UK Retailers Look To Gulf For Growth As Local Sales Plunge

Gulf Times:

Walk into any mall in Dubai and the UK high street is never far away. Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and Next are just some of the names that have become popular with locals and expatriate workers alike.

The demographics from a retailer’s standpoint are attractive. These are countries with young and expanding populations that enjoy some of the highest levels of disposable income in the world.

Cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are also homes to rapidly growing middle-to upper-income expatriate communities.

Many well-known retailer brands have already moved into the market and competition is now fierce.

But while Gulf markets might look attractive, UK companies wanting to enter them will find the rules of the game very different from what they are used to.

Foreign retailers within the region have to be represented by a locally owned partner. For this reason, the UK ventures are usually franchise operations, with a handful of franchisees holding the rights for most of the well-known Western brands.

The franchise holders usually don’t disclose information about sales and profits, making it difficult for analysts to gauge the size of the market and future earnings potential. More.