Dewan celebrates its silver jubilee

To commemorate its Silver Jubilee, the company hosted a full day event for its employees, and key clients and partners, at the exclusive Maya Island Resort, Bahrani Island, Abu Dhabi, on Saturday March 7, 2009. The event was attended by over 250 employees and guests who enjoyed the idyllic island environment and the planned activities for the day.

The Chairman, Mr. Mohamed Al Assam, also awarded special commemorative 25th Anniversary plaques to all "Dewanees", the affectionate term coined for all Dewan staff, who have served in the firm for more than 10 years.

As a sign of appreciation to "Dewanees" who helped make 2008 a very successful year for Dewan, and as further confirmation of the firm's financial strength, the Chairman also announced the release of a special 25th Anniversary Bonus to all employees.

Having grown from a modest 2-man office in 1984, when Dewan was first established in Abu Dhabi, Dewan is today considered one of the largest architectural and engineering consulting firms in the region with over 300 professionals distributed between its UAE, Philippines, and Iraq offices. The firm is also in the process of establishing offices in Doha, Qatar, and Riyadh/Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia to serve the growing markets in these countries.

Says Mohamed Al Assam, founder, chairman and managing director of Dewan Architects & Engineers:

"It is with great excitement that we celebrate our Silver Jubilee this year. Over the last 25 years, our company has built a strong reputation, an extensive client base, and a portfolio of successful projects and everyone at Dewan stands proud knowing that our designs today serve as major landmarks. We look forward to continued prosperity for our company and our dedicated team,"

Ammar Al Assam, Executive Director at Dewan Architects & Engineers, commented, "We are all aware of the financial crisis affecting all sectors in the UAE and globally. The upcoming year will be a difficult one, but it is a testament to our firm's strength that Dewan is a zero-debt company, with a healthy cash-flow position, a solid confirmed back-log of projects and revenue streams, and a dedicated and resilient team of professionals that will successfully see the firm through this year. We are still anticipating a very healthy profit for 2009 and look forward to further solidifying our name in the market as the "quality architects of choice" and to broadening our market share and service out-reach to Saudi, Qatar, and Iraq".

As further confirmation of the firm's success, Dewan was recently ranked 52nd among the world's Top 100 prominent architectural firms by the UK's Building Design Magazine, a definitive annual listing of the world's largest architecture practices.