Dubai-based Intercat Hospitality, a specialist in institutional catering and laundry services, is aiming to launch its Gulf operations with the help of strategic partner QInvest, a Qatari investment firm.

Intercat said it will bring nearly two decades of experience in the field to the Qatari market, where it also plans to expand catering and laundry services as well as introduce its restaurant formats.

Founded in 1992 in Dubai at the very beginning of the city’s emergence as a regional hub for business, trade and tourism, Intercat promises innovative and creative services for Qatar.

The company’s shareholding comprises the Farha family, QInvest and Sheikh AbdelRahman bin Ali Al Turki from Saudi Arabia.

“Ever since the partnership was announced last year, QInvest has been fundamental in helping us sharpen our expansion strategy, operating discipline and internal processes,” said George Ghaleb Farha, chairman of Intercat.

“Bringing an investor of their caliber has helped us institutionalize our family-owned business and allowed us to realize our expansion ambitions. We have also partnered with Sheikh AbdelRahman bin Ali Al Turki, who has provided us with valuable guidance with respect to our expansion into Saudi Arabia.”

“In addition to the services we provide, Intercat is also launching a corporate social responsibility initiative, whereby we would sponsor the university education of a number of Qatari students, and develop them in the areas that the company operates in.'

'Upon graduation, we will hire them and train them so that they are prepared to lead the company in Qatar,” Farha noted. “We are dedicated to the development of local talent as we are to the expansion of Intercat,” he added.

Intercat will also develop nutrition programs for staff in the education, military, and energy sectors. The proposed strategy aims to raise nutritional awareness while providing better quality meal offerings to its diverse client base.

With the help of QInvest, Intercat has also been studying opportunities offered to the company in other markets.

“Our focus right now is on three core markets in the region – Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia,”Farha revealed.

“We believe that these markets are underserved and as a result meet Intercat’s expansion and development goals for the next few years,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service