F ID I A FFI L I ATED B R ANCHES FIDI HELPS MORE AFFILIATES BRANCH OUT FIDI Customer Relations Manager Lydia Cope looks at the benefits of affiliating branch offices, while we speak to Abhilash Nair, of ISS Relocations, about adding his Abu Dhabi office A LYDIA COPE, FIDI CUSTOMER RELATIONS MANAGER ffiliating your local branch offices to FIDI offers a range of benefits. It helps extend your companys visibility within the FIDI community; the offices will be covered by FASI payment protection; and staff members can benefit from full use of FIDI services, like the employees in your main Affiliate office. Branch offices are not subject to a FAIM audit. During your primary office audit, some elements will be checked to ensure the head office is maintaining FAIM compliance across its branches. The cost of adding a branch is 500 annual membership fee and 150 annual contribution to the FASI fund. To qualify, the branch office must be located in the same country as the existing Affiliate office. Once affiliated, it will appear in the FIDI directory, so that it is easily searchable by potential customers or partners. l If you would like to apply or require additional information, please contact Lydia Cope, lydia.cope@fidi.org FIDI Focus (FF): Please give details of your FIDI Affiliated branch including the area covered and main services Abhilash Nair (AN): ISS Relocations Abu Dhabi is our FIDI-affiliated branch, covering the two emirates, ie capital of UAE Abu Dhabi city and Al Ain. FF: What are the main challenges the branch faces? AN: From the point of view of infrastructure, the country is well equipped, so it is quite easy for us to operate with full capacity. Abu Dhabi has a sea port, but sometimes it is cheaper to use Jeble Ali (in Dubai) as the port of embarkation, because of the rates offered by some shipping lines. FF: What impact has COVID-19 had on the business? AN: Overall, the impact on Abu Dhabi business was negligible, with government support initiatives such as the SME credit guarantee scheme, exemptions to 74 FF307 September-November 22 pp74 New Affiliate ISS Abu Dhabi.indd 74 many government fees, commercial vehicle registration and road tolls, and free vaccination, treatments and checks. Services such as ours were exempt from many restrictions, so we could continue to operate and help people within the city, and with exports and imports. FF: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for growth in your market? AN: As the capital of UAE, there are many opportunities in Abu Dhabi. The construction sector is supporting growth, with the establishment of infrastructure facilities, skyscrapers, industrial units, e-commerce solutions, travel and tourism, real estate agencies, the health sector, repairs businesses, consultancy services and beauty in addition to embassy staff, diplomats, and oil company executives who use our services. Abu Dhabi is also a base for the military of different EU countries, which provide further opportunities for us. FF: What are your main strengths as a company? AN: ISS is the only relocation company in UAE that offers fully operational offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with its own locally stationed sales team, move coordinators, operation/crew, carpentry, management staff, warehouse with options such as air conditioning, self-storage and 24/7 cameras controlled by local authorities and trucks. It is also fully qualified, with the right infrastructure in place. Our strengths include our experienced and passionate international team, who understand the business at its best, and help us to achieve our mission and vision with all industry-related infrastructure in place. FF: Why did you decide to affiliate this branch to FIDI? AN: To increase our market exposure to the FIDI community and end customers. The subsidised fee helps, too. FF: How did you find the sign-up process? AN: It was quite easy with the FIDI staff, who offered great support as always. FF: Do you have any other comments? AN: We plan to get our other countries offices on board soon. Our internal auditors are preparing for this. WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 06/09/2022 07:56