Transguard Group, an Emirates Group company, wrapped up a successful season at Dubai’s Global Village, where it was responsible for logistical movements and secure handling of a record Dh213 million ($58 million) banknotes over a five-month period.

The 151-day event, which is also the largest outdoor family entertainment venue in the region, kicked off on November 1, 2011 and closed at the end of March this year, with retail sales topping a staggering Dh1.5 billion.

To ensure shoppers had easy access to their cash, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) installed a total of 10 ATM machines around the site, located at key national pavilions including the UAE, Saudi, Malaysia, Syria, Vietnam, Iran, Pakistan, Africa, India and Turkey.

'With five million visitors recorded at Global Village during the 2011/12 season, the logistics involved in ensuring that the ADIB cash machines remained stocked and in full working order required precise planning and careful execution,' said Simon Cooper, the general manager, Cash Services at Transguard.

'Fortunately we have an abundance of experience in this area, Transguard currently manages the transportation and logistics for the majority of cash in circulation in the UAE,' he added.

According to ADIB, cash availability ran at 100 per cent during the entire five months, without a single ‘cash out’, ensuring that Global Village consumers and retailers from the 28 country pavilions were able to make the most of the international retail experience.

The ATM located adjacent to the UAE pavilion saw the highest amount of customer withdrawals, issuing a whopping Dh36.2 million - followed by Saudi Arabia (Dh32.7 million), Turkey (Dh30.2 million) and India (Dh25.3 million).

“Contracts with major entertainment and retail destinations such as Global Village give us the opportunity to demonstrate Transguard’s unrivalled experience in successfully handling logistics for the secure movement and management of millions of dirhams, and working with the ADIB team has been both seamless and efficient,” said Imran Khan, ATM operations manager at Transguard Cash.

As an integrated Facilities management company, Transguard was also responsible for the cleaning of Global Village, allocating a total of 145 staff every day over 150 days, a total of 174,000 man hours, said a company statement.

The cleaning team emptied 420 rubbish bins, three times daily during the event and also had to clean up after the sandstorms Global Village experienced this season, being called into action on five separate occasions to clear sand and debris deposited by the storms throughout the site, it added.-TradeArabia News Service