AED Rent announces UAE franchise
Published: MEA
UAE: AED Rent has opened its first ever franchise office to cover the UAE. Located in Dubai, the franchise will serve as a dry hire partner for rental companies in the country. This AED franchise rental company will offer the same lighting, trussing, video and audio equipment as AED Rent.
The franchisee is AED Middle East Audio Visual Trading LLC and Nigel Pinto will be the managing director. ‘I have been involved with this industry for the last 18 years. My key strength is the relationships that I have developed over the years with both the rental industry market and the clients I have serviced,’ said Mr Pinto. ‘The AED franchise model is a more simple structure. No more end clients, only rental production companies. This is more focused, based on the rental market for the GCC region. As the events in the region grow and with some large events confirmed for the region like Expo 2020 and Qatar World Cup 2022, it would be hard for companies to invest for these peaks. As an equipment “banker” we are here to support them in this growth.’
AED Rent has shipped 200 tons of equipment to the Middle East from brands including L-Acoustics, JBL, Shure, QSC, Panasonic video projectors, High End Systems, Clay Paky, Vari*Lite, Zap, Robert Juliat and Prolight. ‘AED Rent has spent over 24 years developing systems and process specifically to run an efficient and high quality rental service. This is key to any business long term,’ explained Mr Pinto. ‘The equipment is what earns your revenue and therefore its quality standard is what will keep clients coming back to you. Yes, you can rent and lower costs but every event is important and equipment failure should be a key area for production companies to look at.
‘The franchise model in Dubai is based on a smaller range of equipment that stays in Dubai but a larger quantity that is brought in for just six months to assist rental production companies during the peak season,’ continued Mr Pinto. ‘As new equipment is introduced to the market each year it is hard for rental production companies to invest in all areas of lighting, sound, video, rigging and most importantly, people. The success of this franchise model is based on the support and usage of our clients.
‘AED is here to help reduce the year on year capital expenditure of our clients in equipment,’ said the MD. ‘Each year we can bring in new equipment models or quantities to suit the rental company needs. The AED model is based on the extension of their own warehouse. It is here to assist small and large rental companies improve their margins year on year. As a neutral support service we aim to achieve this by listening to what our clients want us to stock and catering to these needs.’
Currently 12 people have been trained by the AED HQ staff. The 2,500 sq-m warehouse has test zones like in all AED companies with AED standard procedures. ‘AED Dubai is a neutral company that does not compete with any rental production company. Our staff are office-based and concentrate on maintenance and service to ensure the equipment that we rent to our clients are of the highest standards and presentation,’ stated Mr Pinto. ‘We aim to offer space within the warehouse linked to service contracts. The service department is a key factor in the future of this company and will aim to represent the leading brands for their service support to rental companies, hotels, venues, and clubs. A quality service centre will be the backbone of growth in long term lease in the future.’
This is the first time the European equipment banker has opened a franchise office and from 2015 it will look to expand into EMEA and the East this way. According to the company, the aim of this rental franchise formula is ‘to provide the best service to rental companies anywhere’. The company plans to commercialise this formula by naming one company per country as the franchisee to hold large quantities of high-quality equipment.