OCS partners with UTS to launch UAE business

8 Apr 2014

Published in Constructionweek

OCS Group, an international total facilities management provider, has signed a joint venture with United Technical Services to enter the UAE market and introduce customer-focused strategic FM services and integrated solutions for clients.

OCS Emirates now becomes the second operation for the company in the Middle East, following the opening of OCS Qatar in 2012.

The partnership with United Technical Services (UTS), also a family-owned business that has been operating engineering services since 1961, will see OCS offer over 70 total FM-related services, all benchmarked against global standards.

“Launching an OCS operation in the UAE illustrates the commitment we have for the Middle East,” said Chris Cracknell, Global CEO, OCS Group, at its launch hosted by the British Embassy on Sunday. “We are opening a customer-focussed, family-owned company that will train and nurture our people respective to a client’s business, and through our joint venture with United Technical Services, introduce proprietary technology that will help clients manage their assets effectively and cost-efficiently.”

Paul Fox, Charge d’Affaires, British Embassy Abu Dhabi, said: “I am delighted to see OCS, the UK’s largest family-owned facilities services provider, extending its international reach to the UAE. OCS’s partnership with Abu Dhabi’s United Technical Services is a good example of the strong ties between our two countries. I am certain companies in the UAE will benefit from OCS's vast expertise and excellent services when looking for good value services and solutions.”

As a company that mobilises its people across the global network, OCS Emirates will tap into the Asian and Indian subcontinent to build the UAE operation from qualified engineers and FM managers with OCS values.

As part of a new venture, OCS staff will continue to reap the rewards from internal training schemes and succession planning that is standardised across the global group.

OCS Emirates will also leverage the sector insight and local experience that United Technical Services has developed since 1961, especially in healthcare and biomedical engineering, to create solutions that meet the increasing demands of the FM market.

Omar Ziad Al Askari, chairman & CEO of United Technical Services, said: “The likeminded focus on customer service created an instant synergy between two family-owned businesses. This will ensure the partnership delivers a new standard of integrated FM for clients who manage master developments, residential communities or industrial and office-based complexes.”

“The business integration is complete and we are now implementing a clear strategy to consolidate our local experience that will help position OCS Emirates as a market leader,” Al Askari added.

The launch of OCS Emirates took place on 18 May, 2014 at the Dusit Thani, Abu Dhabi, hosted by the British Embassy who, alongside Chris Cracknell, introduced Heather Suksem, CEO of South Asia, South East Asia and Middle East for OCS Group, and Fiona McDonnell, general manager for OCS Emirates.

Later this year, OCS Group hopes to commence a similar operation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in order that it can further consolidate its presence in the Middle East.