Dubai firm to switch HQ from Wharf
DUBAI developer Damac is looking to move its British headquarters from Canary Wharf to West London.
The firm only opened its office at 40 Bank Street just over six months ago. But it has reportedly already “outgrown� the site, and plans to expand it and convert it into a dedicated sales centre instead.
Its decision is part of a wider consolidation plan in the British Isles. Offices in Glasgow, Southampton, Birmingham and Dublin will be closed as showrooms in Manchester, Leicester and Chiswick are extended.
Damac opened its UK and Ireland regional headquarters in February, occupying just under 4,000 sq ft.
The company’s CEO Peter Riddoch said at the time that the site would be “both accessible and geographically close� to its clients.
It is understood that the move west is partly prompted by the fact that many staff commute from that part of London.
Damac already has an office in Mayfair and plans to open a new 5,000 sq ft showroom with 40 staff in Piccadilly.
The move is expected to take place within months but not before the end of the year. Damac is reportedly looking for about 10,000 sq ft for corporate use.
It has a property portfolio worth more than £25billion in eight countries, and is hoping to extend its reach from the Middle East into North Africa and South East Asia, as well as boost its UK sales ranks by 40 per cent over the next few months. It recently re-branded itself in a bid to corner the luxury property market.
UK general manager Darren Simpson said: “We initially started with 20 staff in 2003 and we have grown to 105 with a plan to exceed 200 by the end of this year. This new structure will create more opportunities and better career progression within the organisation and will allow us to align ourselves to Damac’s global business model with new, larger and more impressive offices to better showcase our products.
“Our new offices will have 30 to 40 sales staff to cater for the growing number of investors.�
I worked for Damac in Hamburg, Germany. Darran Simpson of Damac walked into our offices on 3 Dec 2008 and fired us all, promising to pay our outstanding wages asap. To date we have not received anything, notwithstanding many communication attempts from our side. I wonder how they justify spending all those thousands of Euros on the office but do not have the funds to pay us our wages?
Great plan Darren!!!
We started with 20 in 2003 in UK and by the end of 2008 ended up with how many??? 200??? Try 20!!! Oh! I think I've counted too many people!!
At the last count 5! Oh dear...me thinks Damac has died in the UK!!!!
That's what you get for stitching up everyone. My condolences to all the ex-Damac staff...
PS. Darren and the Mr. Fantastic Daryoush are also victims!! Lets hope they remember to pay you guys, as they've forgotten about most of us!!
Hi, if anyone would be interested in speaking to me about Damac issues, I'm a journalist from a big news organization writing a story on the company. Please reach me here: abihabibm@gmail.com
Thanks