Case Study: Chabros Timber

Chabros Timber is a Lebanese company, first established some 40 years ago, and it still keeps its headquarters in Beirut. The company opened a Dubai base in the late 1990s and this branch manages smaller operations in Abu Dhabi as well as in Doha, Muscat and Riyadh. Chabros also has a North African office in Cairo and a factory in Serbia, which are overseen by the Beirut office.

Rabih Mansour is Chabros' Financial Controller and he joined the company four years ago.

'Although we have our base back in Lebanon, our Dubai operation oversees all of our business in the Gulf and from here we service not only our local clients in Dubai, and the rest of the UAE, but places where we don't as yet have a branch, such as Bahrain and Kuwait.

'Our business is in a very healthy situation and we are planning to move to a larger facility in the Al Awir area in Dubai where we will have integrated offices, workshops and warehouse space. We have already bought the land and the details of the move are being finalised.'

Good contacts, global reputation

Chabros decided to open an account with the HSBC about four years ago when a contact who was working for another well known bank switched over to the HSBC.

'Since we started banking with the HSBC, our dealings with them have tripled, especially over the past couple of years. Our relationship with them is more than just business focused now and we have developed a mutual interest in seeing Chabros Timber grow and flourish.

'HSBC's international reputation and global operation has helped us, especially having so many branches in the Gulf. We use other banks of course, and some of them over a number of years, but they are much more locally based.'

For Mr Mansour, building up trust and understanding with a bank is vital for a successful business and it can take a long while to develop that relationship.

'We have been so impressed by the HSBC here in Dubai that we have increasingly used them in Beirut over recent months. Banks are rightfully cautious at first, but because we have such a strong association with them here, developing things in Beirut was so much easier.'

Giving credit

One major benefit that Chabros Timber gains from the HSBC is support right across the whole spectrum of its business.

'In our import line, we use the HSBC's letter of credit service regularly. We get approval quickly and every six months we have our limits reviewed.

'The HSBC is also extremely flexible when it comes to payment collection. We value our customers highly and we want to have a long and fruitful relationship with them and so, for some of our clients, the HSBC will give a 270 day period before collecting on cheques. That provides a lot of flexibility for our customers and encourages them to do more business with us in the future'.

Branching out

Mr Mansour believes that the HSBC's support has had a significant input in Chabros' plans for the future.

'We are going to open another office in Jeddah soon and we are also looking at Kuwait in the future. Another option for us could possibly be setting up a base in Australia. But, as always, we will develop our business gradually and will make well thought out decisions and I know I can always contact the HSBC at any time if I need their advice.'