OCS Group, an international total facilities management (TFM) provider, has joined hands with the Jeddah-based Zahid Group to form a facilities management (FM) services venture in Saudi Arabia.

The new firm, OCS Arabia, will be headquartered in the King Abdullah Economic City, the new port facility and development zone in Saudi Arabia.

The joint venture will complement OCS’s existing operations in the Middle East, which were launched in May 2012, following a tie-up with Qatar’s Tadmur Holding. The Qatar deal was followed by a second joint venture in the UAE, with the family-owned United Technical Services in May 2014.

According to OCS, the Saudi Arabian joint venture will provide clients with an unrivalled combination of local understanding and global expertise in the delivery of total facilities management.

“Zahid Group is a long-established, highly-regarded and reputed business with a successful track record serving a diverse customer base in Saudi Arabia. By combining Zahid Group’s and OCS’s local knowledge, regional and international expertise in exemplar delivery of top quality facilities services, the joint venture is well-positioned to offer clients a suite of world-class solutions to their property management needs,” said Chris Cracknell, chief executive officer of OCS Group.  

According to Cracknell, OCS is already experiencing “tremendous growth” in the Middle East, based on the company’s proposition of international best practice, profound local knowledge and sector-specific expertise.

In particular, OCS says that its successful client relationships and global experience in fast-growing sectors such as aviation, education and healthcare are highly valued by clients in the region.  

“Saudi Arabia is an economic powerhouse with growth in gross domestic product (GDP) running at over five per cent a year with significant capacity for future infrastructure spending. As these projects come to fruition in the form of high quality offices, retail centres, airports, shipping ports, schools and hospitals, the demand for world-class total facilities management services which will take care of all building management challenges will grow. OCS Arabia is in a position to serve owners and operators of these new buildings and deliver value through our unique levels of sector expertise,” said Cracknell.

Both OCS Group and Zahid Group are family-owned businesses, which can trace their roots back to over 100 years.  

Both parties say that their common heritage as family-owned businesses means they share many of the same values, including a commitment to serving clients over the long term, investing in staff development and contributing to the communities in which they operate.  

"Our joint venture with OCS Group is in line with Zahid Group’s ongoing strategy to develop partnerships with leading global organisations in promising sectors with sustainable business models that add value to the economies we participate in," said Zayd M Zahid, director investments of Zahid Group Holding.

"Given the complementary nature of the partners and OCS’ established track record in the field of total facilities management, I am confident that OCS Arabia will quickly become the Saudi benchmark for facilities management solutions across a broad range of sectors and asset types," he stated.

Zahid Group, through partnerships, joint ventures, wholly and partially owned subsidiaries, represents a diverse range of companies, offering comprehensive, customer-centric solutions in a number of thriving industries.

Some of those include construction; mining; oil and gas; agriculture; power, electricity and water generation; renewable energy; material handling; building materials; transportation and logistics; real estate development; travel and tourism; and hospitality.

OCS Group operating across five continents and employing more than 91,000 people in 50 countries worldwide. Its turnover was £871 million ($1.36 billion) for the year ending March 2014. OCS ranked in the Sunday Times Top Track 100 in June 2014.

 The company offers more than 80 individual services from catering, cleaning, horticulture and waste management to security, maintenance and hygiene.

These services can be delivered individually or as part of a fully-integrated FM solution. OCS manages and delivers services to organisations across the public and private sector.-TradeArabia News Service