The benefits of experience

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Gunter Facility Supplies managing director Rami Safadi and general manager Martin Koebke explain how they have used their hotel industry experience to set up a complete supply firm.

Having come to the UAE to assist in the opening of the Grand Hyatt Dubai, working as executive assistant manager, Gunter Facility Supplies (GFS) managing director Rami Safadi set up his firm in 2003 after spotting a gap in the market for a decent hotel supplier.

"It really started with the rooms operation, due to the discipline of my background," he explains.

"We started with guestroom amenities, then with towels and bed linen, and then took it forward into other areas, such as trolleys."

Then when one of his customers, Martin Koebke - then working as F&B manager at the Burj Al Arab - became general manager, GFS entered the food and beverage sector.

The key to being a good hotel supplier is finding reliable people to work with, according to Koebke.

"It's very important from our side to deal with the right partners - the people that deliver to us - because obviously if they are good, you are good; but if they let you down, you're going to let your customers down," he explains.

And so over the past few years GFS has become the sole agent for family-run British firm Robert Welch cutlery, as well as forging relationships with a number of other producers, including Rosenthal, Micallef, trolley supplier Forbes and Churchill China.

Their experience working in the hotel industry - Safadi in management positions in the Middle East and the US for Marriott Hotels and Resorts and Hyatt International, and Koebke in food and beverage from London's Savoy to Dubai's Emirates Towers - is the key to Safadi and Koebke's success.

"Many suppliers have never worked in a hotel before, so you can't blame them for not understanding what one particular type of glass is best for or what alternatives they might be able to offer," says Koebke.

"We can come up with alternatives and suggestions and we can source something out, or we can suggest that maybe they try setting stuff up in a slightly different manner. We're not just selling something - we're providing a service, advising a bit - it's consulting."

And as well as selling branded amenities GFS "tackles the house brands, custom made for the clients according to their specifications and their liking".

"This doesn't necessarily deal only with items that we represent - we actually deal with other institutions that represent other brands that will be the best for the client's concept," explains Safadi.

"That comforts the clients, because they know that we are not only trying to sell them the things that we might be earning commission on - we can be impartial and just offer them what would really be best for their needs, proposing what's good for them rather than what's good for us."

GFS levies a small service charge for this service, but as Safadi says it gives hotels peace of mind, as well as saving them a lot of leg work and the hassle of dealing with multiple suppliers.

"You have companies that offer only procurement and you have companies that only offer supplies. Us, we do both at the same time," he says.

"I'm sure other companies do exist like that but the level of experience from within the industry is what gives us the edge. We have both worked in international hotel chains, at senior executive level - not just the supervisory level. We know our stuff extremely well."

This type of service has led hotel chains such as Mövenpick and Rotana to choose GFS as their corporate supplier, because they trust that they are getting a full service and a unique end result.

"They say they like the bottle to look like this and have this design and we suggest certain names which they can accept, or they offer something else and then we take this and make it into an actual product," explains Safadi.

The next step is for GFS to expand its warehousing solution in order to offer a cash-and-carry solution for hotels.

"The trend with the hotel industry at the moment is that they're trying to go for zero inventory at the end of the month, so that they finish whatever they use for one month before they start on the next month. This enhances their cash flow and it frees up their storage capacity," explains Safadi.

With the cash-and-carry concept, hotels will be able to visit a GFS showroom, make their order on the spot and receive it quickly.

"Many hotels now have high occupancy and want things delivered the next day and we keep a level of stock that never goes below X amount so we have ample stock to deal with demand," says Safadi. "We make sure stock is always sufficient to fulfil hotel demand. We deliver it within 48 hours."

The warehouses will be stocked with branded and non-branded items, and will cater to both the high end of the market and three-star and budget hotels.

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