Organisations honoured for commitment to excellence

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) Business Excellence Awards ceremony and presented the Dubai Quality Award (DQA) to three winning organisations.

The Business Excellence Awards include the 2009 cycle of the DQA, Dubai Human Development Award and the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, honoured three winners of Dubai Human Development Award and the top five winners of Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, honoured nine winners of the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme.

At the ceremony held at Grand Hyatt Dubai, the winners in the 2009 cycle of the DQA were honoured in two categories – Dubai Quality Award and Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme.

Union National Bank (finance), UAE Exchange Centre (finance) and Madinat Jumeirah (tourism) were the winners of the DQA.

The winners of the Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme were Danube Building Materials (trade), Unibeton Readymix (construction), Idama Facilities Services, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Tecom Investments (services), Arabian Radio Network (media), Apparel Group and Eros Group (trade), Dutco Balfour Beatty - Plant and Transport Division (construction) and Jebel Ali Cement (manufacturing).

The winners of the Dubai Human Development Award were honoured in two categories – Dubai Human Development Award and Dubai Human Development Appreciation Programme.

The Dubai Human Development Award was presented to Al Rostamani International Exchange (finance), while Dubai Municipality (government) and Esnaad (services) were awarded the Dubai Human Development Appreciation Programme for their contribution to national human development within their organisations.

The Dubai Service Excellence Scheme winners included best service performing outlets and brands selected from more than 1,000 DSES members for exceptional service performance levels. The retail outlets selected for excellence in service included branches of Charles & Keith - Mall of the Emirates, Marina Exotic Home Interiors - Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Mikyajy - Reef Mall, Calvin Klein - Sahara Centre, Mirchi - Uptown Mirdiff, Al Yousuf Electronics - Electra Street in Abu Dhabi, Pure Gold Jewellers - Gold Centre, Dubai and Bur Dubai, and Al Jaber Optical - Abu Dhabi Mall.

And the four winners of the Best Service Performance Brand included Al Jaber Optical (Special Business Category), Pure Gold Jewellers (Large Business Category), Al Yousuf Electronics (Medium Business Category) and Triumph (Small Business Category).

"The award ceremony this year is threefold special. The Dubai DED has integrated the three flag-bearing awards offered for quality and excellence into one entity – the Business Excellence Awards. This is based on our approach to excellence and quality as a fundamental value in achieving sustainable economic development," said Sami Al Qamzi, Director-General, DED.

"Dubai has always maintained a strong and flexible economy based on our wise leadership and boundless ambition. The competitive environment in the emirate paved the way for creating a culture of excellence as a reference for determining the features of competition and performance of companies. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: 'In the race for excellence, there is no finish line'. Those who believe that they have achieved excellence must be aware that they will quickly lose it if they do not remain committed to it. Excellence requires ongoing and sustained efforts to establish the pursuit of excellence and leadership," he added.

Each submission for the DQA was reviewed by assessors according to procedures laid down by the Business Excellence Centre at DED that are modelled on the European Foundation for Quality Management excellence. After the entries were reviewed, a panel of jury members interviewed the teams that assess the companies to select potential winners. Applications for Dubai Human Development Award were evaluated by a team of assessors who conducted site visits and prepared detailed assessment reports highlighting existing best practices and areas for improvement in each company.

The DED launched the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme to raise the standards of customer service and business ethics, and to set new levels of excellence in the UAE's fast-expanding retail sector. This is an important initiative to further reiterate Dubai's global image as the world's foremost lifestyle and retail destination. Since its launch in 1994, the DQA has enjoyed the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed who has been instrumental in driving the quality movement across the private and public sectors in the emirate.

The DQA is the single most valuable framework for companies to implement a quality strategy to improve their effectiveness by involving all employees to meet objectives and achieve customer satisfaction at optimal costs.

Winners to continue drive for Quality

Danube Building Materials – the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries – has won the Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme.

Danube Chairman, Rizwan Sajan and Managing Director, Anis Sajan received the award in recognition of Danube's 'excellence model', which covers the organisation's activities as well as its achievements, and is the criteria by which the awardees are judged.

Securing the Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme certification for the first time, Danube credits its excellent leadership, dynamism in strategy, growth in terms of people and partnerships, as well as it expanding resources for bagging the award.

Within the past five years, Danube has registered exponential growth in revenues, which exceeded Dh1 billion in 2009, an investment of Dh100 million in the expansion of the Danube Buildmart concept across the GCC, and the addition of 350 staff during the height of the recession.

Speaking on the sidelines of the awards ceremony, Rizwan Sajan said: "We are very proud to have been given this recognition, which further affirms our commitment to excellence and to the region. This award is also a remarkable motivation for us to continue our efforts to secure further growth in terms of our manufacturing capabilities and expand our retail presence in the region amidst our plans to launch 10 new Buildmart branches this year."

"We are committed to upholding the integrity of the Dubai Quality Appreciation certification by ensuring that we satisfy all the stringent requirements set for this prestigious honour.

We wish to thank the Department of Economic Development for this award, and we are looking forward to undertaking further initiatives to enhance our processes and the value we provide to our customers, which would hopefully merit more recognition in the future," said Sajan.

UAE Exchange, among the leading international remittance and exchange houses which is based in the UAE with global operations spanning 22 countries, bagged the prestigious Dubai Quality Award in the finance category for 2009.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UAE Exchange, Dr BR Shetty, and Executive Director, Marwan Al Mazrouei, received the prestigious award.

Chairman Abdulla Humaid Ali Al Mazroei said: "UAE Exchange has been in the industry for 30 years and is one of the most trusted brands in the UAE having continually met the expectations of its customers and associates in a proactive manner. The organisation has always paid great attention to the quality of its products and services and this award reaffirms our dedicated efforts to deliver quality through our impeccable offerings.

"It is reassuring and encouraging to see our quest for excellence being recognised, which boosts our competitive edge in the industry and drives our continued efforts with added commitment and fervour."

Dr BR Shetty said: "UAE Exchange has gained the trust of customers through unwavering focus on reliability, product quality and service. We have always been highly customer-centric, established on an ethical value system, which has seen us through our journey of 30 years of trust.

"Dubai Quality Award augments the trust that our customers have on the brand and it's really heartening to receive an appreciation of such high order, assuring us that we are on the right path towards excellence. The honour is bound to boost our efforts towards achieving excellence."

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