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Discuss this article (0 Comments)Low-cost king
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Friday, 05 September 2008
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So far he has announced the launch of his budget hotel chain easyHotels in the Gulf in partnership with Nakheel, with plans to launch five properties in the region - the first of which will open in Dubai by the end of next year.
He admits the process has not been easy and that the company has had to adapt the easyHotel model to fit the requirements of the Dubai authorities.
"The irony is that easyHotels Dubai will be the most comfortable, luxurious easyHotels anywhere."
When I first started the business, I was only focusing on surviving the first winter.
"It's not the end of the world, but the concept had to be adapted slightly more upscale in order to comply with the Dubai tourism authority's minimum requirements."
"They've asked us to do certain things the British licensing authorities have not insisted on. There are minimum requirements about windows and everything else. Which may sound normal to people, but at the end of the day I was very impressed with the British authorities - and nobody can accuse them of being anything other than very strict - who were very happy to allow rooms without windows. Provided there is enough air conditioning and ventilation and fire escapes."
But he has no intention of stopping at hotels and, when he visits Dubai in October, will be on the lookout for other opportunities to establish his brands in the region.
"We work largely on the basis of franchising so, in the same way that we found Nakheel for easyHotel, I hope that I'll be able to find other reputable local companies to take on other EasyGroup brands in the UAE.
"I'm talking about anything from bus operations to and from the airport on easyBus to pizza delivery with easyPizza. These are the more humble, pedestrian day-to-day activities that every city needs."
Stelios has particularly high hopes of establishing a Middle East branch of easyOffice - a company that provides office facilities to let on a weekly basis, payable by credit card.
And in a city where soaring office rents and construction delays make sourcing and renting office space on a long-term basis tough for new arrivals, it would be a very smart move.
"Being such an entrepreneurial place, I think it would be an excellent opportunity for someone who owns their own business, who doesn't want to be tied up on a long lease, to take a franchise on easyOffice and be able to operate it on a short-term, flexible, prepay, by-the-week basis," he points out.
"If you go to easyOffice.co.uk, you will see that you can book office rooms in London by the week and pay by credit card, and I think that would be a very welcome opportunity for Dubai."
"But again we need a local partner in real estate," he goes on to say.
The man in charge
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou 41, who prefers to be called just by his first name, is best known for creating easyJet PLC when he was 28. Stelios is often credited as the pioneer who changed the European aviation scene for the benefit of millions of consumers.
easyJet is one of Europe's leading low-fares airlines, and as of June 2008 operates 157 aircraft on 392 routes between 101 airports in 26 countries. easyJet currently carries over 40 million passengers a year. The airline was partially floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2000 but Stelios remains the largest single shareholder and a member of its board of directors.
A serial entrepreneur, Stelios has established more than 17 ventures, the first of which was Stelmar Shipping at the age of 25, a company that he floated on the NYSE in 2001 and sold in 2005. Stelios separately owns easyGroup IP Licensing Ltd, the company that owns the "easy" brand and licenses it to the airline but also to other companies.
An up-to-date list of the easyGroup licensees includes include easyCar, easyHotel, easyBus, easyOffice, easyPizza and easyCruise. In November 2006, at the age of 39, Stelios received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship.
On the giving back side, Stelios is active in supporting education, encouraging entrepreneurship and promoting environmentally sustainable development strategies. First amongst various philanthropic projects he has started is the environmental charity CYMEPA (www.cymepa.org.cy) in Cyprus in 1992. On education he has pledged 200 scholarships over 10 years at his alma mater (the LSE and the City University). In 2007 he created the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneurs in the UK, in partnership with the disability charity Leonard Cheshire (see www.lcdisability.org/stelios).
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou 41, who prefers to be called just by his first name, is best known for creating easyJet PLC when he was 28. Stelios is often credited as the pioneer who changed the European aviation scene for the benefit of millions of consumers.
easyJet is one of Europe's leading low-fares airlines, and as of June 2008 operates 157 aircraft on 392 routes between 101 airports in 26 countries. easyJet currently carries over 40 million passengers a year. The airline was partially floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2000 but Stelios remains the largest single shareholder and a member of its board of directors.
A serial entrepreneur, Stelios has established more than 17 ventures, the first of which was Stelmar Shipping at the age of 25, a company that he floated on the NYSE in 2001 and sold in 2005. Stelios separately owns easyGroup IP Licensing Ltd, the company that owns the "easy" brand and licenses it to the airline but also to other companies.
An up-to-date list of the easyGroup licensees includes include easyCar, easyHotel, easyBus, easyOffice, easyPizza and easyCruise. In November 2006, at the age of 39, Stelios received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship.
On the giving back side, Stelios is active in supporting education, encouraging entrepreneurship and promoting environmentally sustainable development strategies. First amongst various philanthropic projects he has started is the environmental charity CYMEPA (www.cymepa.org.cy) in Cyprus in 1992. On education he has pledged 200 scholarships over 10 years at his alma mater (the LSE and the City University). In 2007 he created the Stelios Award for Disabled Entrepreneurs in the UK, in partnership with the disability charity Leonard Cheshire (see www.lcdisability.org/stelios).
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