Walid Street in Jeddah and Olaya market in Riyadh, while a fourth warehouse will be opened in Al Khobar to serve the eastern province customers as part of a strategy to increase the KSA fleet and cover other key cities such as Al Kharj, Al Qasim, Makka and Taif. Empa has also deployed a team of highly experienced professionals for its Saudi operations led by Country Manager Anas Safadi.

Shahood Khan, Sales and Marketing Director, Empa said:

"Saudi is one of the Middle East's largest regional investors in ICT and this represents a considerable growth opportunity. The implementation of Empa's major revamp program will enable us to capitalise on the Kingdom's aggressive technology spending, while at the same time we are also trying to provide an excellent distribution platform that will complement the widespread adoption of IT equipment across the country."

"Moreover, we believe that effective talent management is key to our growth in KSA, and I am pleased that we have assigned highly experienced and talented people to oversee and facilitate our Saudi operations," added Khan.

Empa's recent manpower movements also saw Tareq Al Shawwa move from Empa's Dubai office to become Sales Manager for the Western Region based in Jeddah, while Sayed Chaudhry from Al Ramma distribution has been recruited to be the Channel Sales Manager for the Central and Eastern Region based in Riyadh. In addition, Empa has also strengthened its in-country credit and finance team in Saudi.

Under the supervision of Ahmed Al Hamwi, the Retail Sales Manager for Eastern and Central Region, and Sameer Hussien, the Retail Sales Manager for Western Region, Empa also announced that its retail wing "E-retail" has secured a strong foothold in the Kingdom. Empa's retail division has increased to 22 dedicated merchandisers, facilitating promotions and displays, merchandising activities at key outlets, managing stock levels at all stores, and conducting regular training to all retail staff as well as the staff of power retailers throughout the Kingdom.

Empa has been an authorised Intel distributor since 1985 and a Biostar distributor for the past eight years. The company maintains partnerships with several other major vendors such as Fujitsu-Siemens, Kingston, LaCie, Toshiba, Philips, Pleomax, Iomega, Transcend, SimpleTech, SMC and Tripp Lite. Empa recently completed a new facility and headquarters in Jebel Ali to accommodate its rapidly expanding operations and workforce. It is one of the largest IT distribution facilities in the region.