Kenya's fastest growing mid-sized businesses profiled

SPECIAL ISSUE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
THE FASTEST GROWING MID-SIZED BUSINESSES IN KENYA
Kenya’s fastest
growing firms
Profiles of 2014 winners
Insights from Survey

II BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
Ente≥p≥ise is what will t≥ansfo≥m
ou≥ young people into job c≥eato≥s
When we started the Top 100 awards
in 2008, we set out to identify and
reward small and medium sized
companies that were growing and going places.
Seven years later, the need to nurture entrepre-neurship
and develop our enterprises has never
been more important.
Together with our partners KPMG, we recog-nise
the key role small and medium enterpris-es
play in creating jobs and generating wealth.
Many mature businesses are facing different
challenges, from disruptive technological ad-vances,
to stiffer competition from the region
and elsewhere.
SMEs, such as the ones we recognise and re-ward
in the Top 100, are more nimble, more en-terprising,
and often better positioned to adopt
new technologies. They are an important vehi-cle
for our young people to make the important
transformation from job seekers to job makers,
using their energy, skills and intelligence to cre-ate
and grow companies that will compete and
thrive in the economy of the future.
We at NMG are proud to be part of this proc-ess.
As a media house we see ourselves, not just as
a business, but also as facilitators and enablers,
giving our audiences the information they need
to make informed decisions.
To this end, the Top 100 process provides par-ticipants
with conferencing, networking, mar-keting
and learning opportunities. Through
surveys undertaken by our partners KPMG,
we have been able to establish the needs of the
Top 100 companies, in areas such as corporate
governance, legal and financial advice, market-ing,
automation processes, taxation, national
insurance law and payments, and succession
planning, among others.
We watch with pride as, year after year, new
companies join the competition, while others
graduate, having grown their balance sheets be-yond
the SME parameters. The Top 100 badge
has become an important imprimatur for com-panies,
a symbol of good governance and great
prospects. If the Top 100 process and awards
1 Optiven Entreprises Ltd
2 Vehicle And Equipment Leasing Limited
3 Shade Systems E.A Ltd
4 North Star Cooling Systems Ltd
5 Lean Energy Solutions Ltd
6 Wotech Kenya Limited
7 Pharmaken Limited
8 Synermedica (Kenya) Lmited
9 Novel Technologies Ea Ltd
10 Aslan Adventure
11 Mega Pack K Ltd
12 East African Canvas Co Ltd
13 Hajar Services Ltd
14 Pewin Cabs
15 BTB Insurance
16 Bluekey Software Solutions (K) Ltd
17 Ark Construction
18 Digital City Ltd
19 Vivek Investments Ltd
20 Woodbridge Group Ltd
21 Onfon Media Ltd
22 Lanor Holdings Limited
23 ASL Credit
24 Spry Engineering Co. Ltd
25 Pwani Cellular Services Ltd
26 Pinnacle K Travel & Safaris
27 Powerpoint Systems Ea Ltd
28 Specicom Technologies Ltd
29 Executive Healthcare Solutions Ltd
30 Allwin Packaging Intl Ltd
31 Africa Practice Ea Ltd
32 Upperhill Eye & Laser Centre
33 Cube Movers Limited
34 Machines Technologies (2006) Ltd
35 Charleston Travel Limited
36 Africa Biosystems Limited
37 Impax Business Solutions
38 Kenya Bus Service Management Ltd
39 Elite Tools Ltd
40 Mic Global Risks Nsurance Brokers Ltd
41 Lantech (Africa) Limited
42 Smart Brands Limited
43 Care Chemists
44 Stitch Masters Ltd
45 Alexander Forbes Financial Services Ea Ltd
46 Rongai Workshop & Transport Ltd
47 Coast Industrial & Safety Supplies
48 Eldohosp Pharmaceuticals
49 Stile Gas Supplies Ltd
50 Muranga Forwarders Limted
51 Furniture Rama Ltd
52 Conventional Cargo Conveyors Ltd
53 Total Office Solutions Ea Ltd
54 Typotech Imaging Systems
55 Unique Offers Limited
56 Devsons Industries Ltd
57 General Cargo Services Ltd
58 Jogian Interlink Limited
59 Waumini Insurance Brokers
60 Professional Clean Care Ltd
61 XRX Technologies Limited
62 Amex Auto & Industries Hardware Ltd
63 Synermed Pharmaceuticals (K) Ltd
64 Ndugu Transport Company
65 Security World Technology Ltd
66 Vintage Travel & Tours Services Ltd
67 Vinep Forwarders Limited
68 Dune Packaging Limited
69 Ravenzo Trading Limited
70 Trinity Petroleum Limited
71 Software Technologies Ltd
72 Avtech Systems Ltd
73 AAR Credit
74 Thika Wax Works Ltd
75 Eurocon Tiles Production
76 Polygon Logistics Ltd
77 Rushab Petroleum Limited
78 Prafulchandra & Brothers Ltd
79 Healthy U 2000 Ltd
80 Sheffield Steel Systems Ltd
81 Viro Locks Ltd
82 Specialized Aluminium Renovators Ltd
83 Kenbro Industries Limited
84 Nairobi Enterprises Ltd
85 Office Dynamics Limited
86 De Ruiter East Africa Ltd
87 Brollo Kenya Ltd
88 Melvin Marsh International Ltd
89 Sigma Supplies Ltd
90 Sensations Limited
91 Supreme Pharmacy Limited
92 Isolutions Associations
93 Kurrent Technologies Ltd
94 Total Solutions Ltd
95 Trident Plumbers Ltd
96 Palbina Travel Ltd
97 Tabaki Freight Services
98 Hotel Waterbuck Limited
99 Xtreme Adventures Limited
100 Satguru Travel And Tours
Top 100 companies 2014
contribute to making these companies market
leaders in their fields of expertise, then we are
proud to make our small contribution to grow-ing
this important sector of the economy.
The Top 100 winners have done a commend-able
job. They have demonstrated will power,
business acumen, and embraced innovative
practices to power their growth. These com-panies
are the backbone of the growth we see
in Kenya and in the rest of the region. They are
at the heart of the Kenya Vision 2030, translat-ing
macro ambitions into micro actions on the
ground.
The Kenyan economy is currently experienc-ing
some challenges, including terrorism, which
has affected the tourism sector, but we are also
seeing massive investments in transport and
energy infrastructure, on top of reforms to im-prove
the business environment.
With investments such as new power plants,
the standard gauge railway, new highways and
pipelines, and with oil and gas discoveries in
the region, a solid foundation is being laid for
prosperity and a new class of entrepreneurs to
create wealth and value. Like Wangari Maathai
used to say: “There are great opportunities even
in the most difficult of moments”.
NMG and our flagship brand, Business Dai-ly,
are proud to be associated with the Top 100
Mid-Sized companies awards. We shall continue
to seek knowledge that empowers businesses
to make informed decisions as they define the
economic landscape of the region.
I would like to congratulate Optiven, Vehi-cle
and Equipment Leasing, as well as Shade
Systems Ltd, the three top winners this year,
as well as all the other participants and rising
stars. You are all champions in waiting – that’s
the bottom line.
Linus Gitahi, Nation Media Group CEO
Nation Media Group CEO Linus Gitahi. SALATON NJAU
FOUNDERS
LEAD SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSOR
SILVER SPONSOR
PARTNERS
Chief Executive Officer Linus Gitahi
Acting Group Editorial Director Tom Mshindi
Managing Editor Ochieng Rapuro | Consulting Editor Jenny Luesby
Production Editor Bobby Kiama | Photo Editor Joan Pereruan
Photos Salaton Njau
Senior Graphic Designer Gennevieve Awino Nahinga
Graphic Designer Millie Wachira

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY III
The Kenya Top100 Survey is a proc-ess
I look forward to with unbri-dled
enthusiasm. In this seventh
year, I am even more convicted that our
pursuit of transformation in Africa will
be achieved through learning from, pro-motion,
recognition and celebration of
entrepreneurship.
This year, the process attracted 280
participants with 258 of these providing
the three-year audited financial informa-tion
required to confirm their revenue
range, revenue growth, profitability, and
current ratio, as well as other working
capital management information re-quired
to arrive at the final ranking.
To be considered for ranking, we re-quire
that this information be certified
by the participating company’s audi-tors,
who themselves must be in good
standing with the Institute of Certified
Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).
This requirement serves a number of
purposes.
Firstly, the preparation of audited
financial statements provides credible
information that can be used not only in
this process of ranking, but also by poten-tial
financiers and investors interested
in supporting the business.
Businesses that prepare this informa-tion
will therefore find that not only are
they able to attract financing, but they
may very well enjoy favourable interest
rates that reduce their cost of borrowing
and support their aspirations for growth
and expansion.
Secondly, an organisation that pre-pares
financial statements and subjects
them to a professional audit has of ne-cessity
to set up appropriate accounting
systems and internal controls.
These contribute to the formalization
and improved governance of the busi-ness.
Whilst this may appear costly in the
short run, particularly in the face of com-peting
demands on time and resources,
the lessons shared by past participants
have demonstrated that it is well worth
the investment.
Improved governance provides a
firm foundation and meets the thresh-old
of compliance required to win trust
from key stakeholders, larger customers
and new markets. Ken Njoroge of Cel-lulant
has travelled this transformation
path from the days when he operated
in Kenya, with mainly one customer, to
subsequent growth leading him to across
the continent.
As he told us at this year’s conference,
“If the Founder is still carrying the keys
to the office, perhaps you are not yet
ready to grow and go to new markets.”
He however added that “If you are a
Top100 company, Africa is ready and
waiting for you with tremendous op-portunities.”
Thirdly, accounting and
entrepreneurship meet at “net value”.
Entrepreneurship is about identifying
an “under-served market”, innovatively
investing in a value proposition to serve
that market, convincing financiers and
other investors to partner with you,
and persuading clients and markets to
choose your proposition, all at a sustain-able
cash profit.
The core elements apply to private,
public and social sectors: under-served,
innovation, value proposition, invest-ment,
financing, uptake by clients and
markets, “cash profits”, sustainability.
Accounting helps an entrepreneur to
determine whether they are making
money, a return from their efforts. We
need accounting skills in every home,
every village, every country, and indeed
the entire continent of Africa if we are to
generate value.
Our guest speaker at the conference
convinced me that there is another pro-fession
that should be given greater re-spect
than perhaps is the case at present.
In his presentation, Billy Wilson of Sales
Guru reminded the participants that
growth comes through a sales culture
purposely aimed at HELPING custom-ers.
This focus on helping, combined
with a world-class Attitude and Activ-ity
that is productive and free of energy
leakages, and underpinned by Skill that
is continually being developed, is what
Billy called the “Sales DNA”.
Every entrepreneur must equip their
business with this “Sales DNA”. You must
have the belief that yours are the best
products and services, that you provide
value for money, that you are the best in
sales, and that the customer is BETTER
OFF for dealing with you.
Above all, a “No” is a request for
clarification of value – it is only a “No” if
you hear it four times! This belief is im-portant
and will help businesses to not
only generate growth, but only pursue
those opportunities that deliver cash
profits, not delaying payment by over
500 days!
Each year, the survey culminates in
the recognition and celebration of each
of the Top100 companies. Nearly 1,000
people gather in an evening of pomp and
circumstance. Every ranked company
getting up on stage, some with their en-tire
workforce, or so it appears.
This is deliberately planned to give
each company limelight, an opportunity
to shine among other greats, and to cele-brate
together. For creating wealth, jobs,
foreign exchange earnings, paying taxes,
and serving mankind, we salute you!
As we head to Tanzania, Uganda and
Rwanda, I hope that eastern Africa will
emerge with breakthroughs in entre-preneurship
that enable all our people
to be gainfully engaged: in worthy jobs
and fulfilling livelihoods. Our future
depends on it.
Josphat Mwaura, CEO, KPMG East
Africa
Why we celeb≥ate the
t≥ansfo≥mative powe≥
of ent≥ep≥eneu≥ship
KPMG East Africa CEO Josphat Mwaura . DIANA NGILA

IV BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
Biting cash c≥unch
e≥ects ba≥≥ie≥ to
Kenyan sta≥t-ups
With late payments that stand at higher than the global
average and interest rates of more than 16pc, enterprises
are walking a cash flow tightrope to remain in operation
BY ANDREW AWITI AND JENNY LUESBY
Most young businesses die within their
first three years of life, and most of
them on cash flow problems. Even
profitable businesses are often forced to close
shop when they are unable to get their clients to
pay, and end up stranded with no cash left to buy
supplies or pay staff.
It is salutary then, as so many start-ups look to
the country’s Top 100 most successful medium-sized
businesses, and the Club 101 of homegrown
Kenyan companies that have made it beyond Sh1
billion a year in revenue, to discover that 40 per
cent of them still suffer from these same cash flow
issues, and 81 per cent cite late payments from
their customers as the main problem.
Late payments are not, in fact, a blight in Kenya
alone, but the scale and breadth of the payment
delays is seemingly higher than elsewhere, which
matters amid mounting evidence that the more
severe and unchecked the problem, the more
business failures it causes.
Of more concern still is the evidence that late
payments invariably cause slower job creation and
even redundancies – a matter of key importance
in Kenya where unemployment is running at 54
per cent, and still rising.
Detailed studies in the UK, looking at what
business owners do to bridge the gaps caused by
late payments, have found that more than 40 per
cent of them will, in turn, pay their suppliers late,
meaning that late payments trigger more late
payments with a multiplying impact.
But, according to Bibby Financial Services, a
full third of businesses respond by freezing recruit-ment,
and 30 per cent freeze salaries. About a fifth
turn to personal and business overdraft facilities,
and others borrow from family and friends or
draw down personal savings.
Europe-wide, the Intrum Justitia’s European
Payment Index (EPI) reports for 2014 that late
payments in Europe had resulted in 40 per cent
of the companies affected not hiring, a full 25 per
cent cutting down on staff, and had a 3.0 to 3.1 per
cent impact on revenues, equating to the cost of
eight million jobs.
In 2012, the UK’s Forum for Private Business
lobby group found that 16 per cent of small busi-nesses
had come close to closure due to late pay-ments
by their customers.
While another study by the European Com-mission
this year, looking at the impact of late
payments in each of Italy, Spain and Portugal,
found the consequent business failures run-ning
at between 7.7 per cent and 19.26 per cent
of businesses.
In Kenya, where late payments are apparent-ly
more endemic and more severe in the degree
of lateness, the impact in job cuts, recruitment
freezes and failed businesses is likely to be far
higher.
Another factor that increases the vulnerabil-ity
of Kenyan SMEs to failure on late payments is
their narrow capital base from the start.
Most begin as shoe-string operations, funded
most often, reports KPMG and Business Daily in
the Top 100 survey this year, by the founders’ own
savings or money – in 76 per cent of cases.
A further 15 per cent get started by loans from
family, while just 25 per cent had any bank loans
or overdraft to launch their ventures.
Most of the companies then do draw growth
capital from the commercial banks – at 66 per
cent – but at this point Kenyan and East African
companies are heavily handicapped versus busi-nesses
elsewhere in the world.
For where the lending rates in the UK are run-ning
at about 0.5 per cent, Japan at 1.5 per cent,
the Czech Republic at 5.4 per cent, and China at
6 per cent, Kenyan banks declare their rates as
being around 16.7 per cent - while in many cases
charging up to 25 per cent on long-term loans and
even up to 40 per cent, as an annualised percent-age
rate, on overdraft facilities.
Such expensive borrowing places the bar far
higher for Kenyan and East African companies in
the levels of returns -- the need to earn on their in-vestments,
just to cover their cost of borrowing.
Thus, while a Chinese business could earn a
15 per cent ROI and thrive, the same return for
a Kenyan company would equate to mounting
losses.
This differential in borrowing costs has seen
some sectors where Kenyan companies, particu-larly
where upfront costs are high, or there is a
need for intensive capital investment, cannot com-pete
with foreign companies, even within Kenya
– with the external entrants benefiting from far
cheaper borrowing.
Against this backdrop, many of the Top 100
companies speak to the importance of reinvest-ing
their profits, and of the need to drive their
own growth.
Certainly, it’s a slower road to growth, and one
which is constantly and repetitively hampered by
late payments – with profits on paper and nothing
in cash when payments have not been made.
However, this year’s Top 100, as those before it,
have shown that despite the many cards stacked
against Kenyan SMEs financially, success can
and is being won, despite every monetary hur-dle
along the way.
-AFRICAN LAUGHTER
Late payments have
been blamed for busi-ness
failures.
FILE
Top 5 reasons attributed to growth Top 5 business challenges faced Age of CEO
Most of the Mid-Sized firm heads fall in the middle
age category. Very few fall within the youthful age
band of 25-34
What certification?
1 out of 5 businesses has obtained an
international certificate in the past 12 months.
SOURCE: TOP 100 MID-SIZED COMPANIES SURVEY
ISO certification 67%
IATA certification 3%
ASTA certification 3%
Microsoft gold certification 2%
Psychometric testing and
assessing from profiles international 2%
SAS 70 certified 2%
NAS1 bench mark 2%
The global certification 2%
Sedex certification 2%
National road safety ageny certification 2%
Global gap certification 2%
Steve award certification 2%
Otherways international research and
consultants certification 2%
HB gold specialist certification 2%
WHO certification 2%
UNIGLOBE certification 2%
Screen printing and graphic
imaging association certification 2%
CFMD certification 2%
HIKVISION certification 2%
1. Competition (Fair and
unfair)
45%
2. Difficulties with
obtaining finance for
expansion/high cost of
finance
32%
3. Insecurity in the country 19%
4. Poor customer
payments/Debt
collection issues/Increase of
bad debts
15%
5. Economic/political
uncertainties
14%
38%
31%
30%
24%
1. Aggressive
marketing
2. Increased demand for
our products/services/
increased customer base
19%
100% Over 64
5%
23%
36%
27%
10%
0%
Between 55 and 64
Between 45 and 54
Between 35 and 44
Between 25 and 34
Below 25
3. Increase in projects/
products/product
diversification
4. Expansion of our
business in the
market/ Acquisition
5. Improvement on
customer service
ENTERPRISE BY THE NUMBERS
67%

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY V

VI BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
DTB helps fi≥ms stop ≥evenue
leakage with digital payments
INNOVATION Bank
boosts devolution
with automated
revenue collection
BY GITUKU KIRIKA
DTB HEAD OF PRODUCTS AND MARKETING
The prospect of pulling out those
dog-eared Sh500 and Sh1,000
notes that have lined a hundred
pockets could be a thing of the past as
Kenyan consumers increasingly turn
to electronic methods to pay for goods
and services.
Everywhere there are signs that
Kenya is moving further towards be-coming
a cashless society with the
increased use of electronic payment
systems and mobile money services
for all types of transactions.
In one of the latest moves, as of July
1st in Nairobi, bus and matatu opera-tors,
who said they lost 30 per cent of
their revenue through theft and police
corruption, introduced a cashless fare
system. It’s now been eight years since
the launch of mobile money in Kenya
and a 2013 MasterCard report showed
that nearly 30 per cent of consumer
spending in East Africa’s largest econ-omy
is cashless.
Compared to a country like Bel-gium
where it’s 93 per cent, cashless
payments in Kenya are still in incep-tion
stage but there is huge potential
for growth in this area with financial
pundits saying that a greater degree of
electronic payments would boost the
economy partly through greater and
more transparent tax collection.
In its Financial Crime Survey 2013,
Deloitte East Africa listed cash theft as
one of the top methods of fraud in the
region. It showed about 70 per cent
Diamond Trust Bank group chief executive officer Nasim Devji. COURTESY
of financial crimes carried out in East
Africa were through cash theft making
cash transactions an expensive option.
In a bid to counter this, some counties
such as Kisii have moved to automate
their revenue collection in collabora-tion
with major banks such as Diamond
Trust Bank (DTB).
As the uptake of plastic money in
the form of credit, debit and pre-paid
cards surges and more and more small
and medium sized enterprises and re-tailers
move towards electronic pay-ment
systems so does the ingenuity of
those crooked elements determined to
relieve us of our hard earned cash. So
the financial institutions have to work
harder to protect consumers’ money
from the criminals.
EMV, a system developed by Eu-ropay,
MasterCard and Visa - hence
the acronym, is the globally accepted
standard for secure card payments and
has been proven to sharply reduce the
number of card frauds.
In comparison to the more numer-ous
magnetic strip cards, EMV cards
have an in-built microchip to encrypt
information. This makes it considerably
harder for fraudsters to copy or get ac-cess
to information on the card.
When used together with a per-sonal
identification number (PIN),
the chip data becomes accessible and
this helps to reduce cases of card fraud
rather than just swiping a magnetic
strip through a device (ATM or PDQ)
and scribbling a signature that can be
forged with relative ease.
Last year, DTB in partnership with
Nakumatt launched the Nakumatt Glo-bal
multicurrency prepaid card, a Mas-terCard
EMV chip and PIN product, the
first of its kind in the world.
So for instance, if a customer wants
to pay for something in dollars (funds
can be held in up to six out of eight cur-rencies),
so long as there are enough
funds on the card to pay for that trans-action,
the funds are debited in that
matching currency so avoiding confu-sion
and costs of forex changes.
Should funds not be available in the
matching currency wallet, monies will
be debited from other wallets following
a sequence set by the cardholder.
Financing helps SMEs follow
bank’s own path to g≥eatness
Systems and p≥ocesses that ease small businesses’ access to c≥edit
BY BD REPORTER
Solid examples of how the private sec-tor
(i.e micro, small and medium
sized businesses), contributes to
Kenya’s economic growth are many and
varied. Kenya’s estimated 7.5 milion SMEs
contributed 40 per cent towards GDP in
2013, making SMEs key players in eco-nomic
growth of the country.
It is generally accepted that SMEs are
becoming increasingly important in terms
of employment, wealth creation, and the
development of innovation. However,
SMEs encounter many problems and
as a result, many firms do not reach their
full potential or fail to grow. In East Africa,
SMEs play an important role in sustaining
our economic growth. DTB has invested in
SMEs and has grown lockstep with them.
Experience shows that the average small
business owner has a number of business
functions to oversee everyday.
Even if the business employs manag-ers
to handle some operational duties, the
owner is ultimately responsible for how
their business operates and sometimes in
doing so he or she neglects some critical
areas that may become a huge stumbling
block in the business’ growth. Most finan-cial
institutions in Kenya now recognise
that the vast small and medium enterprise
market is going to be the source of future
profits. Many are now redefining them-selves
as SME banks and some are even
implementing large change management
projects to realign their structures, staff
and systems to this new reality. However,
lack of sufficient data and statistics on
SMEs still presents constraints to deliv-ery
of appropriate financial products and
services to growing SMEs.
As a key contributor to the GDP
growth, programmes such as the Kenya
Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies founded
by KPMG and Nation Media Group, that
celebrates entrepreneurs who have con-tributed
to wealth and job creation are
good avenues for investors, and financial
partners to gather data and statistics on
SMEs and come up with practical solu-tions
for SMEs as data and statistics on
SME is still insufficient.
There are various other financial chal-lenges
that face small enterprises. Lack of
access to sufficient credit is almost uni-versally
cited as a key problem for SMEs.
Credit constraints operate in a variety of
ways in Kenya where undeveloped capi-tal
market forces entrepreneurs to rely on
self-financing or borrowing from friends or
relatives. Lack of access to long-term credit
for small enterprises forces them to rely on
high cost short term finance. Experience
from banking several SMEs in the last cou-ple
of years as well as feedback from past
winners and participants in the Kenya Top
100 Mid-Sized Companies, indicate that the
rigorous process of ensuring that interna-tionally
accepted processes and systems
are in place, ensures that the SMEs have
an added advantage when engaging with
financial institutions for credit.
Highly rated firms in the Kenya Top
100 SMEs survey are not necessarily
the ones that grew their revenues by
the highest margin but more about the
ones that scored highly against a number
of parameters thus showing growth in
all aspects
Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) sponsored
Kenya Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies
Awards to the tune of Sh10 million. The
deal saw the bank work with high-im-pact
medium sized enterprises in East
Africa to grow their businesses and
promote them as a leading force for
sustainable economic development.
BD Reporter asked DTB chief executive
Nasim Devji, five questions on the
sponsorship.
Why did DTB sponsor the
Top 100 SMEs initiative?
The ultimate yardstick for success is
focused on how you do business. And
it comes down to three key pillars:
people, processes and systems. Most
SMEs excel on the people element;
they have brilliant strategies and pas-sion
and are driven by individuals who
are super achievers; but they score
poorly on processes and systems – the
evidence of records and performance
is rarely documented. It is usually in
the mind of the business owners and
this becomes a challenge when one
is seeking finance from a bank. DTB
recognises that it has a role to play in
working with its clients to help them
mitigate these issues. Programmes
such as the Kenya Top 100 Mid-Sized
Companies go a long way in providing a
platform to facilitate this.
Why does DTB focus on
SMEs?
The growth of DTB has largely been
supported by SMEs. In East Africa,
SMEs play an important role in sus-taining
our economic growth. Many
banks have traditionally stayed away
or struggled in banking SMEs because
they are perceived as too risky. DTB
started off as an SME, and travelled the
SME journey to emerge among the top
10 banks in the region, our success has
been driven largely by banking SMEs.
What are some of the
challenges facing SMEs in
accessing finance today?
In spite of the generally fast pace by
which access to financial services for
SME is being developed, significant
segments of the SME sector do not yet
benefit from the expansion and deep-ening
of outreach.
Small businesses lack access to capi-tal
and money markets. Investors are
unwilling to invest in proprietorships,
partnerships or unlisted companies as
risk perception about small businesses
is high.
What will this programme
help in addressing that
problem?
Participating in the Kenya Top 100 Mid-
Sized Companies enables companies
to learn how to be better prepared to
access financing, recognising that as a
bank we have a role to play in working
with our clients to help them mitigate
some of the issues that affect their ac-cess
to finance.
There are networking forums and
workshops that bring companies to-gether
to share their experiences, chal-lenges,
successes and also help DTB
get important information that will en-able
the bank meet some of the issues
faced by the sector.
What is DTB doing to ease
SMEs access to finances
they need?
The forums that are organised for the
Kenya Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies
are also a learning experience for the
bank.
DTB is committed to giving back to
extraordinary businesses, which have
the potential to transform our indus-tries,
communities and region. DTB
will provide practical support to the
programme’s workshops and panels,
where it will educate enterprises on
how to access better financing through
improved processes and systems.

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY VII

VIII BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
Fi≥m ≥ides ≥eal estate wave to win 2014 su≥vey
REAL ESTATE
1 Optiven Enterprises
BY JOHN GACHIRI
Optiven, the first real estate company
to win the Top 100 Survey, provides a
story of ramrod determination, un-yielding
persistence and a rich col-lection
of experiences gained over the
last 15 years.
Fifteen is also the number of busi-nesses
that George Wachiuri, the
founder and current chief executive,
has tried a hand at, but with limited
success and, at times, great financial
and emotional loss.
However, today, Mr Wachiuri heads
a company that has earned a solid
reputation in the booming real estate
sector, which, while offering good op-portunities
and returns, carries a real
level of risk.
Even losing all his life savings to
conmen in a land deal did not stop Mr
Wachiuri from forming a top property
firm that also won the industry award
in this year’s competition.
Optiven’s main business in the real
estate sector is selling serviced plots
and estate developments mainly in
Kitengela, Kajiado, Machakos and
Eldoret towns. While it sounds sim-ple,
the difference between other firms
and Optiven is the focus on value ad-dition
to customers, which he says has
become synonymous with Optiven.
The real estate firm puts in power
lines, drills bore holes, constructs ac-cess
roads, lays pipes and plants trees
on all its plots.
Additionally, Optiven has a green-ing
policy that involves planting trees
and grass on all its plots in arid areas.
Owners are also freed from the due
diligence, legal work and other im-portant,
but tedious tasks carried out
when buying land.
Optiven does all this leg work to
ensure that the only role the customer
has is paying for the land. This has, in
turn, opened more business lines for
the real estate company.
“Many of our customers are now
asking us to develop houses for them
and to manage some of their proper-ties,”
says Mr Wachiuri.
Charity and church are other pil-lars
that have seen the company find
favour with customers and communi-ties
where they operate.
The company has a morning prayer
policy and its duties as a good corpo-rate
citizen include paying fees for high
school students, particularly those that
do not make it to the national or top
tier schools yet excel when given op-portunities.
Optiven also has an in-ternship
programme for university
students.
The firm’s strategic plan is to ex-pand
its presence to 20 counties and
have a staff of 15,000 employees within
the next five years.
Job creation is particularly impor-tant
for Mr Wachiuri, who says that
the industry presents an enormous
opportunity due to the growing de-mand
for housing, big population, and
the infrastructure projects coming up
under Vision 2030.
Optiven Enterprises Limited chief executive officer George Wachiuri during the interview with the Business Daily at his Nairobi
office on Monday. His company was declared overall winner of the TOP 100 Mid-sized Companies survey. SALATON NJAU

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY IX
Helping fi≥ms
use technology
to achieve goals Representatives from Vehicle and Equipment Leasing Limited
Over and above the six re-vered
Ps in marketing,
coupled with other vir-tues
of good business practices,
technology has over the recent
years earned its place as one of
the distinct ingredients of hav-ing
a successful business.
It not only complements
marketing efforts, but has
been proven to be one of the
most effective ways of enhanc-ing
efficiency in the business
process, thereby cutting down
on time and related expenses
that characterised how business
was done in the past.
However, it is a fact that not
all business owners and manag-ers
are Information and Com-munication
Technology ex-perts,
a fact that has seen most
businesses in Kenya yet to tap
into the full potential of technol-ogy
as a business tool.
Furthermore, technology
has been changing so rapidly
to the extent that systems that
were much touted a decade
ago, may now be tittering on
the brink of being declared
obsolete.
For others, the cost of acquir-ing
the technology solutions re-mains
prohibitive, forcing the
owners to continue operating
inefficient business models
at a time when competition
from new market entrants is
at its peak.
It is with this realisation that
Safaricom Business was estab-lished
with the aspiration to
help businesses meet their core
objectives by offering bespoke
technology solutions that meet
the specific needs of the respec-tive
organisations.
Safaricom Business does
this by leveraging on its robust
infrastructure network, cloud
technology and affordable inter-net,
thereby earning Safaricom
Business the title the Partner of
Choice for Business.
Biashara Smart… speaking
to SMEs’ hearts
This is a partnership be-tween
Kenya’s leading bank,
the KCB Group and Safaricom
which is the leading integrat-ed
communications service
provider.
Biashara Smart was borne
with a view to addressing two
common problems that SMEs
have; lack of access to credit and
tailor-made financial services
that suit small businesses, and
low adoption of ICT in SMEs
operations.
It comes as a suite of servic-es
that can be accessed conven-iently
through the USSD Code
from a Safaricom number.
Use cutting-edge software
without owning it
Owning software not only
comes with the initial cost, but
the need for regular updates
and licensing fees, so that you
can continue deriving the most
from the software.
In response to these chal-lenges,
Safaricom Business
has introduced Cloud SAAS
(Cloud Software as a Service)
which gives SMEs access to a
Website, professional email,
HR Payroll software and ac-counting
software at competi-tive
prices since users will only
have to pay for the solutions ac-cording
to the specific needs of
the business.
At a time when internet up-take
is on the increase, a website
is a great marketing and refer-ence
tool, while email makes
you accessible to your clients.
The accounting software;
Sage Pastel, makes it possible
for SMEs to generate profes-sional
financial reports which
they can use to borrow loans
from financial institutions,
thereby making the work of
in-house and outsourced ac-countants
much easier.
Also in the suite is a payroll
solution, Cleanbill, designed to
ease and professionalise payroll
management by automatically
tabulate all statutory deduc-tions
from the employees and
keeping relevant records.
M-Pesa for Business
As Kenya evolves into a CashL-ite
economy, Safaricom Business
offers the government as well as
privately owned businesses the
option of receiving payments
and disbursing funds through
the revolutionary mobile money
solution M-Pesa.
This option of payment not
only offers security to both cus-tomers
and government/ busi-nesses
but also cuts down cash
handling costs, which leads to
increased savings in the oper-ating
costs.
- BD REPORTER
ASSET LEASING
2 Vehicle and Equipment Leasing Limited
pose with their trophy as Industrialisation and Enterprise Devel-opment
secretary Adan Mohamed (third right) looks on during
the TOP 100 Mid-sized Companies gala night at the Carnivore.
SALATON NJAU

X BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
MANUFACTURING
3 Shade Systems
BY SANDRA CHAO-BLASTO
His is a story of five years of de-termination
to realise an entre-preneurial
dream – for even be-fore
his 30th birthday, Eric Kinoti has
successfully established a tent making
venture that has emerged among the top
three small and medium enterprises in
the country.
Shade Systems East Africa manufac-tures
and supplies tents and shades for
clientele across the region.
“Participating in the survey for the
first time and emerging among the top
three goes to validate the business, im-proving
the brand visibility, which makes
me want to work harder,” he says.
Earlier in the year, he was listed by
Forbes magazine as one of the 30 most
promising young entrepreneurs in Af-rica.
It is this listing that has made him
think of expanding his business to other
countries in the continent.
“It was unexpected and came as
a shock to me, but that has made me
think of the larger African market as a
whole. We plan on expanding to Central
and West Africa in the next two years,”
he adds
Even so, Mr Kinoti admits that set-ting
up a manufacturing company in the
country requires hard work to balance all
the liquidity, working space and human
resource issues necessary to successfully
running the business.
When he started out, he only had
Sh60,000 from his savings, which was
not enough to venture into the tent mak-ing
business. Lacking collateral to borrow
from established financial institutions,
he was forced to find seed capital from
shylocks. “I would not advise anyone to
go down the same route I went, because
I had to pay back more than the Sh2
million within a year. If you are not able
to pay the high interests rates, you can
even lose your business to the shylocks,”
he explains. With time he became wiser,
reinvesting the profits he made back into
the business and leveraging some of the
company’s shares to fund his expansion
plans. He has also moved his business
premises over the years as he sought to
establish himself within the industry.
Initially, he had set up his investment in
Ngara, before moving to Kipande Road.
Now, he has set up a factory in Industrial
Area and is renting out office space at
Design Centre in Westlands.
The biggest challenge for the tent
maker has been availability of raw ma-terials,
some of which he sources locally
and others he imports, largely from Eu-rope,
to convert into shades and tents.
Today, Shade Systems is one of the lead-ing
canvas and PVC tent manufacturers
in the region, specialising in accommo-dation,
luxury, camping, and exhibition
tents. The company also supplies spe-cially
designed medical and relief tents to
global non-governmental organisations
working in the region.
Additionally, it provides shades for
parking spaces, balconies, and garden
umbrellas in addition to the canopies
and tarpaulins that are popular with
truckers. The company’s clients come
from as far afield as Ethiopia, Somalia,
Rwanda, Congo, Burundi and South Su-dan.
Mr Kinoti is quick to note that tents
are a fast moving product, because of the
increasing demand among corporates to
have customised and branded tents and
the fact that more people are looking to
host events outside buildings.
With the left over material from his
tent making venture, Mr Kinoti opted
to setup a bag making company, which
specialises in customized school, gym,
laptop and safari bags. His enterprise
portfolio also includes a company that
offers professional home and office clean-ing
services. According to the entrepre-neur,
turning a startup into a multi-bil-lion
shilling venture requires persistence,
even in times when the business does not
seem to be making profits.
“You have to focus on what you want
to achieve, despite the capital vulnerabil-ity
that you will experience in the first
few years and improve on the quality of
service that you deliver to your clients,”
he explains.
Winne≥ ≥ises to the
top putting shade
ove≥ people’s heads
Shade Systems East Africa Limited staff receive a trophy from Industrialisation and
Enterprise Development secretary Adan Mohammed (centre) and KPMG East Africa
CEO Josphat Mwaura (right). FILE
Ent≥ep≥eneu≥ who cooled his way to g≥eatness
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
4 North Star Cooling
Systems
BY ANNIE NJANJA
Kishore Reddy, the founder of
North Star Cooling Systems,
came to Kenya by chance.
He had been sent by his employer
from India to oversee a contract in
Zanzibar, when a friend asked him to
stop over in Kenya.
The friend tried to talk him into
staying because Kenya lacked profes-sionals
with his area of expertise. He
is an air conditioning engineer, who
designs, installs and maintains cool-ing
systems in buildings.
In 1995, he took on his friend’s chal-lenge
and immediately secured a job
with an air conditioning company in
Nairobi, winning air conditioning set-up
contracts from reputable compa-nies
that were building headquarters
and offices in Kenya. His skills meant
he kept drawing in work.
“We offered a huge challenge to big-ger
companies, and our professional-ism
and quality of work kept winning
us clients.”
However, after 10 years, he quit his
job on doctor’s instructions and packed
his bags, planning to return to India.
“The shareholders were heartbroken
by the news that I was leaving, but life
had to go on,” he said.
But as fate would have it, his India
return was not to be. Reddy, together
with a partner, decided to give entre-preneurship
a shot and in February
2005, they founded North Star Cool-ing
Systems.
“Starting the company was not
planned and it took a lot of convincing
from my partner. Once again, I started
from the scratch by informing clients
and friends that I had decided to stay
and start a company,” he said.
Three days after diving into busi-ness,
North Star Cooling Systems
secured a contract to install air con-ditioning
and cooling systems at the
Nakumatt Supermarket in Kisumu.
With the contract signed just three
days before the opening of the branch,
they had to work day and night and
managed to deliver everything on
time. Happy with the results, Naku-matt
Holdings chose to keep North Star
as their premier consultants whenever
similar projects came up.
From a borrowed workspace at a
friend’s office, Reddy managed to keep
the business flourishing for years.
Progressively, the company secured
bigger and more challenging tenders,
among them setting up the air condi-tioning
and ventilation systems at the
15,000 square feet ice skating rink at
the Panari Sky Centre.
“The cooling systems we installed
ensure that the ice does not melt at
any time. I remain very proud of that
project, because it made people see
the technical capability North Star ap-plies,”
said Reddy. After one-and-half
years in a partnership, Reddy was left
on his own. “My partner opted out,as
he felt that I had gained confidence
and was capable of doing everything
by myself, arguing that he was dormant
and nothing much would change,” says
the 45-year-old.
By the start of 2006, the company
had moved to Industrial Area and
employed 20 people, a number that
has now risen to 75. The firm has also
relocated to Shiv Business Park in
Mlolongo.
Currently, the company is work-ing
on eight projects that include air
conditioning and mechanical venti-lation
installation at Hilton Airport
Hotel and Lazizi Premier Hotel, a
HVAC (heating, ventilating and air
conditioning) project at Two Rivers
Lifestyle Centre, and at the National
Public Health Centre HIV/TB microbi-ology
laboratory building at Kenyatta
Hospital Campus.
“The quality products and techni-cal
expertise at North Star enable us
to deliver satisfactorily and to work
together with world leaders in tech-nology.
For instance, we are the local
representatives of Carrier Corporation
and Toshiba Technologies,” he said.
The opportunities in the market are
endless, Reddy says, more so because
of the company’s emphasis on internal
training and pride in being the go-to
company in air conditioning setup and
maintenance.
Representatives from
North Star Cooling
Systems Limited re-ceive
a trophy from
Safaricom corporate
affairs director Nzi-oka
Waita (second
right) during the TOP
100 Mid-sized Com-panies
gala night.
FILE

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY XI

XII BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
Kurrent Technologies Ltd. (KTL) is
one of Kenya’s leading integrated
Engineering, Health, Safety and
Environment (HSE) consulting
companies. We provide these services
in Sub-Saharan African countries to
the satisfaction of our discerning
Clients. We invest in our people,
systems and technology to provide
an unmatched level of service to the
energy and mining sectors. We are
committed to creating, enhancing
and maintaining Client relationships built on a foundation of trust
and excellence.
KTL CEO, Eng. James N. Mwangi receiving
the award for being in the top 100 Mid-sized
companies 2014/2015.
CEO, Eng. Mwangi (c) COO, Mr. Sanjay Gandhi (r)
and Finance Officer, Mr. James Kibet (l) poss for
a photo with the award and certificate for being
in the top 100 Mid-sized companies 2014/2015.
Our Portfolio of Services
TYPES OF PROJECTS HANDLED
• Exploration and production sites,
• Petroleum terminals and depots (including tank farm and tank-age,
bottom and top loading systems, metering systems, piping
and pumping systems and fire protection systems, buildings,
sheds etc.)
• LPG depots/terminal/filling plants,
• Lube Oil blending plants,
• Product Blending Systems,
• Service and filling stations/Retail outlets,
• Instrumentation and control systems,
• Power generation plants (thermal and coal)
• Renewable energy (wind, solar and geothermal)
• Power transmission lines,
• Cross country petroleum pipelines,
• LNG plants,
• Firefighting systems.
ENGINEERING
• Project planning and feasibility studies
• Sustainability studies
• Field investigation and surveys; maps
• Architectural services
• Conceptual, developed and detailed engineering design
• Preparation of tender documents
• Evaluation of bids
• Construction supervision
• Project/program management
• Quality management
• Construction management
• Cost and financial management
• Contract management
• Commissioning and decommissioning
• Valuation servvices
• Technical due diligence/appraisals
• Failure/forensic investigation
• Technical training
• Risk analysis and management (Hazard Operability studies
(HAZOPS) and Process Hazard analysis (PHA), etc.
• Technical assistance
• Institutional development
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT
• HSE Legal Compliance
• HSE Management System Development
• Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis
• HSE Auditing
• HSE Risk Assessment
• Environmental and social impact assessments studies
SAFETY AND FIRE PROTECTION
• Fire risk assessments including firefighting equipment reliability;
• Contractor Safety Management;
• Motor Vehicle Safety Management;
• TapRooT® incident investigation and root cause analysis;
• Permit-To-Work System development.
TRAINING
The company provides a variety of specialized training courses for the
energy and manufacturing sector;
In Kenya, the company is licensed by the NEMA (Ministry of
Environment), DOSHS and NITA (Ministry of Labor) as a training
services provider;
Kurrent Technologies Ltd. is licensed by the IADC in the USA as an
accredited HSE Training Services Provider for the Upstream Oil and
Gas Sector.
AUTOMATION
• Design and specification for full automation of metering systems.
• Design and specification for a terminal automation sys-tems and
security systems.
• Design and specification for a tank gauging systems.

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY XIII
Saving ene≥gy
p≥opels fi≥m to
sit among g≥eats
5 Lean Energy Solutions
BY KIARIE NJOROGE
In 2006, Lean Energy Solu-tions
was an operation run
from home. Fast forward
eight years and it is ramping up
to regional expansion, having
recently bagged its first cross-border
contract in Tanzania.
Initially started as a consul-tancy
to help companies improve
their productivity, the founder,
Dinesh Tembhekar, quickly dis-covered
an even more lucrative
niche: helping companies reduce
their energy consumption.
In a country where energy
often accounts for 30 per cent
or more of manufacturers’ costs,
the firm was poised for a rapid
takeoff. The virtually untapped
field has since become the its core
business, propelling it onto the
list of the fastest growing com-panies
in the country, where it has
now become a regular feature,
having topped the list last year.
At the heart of the company’s
operations is the production of
briquettes from coffee husks and
bagasse, the by-product of sugar-cane
after the juice is extracted.
Muhoroni Sugar and Sasini sup-ply
the materials used to make
the briquettes.
The briquettes are then used
to fire up boilers to produce steam
that is sold to companies at sub-sidised
rates. So far, the company
has converted eight boilers from
electricity, with the latest being
a contract with soft drinks giant
Pepsi in Tanzania. Other buyers
have included Ruiru-based Spin-ners
and Spinners, Kisii Bottlers,
Kisumu’s Equator Bottlers, Fla-mingo
Tiles, and Meru Central
Dairy Co-operative.
“We give a guarantee that
once we convert your boiler,
you’ll see a reduction to 25 per
cent of the cost of energy you
used to pay,” said the company’s
administrative officer, Moses
Ndirangu. The steam is also
being used to sterilise medical
equipment by pharmaceutical
companies - with Universal Cor-poration
ENERGY CHAMPION
Kikuyu Pharmaceutical
Company having been the first
company to hire the services of
the firm – for fixing dyes by tex-tile
companies and for boiling
syrup for the manufacturing of
beverages.
Mr Tembhekar’s mission
has been to combine turning a
profit with preserving the envi-ronment,
using briquettes that
are eco-friendly and help reduce
the amount of carbon monoxide
associated with petroleum prod-ucts.
“I was inspired to help people
use green energy because of high
fuel costs and the constant worry
of environmental degradation”,
Mr Tembhekar said in a previous
interview. The company remains
bullish, now targeting the set up
of operations in neighbouring
countries where similar oppor-tunities
abound. “We are looking
at expanding to the wider East Af-rican
region in places like Uganda
and South Sudan, once peace and
tranquillity have been restored,”
said Mr Ndirangu.
Perhaps more exciting is a
plan to enter the mass market
with charcoal briquettes. This
will see the company diversify
from its current set up where
it depends on large companies
as clients.
The briquettes, dubbed ‘lean
makaa, will be produced from
charcoal dust mixed with saw-dust
which is then compressed.
The firm says this provides a
better and cheaper alternative to
charcoal. “The good thing about
it is that it lights for longer and
is cheaper than ordinary makaa
(charcoal). It also has very small
ash content. We are actually
building a plant in Maai Mahiu
for that,” said Mr Ndirangu.
This will potentially push up
the company’s employee num-bers,
which currently stand at
nearly 400. Besides energy re-duction,
Lean Energy also con-ducts
energy audits, training
in energy management and air
conditioning.
Overall winner of the Mid-sized
Companies 2013 edition
Dinesh Tembhekar, manag-ing
director of Lean Energy
Solutions, with Novel Tech-nologies
executive director
Margaret Gitonga during
the Nation Media Group Top
100 Forum at the Strathmore
Business School in April.
FILE

XIV BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
WATER SERVICES
6 Wotech Kenya Ltd
BY EVELYN SITUMA
In just one year, Wotech has man-aged
to move from 13th position as
a new entrant in the Top 100 busi-ness
rankings to number six overall.
The water solutions service provider
says the rise into the top 10 has not been
by chance. “We are focused, and this is
what has helped us move from number
13 to six in the Top 100,” said Dhaval
Gandhi, executive director.
Wotech has always worked to, and
kept to, clear financial and strategic
plans. It prepares a balance sheet eve-ry
month, instead of periodically, every
three or six months. It also ensures that
it finalises every aspect of planning by
5th of each month, which includes as-sessing
its present position and future
growth direction.
“You can’t find many things glori-fied
here, but internally we are very
strong,” said Mr Gandhi, referring to
the company office on Mpesi Lane,
Westlands.
Last year, the company’s turnover
stood at over Sh70 million. Started
in 2009, Wotech has attracted a lot of
attention for excelling as an industry
leader. Winning this year’s technology
and innovation award during the Top
100 survey was a plus.
Wotech was feted for a water project
in Kitui that involved bore hole drilling
and water distribution 10kms away. It
incorporated a mobile payment water
vending kiosk in the project.
Wotech’s impressive business model
has also attracted a lot of interest from
strategic investors. “Seven to eight pri-vate
equity funds have approached us
saying our business is good and they
would like to help us in expansion, but
we declined,” said Mr Gandhi.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange
(NSE) also approached the company
to list, but it says it is in no hurry.
“We had a lengthy discussion, but I
don’t think we are ready to go to NSE at
the moment,” said Mr Gandhi.
Wotech has instead depended on
independent financing. “If I decide to
close this company today, nobody will
follow us claiming pending debts,” he
said.
The water solution provider’s finan-cial
discipline is enshrined in its com-pany
policies. Wotech doesn’t believe
in paying interest to anyone. Thus, it
abstains from taking credit. To ensure
the company is not tempted to borrow,
the firm always insists on deposit pay-ments
for projects.
“The third thing is we don’t jump
too much. We could have increased our
product offering and expanded the com-pany,
but we haven’t,” he said.
Mr Gandhi is, however, optimistic
that they might make an entry into the
stock market in December 2016, when
he plans to undertake a massive expan-sion
programme. This will include drill-ing
bore holes and unveiling other prod-uct
lines. Meantime, from March next
year, Wotech will launch solar water
pumps, and is finalising expansion
plan into other African countries and
also Asia.
Wotech’s biggest strength, he said , is
its employees. “As far as technical com-petence
is concerned, we are not chal-lenged,”
he said. He has 28 permanent
employees. “We are like a family. Poach-ing
my employees is next to impossible.
People have tried and failed. Employees
feel this is their company.”
Each employee has assigned roles
and responsibilities, which have served
to motivate and keep them focused at
work. Mr Gandhi has also invested in
continuous staff training. Each year,
he sends three workers to India for
training.
Wotech has four directors - Jayesh
Nagrecha, David Ngugi, Sood Dandi
and Mr Gandhi. Mr Gandhi is the
main shareholder and is in charge of
daily operations.
Mr Nagrecha also serves as the fi-nance
director, while Mr Ngugi is the
man behind strategies and business
foresight.
Wate≥ fi≥m eyes
NSE listing afte≥
Top 100 honou≥s
Wotech Kenya Limited officials receive a trophy from Safaricom corporate affairs
director Nzioka Waita (centre) during the TOP 100 Mid-sized Companies gala night.
FILE
Mr. Samson Njera (Left, CFO
General Cargo Services Ltd)
receiving their Award During the
Top 100 Mid Sized Companies
Gala Dinner at Carnivore
Restaurant Nairobi.

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY XV
HEBATULLAH BROTHERS LIMITED
Clearly the best
The Directors, Management and staff of the
Hebatullah Bros. Ltd, have worked tirelessly to make
this achievement of Hebatullah Bros. Ltd. As the
leader in building glass since 1930 in Kenya.
Hebatullah Bros. ltd. has diversified over the years
with a single motto of improving and contributing to
the economy of Kenya, which has lead to investing in
the manufacturing sector so as to promote the vision
of buy Kenya build Kenya. They have diversified
into Aluminium Fabrication and manufacturing of
aluminum profiles with specialization in structural
walling and curtain walling systems for their
newly developed skyscrapers. They are continuing
effortlessly to improve and develop systems to
contribute towards the booming construction
industry in our country.
Hebatullah Bros. Ltd is one of the leading
importers of high quality glass which is the
spine of their business and they also do steel
fabrication specializing in doors, windows grill
works.
Hebatullah also specializes in toughened glass
shower, cubicles laminated glass, structural
glazing windscreens, automobile glass for all
type of vehicles, Toughened glass furniture
and cabinets / table tops / display counters
and many other varieties of quality glass
furniture
Paper & Board of wide range suitable for
printing industries is also their specialization.
They are able to achieve and grow only
because of support from their esteemed
customers and satisfaction of service provided
over the years.

XVI BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
Two men who saw wealth in a healthy Kenya
PHARMACEUTICALS
8 Syner-Medica (Kenya)
Limited
BY SIMON CIURI
In 1996, a middle aged man wanted
to venture into the health sector, in
a bid to explore entrepreneurship
that had taken a long time to mature.
For Dipak Bhatti, the chairman of Syn-er–
Med Pharmaceutical Limited, it has
been a desire that has paid off.
With an initial capital outlay of
Sh100,000, he set up a business in
Nairobi acting as a marketing and
distribution chain for global medicine
manufacturers. The early funds went
into establishing infrastructure and
hiring the company’s first employees
with a background in medicine: Mr
Bhatti studied business and market-ing
at university.
“Syner-Med was incorporated in
1996 with a vision to attain leader-ship
in the healthcare sector; from
the beginning itself, we adopted
“customer-oriented, efficiency, and
employee achievement” as the cor-porate
philosophy and because of
this the group (Syner-Med and Syn-er-
Medica) ranks amongst the fastest
growing pharmaceutical companies
in the region,” said Mr Bhatti.
“The health sector in Kenya is one
of the sectors that have experienced
remarkable development in recent
years,” he said
The company logic has been to sup-port
global pharmaceutical manufac-turers
in meeting the pressures they
face, and increase affordability and
access, without diminishing innova-tion
and quality. In 2001, significant
changes were made to the company’s
management, structure, mission and
objectives.
A new vision to provide expanded
healthcare solutions across a broader
spectrum initiated a journey of phe-nomenal
growth. The company has
since grown from annual sales of
$240,000 to over $7.5 million.
“Our product range expanded from
two products in 2001 to 130 products
registered and marketed in Kenya in
2012 and our portfolio is continuing to
develop as we source new innovations
and widen our market reach,” said the
company. A strong clientele base, both
locally and internationally, has helped
Mr Bhatti’s products penetrate nearly
all hospitals and health centres across
East Africa.
The company’s clients include Ken-yatta
National Hospital, Kenya Medical
Suppliers Association, the Department
of Defence, Moi Referral Hospital, Aga
Khan and Gertrude’s hospitals, among
many others. In Kenya, all Syner-Med’s
products are approved for quality by
the Ministry of Health and the relevant
agencies.
Mr Bhatti’s love for Kenya dates
back to his childhood when his father
worked with Kenya Airways .
“The suburbs were friendly and
inevitably gave me the premonition
that the coast was clear for me to in-vest
in future,” he said in an earlier
interview with the Business Daily.
With its head office in the UK, Syner-
Med sources most of its drugs from
India, South Korea, Switzerland and
the Netherlands, where its major as-sociates
are based.
“Kenya has come of age and the
business outlook is up, helped by a vi-brant
technology sector and progress
in key areas such as freedom of expres-sion,”
said Mr Bhatti
“We have made good progress:
the awards we have won testify to the
trust we have won among our custom-ers,
not only in Kenya, but across the
globe,” he said.
Syner-Med also runs a medical
tourism facility at Mara Engai Indian
Ocean Retreat in the heart of Kilifi
town on the Kenyan coast. The facil-ity
boasts a tourist resort and mainly
serves visitors who fall sick while on
holiday. The company also runs a men-torship
programme that focuses on
individuals pursuing pharmaceutical
courses in universities. The challenges
have been there in running the busi-ness.
But the company cites team work
and the judgments of the directors and
customers, as the key factors that have
enabled its growth.
Its goal is now to employ at least
400 people both directly and indirectly
in East Africa in the next two years.
Business that g≥ew
p≥omoting access
to wo≥ld class dugs
Syner-Medica (K) Limited staff pose with their trophy during the TOP 100 Mid-sized
Companies gala night. FILE
HEALTH
7 Pharmaken
BY SANDRA CHAO-BLASTO
In 2006, Samier Muravvej, a dentist,
and Leonard Njeru, a biochemist -
both graduates from the University
of Nairobi - decided to open a business
in the medical field.
With the former working as the chief
executive and the latter as the market-ing
director, they set up Pharmaken Lim-ited
in Nyali, Mombasa, starting out as
a pharmaceutical company importing
medical supplies from abroad under
their brand name.
“With time, however, we decided to
diversify to supplying everything within
the healthcare system. Since Samier is a
dentist it was easy to set out and establish
our brand there, because we were well
aware of the dental material required,”
said Mr Njeru.
The eight-year-old company has
been able to establish a steady market
throughout the country providing medi-cal
equipment and consumables like sy-ringes
and gloves, as well as materials
used by dentists. It also supplies hospi-tal
beds, ultrasounds and ambulances.
With their first participation, the firm
has emerged among Kenya’s top ten fast-est
growing medium sized companies,
and the only Mombasa based company
in the listings.
“We are looking to grow, and partici-pating
in the survey was a way for us to
not only create visibility, but also show
the good structures on which the busi-ness
is built, being able to open up our
books,” Mr Muravvej explained.
In addition to being ranked seventh in
the annual survey, Pharmaken emerged
as the best company in the health cat-egory.
The ranking is the result of the
good business year the duo has had after
successfully supplying Machakos with
70 ambulances. “When the national gov-ernment
devolved some of its functions
to the counties, we decided to run with
it and establish as many partnerships
as we could. Machakos put up an open
tender for the ambulances, which we
applied for and were successfully able
to meet, with the largest single supply
of ambulances,” said Mr Njeru.
According to the chief executive, their
continuing challenge has been the unreg-ulated
briefcase pharmaceutical opera-tions
that bring in all kinds of products
whose quality has not been validated.
“Most of them go to China and fill their
suitcases with stuff from the black mar-ket,
which has heavily undercut prices
and makes it difficult for legitimate busi-nesses
to compete and remain sustain-ably
profitable” said Mr Njeru.
It is with this in mind that the duo has
now decided to venture into manufactur-ing
- to not only create employment, but
also to have full control of the quality of
the products that they supply.
“At the moment, we import most of
our products and now we want to go into
manufacturing in the next year so that
we can be able to control the whole proc-ess,”
said Mr Njeru.
The medical supplies company is also
looking to partner with more counties in
a bid to improve healthcare across the
country. “Even before we go regional,
there is huge potential within the coun-ties
that we need to exploit, because we
have only partnered with two so far, and
as we continue to grow, hopefully in the
next five years, we will be able to list an
IPO,” said Mr Muravvej.
Pharmaken Limited staff receive their trophy from Diamond Trust Bank CEO Nasim Devji (centre) during the TOP 100 Mid-sized
Companies gala night. FILE

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY XVII

XVII I BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
IT fi≥m that flies on the wings of automation
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
9 Novel Technologies
BY OKUTTAH MARK
The IT firm that automated the
Judiciary, Novel Technologies
(E.A.) Ltd, has once again made
it to the list of Kenya’s Top-100 mid-sized
companies in 2014.
As a provider of information and
communication technology solutions
across East Africa, Novel Technologies
was incorporated in 2004 and has since
transformed information technology
systems across corporations, institu-tions,
and government departments.
The firm, which started with just
three employees, has grown to 22 em-ployees
in Nairobi, 6 in Kampala and
15 casual workers.
One of its high points was winning
a contract to implement an E-Court
Management system for the Judici-ary,
under a World Bank financed con-tract.
The system was implemented
in Milimani Law Courts, the Court of
Appeal and the Supreme Court. It au-tomates
the judicial process in a court
by recording the proceedings of court
sessions and capturing evidence as it
is presented.
“The recording of court procedures
is captured electronically and converted
into digital court transcripts, which can
be accessed by judicial officers through
an E-court Management platform us-ing
IT systems. Lawyers for litigants
can acquire case procedures and tran-scripts
on DVD’s and can playback,”
Lawrence Gitonga, the founder and
managing director of Novel Technolo-gies
told the Business Daily. He added
that this has enabled the efficient and
effective delivery of justice, at the same
time ensuring the quick dispensation
of pending and emerging cases.
This project also saw Novel Technol-ogies
bag Stevie’s Silver Award from the
International Business Awards, USA.
With a suite of solutions and prod-ucts,
the IT firm says it specialises in
offering personalised approaches, and
guarantees that each of its customers
receives the company’s full attention
and support on the way to success.
“We firmly believe any solution is
incomplete without a proper support
strategy. The professional members of
staff comprise of electronic engineers
and computer systems professionals
and consultants,” said Mr Gitonga.
Novel Technologies has expanded
significantly in the last few years, in
size and in breadth, with full time op-erational
offices in Kenya and Uganda.
“We are currently refining our strategic
plan, but we are going regional,” Mr
Gitonga added.
Novel’s seed capital was from family
savings , however Mr Gitonga says the
firm has plans in the medium term to
list at the Nairobi Security Exchange,
NSE, but said they need to overcome
some challenges first.
Before forming Novel, Lawrence, a
software and systems analyst with over
20 years’ experience, was ICT manager
with Lonrho Africa Plc, based in Nai-robi,
and responsible for operations
across 10 African countries.
Novel Technologies EA Limited staff pose with their trophy during the TOP 100 Mid-sized Companies gala night. FILE

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY XIX
TRAVEL
10 Aslan Adventures Ltd
BY ISABELLA MUKUMU
Aslan Adventures was a dream that in
2006 saw Neena Jabbal quit her job in
a travel agency, after 15 years, to start
her own tour and travel company.
Despite a shaky start, Neena was
able to balance management issues
as well as be in charge of sales and
marketing, all by herself.
“It was hard to work alone and
that’s when I brought in someone to
deal with the travel department, as
I worked on the tours department,”
she said.
Fortunately, the climate was with
her during a period when the tourism
industry was booming, with data from
the Kenya Tourism Board showing 1.6
million tourists visited the country
that year. The following year was also
a booming season with two million
tourists bringing in Sh65.4 billion, a
11.6 per cent growth in tourism earn-ings
from the previous year.
This helped Neena move her com-pany
into bigger office space and in-crease
her staff numbers to six. In
2008, she registered Asian Adven-tures
as a limited company.
The company now deals with in-bound
and out-bound safaris that
are specially designed to the client’s
needs across destinations in Africa,
the Indian Ocean, Europe, Asia and
the Middle East.
With time, the company earned
the trust of many who have taken up
their services in the tours and travel
industry, an aspect they attribute to
referrals from their customers.
“Like most businesses, we were
hit hard in 2008, and although it took
time to recover from the effects of the
2008 post-election violence, we still
made it through,” she said, adding
that such setbacks during the first five
years of a startup are very damaging,
especially to small entrepreneurs.
This year, however, Aslan Adven-tures
registered Sh90m in turnover
and was among the Top Ten list of the
2014 TOP 100 Mid-sized companies
annual awards by the Business Daily
in partnership with KPMG, coming
in at position number 10. This has
come as good news to Neena, who
says despite it being one of the lowest
performing years in her career - due
to the slump in the tourism industry
- she has cause to celebrate.
“Being nominated for this award
gives the company leverage in this
industry that has so much competi-tion,”
she said, adding that getting
such an award builds a company’s
portfolio.
She now hopes to gain the trust of
new clients and attract large organi-sations
for their adventure safaris,
in line with the company’s expan-sion
plans.
She is also hopeful of a better sea-son
ahead for the tourism industry,
which has suffered various blows this
year, with the Ebola threat in Africa
being the biggest hurdle they cur-rently
face.
Six other tour companies made
it to the list of Top 100 companies
this year.
Adventu≥e t≥ips
that got woman a
seat among sta≥s
Aslan Adventures Limited officials pose with their trophy during the TOP 100 Mid-sized Companies gala night at the Carnivore. FILE
Kenya Bus Service Management
bounces back to more glory
By MILLICENT MWOLOLO >>> mmwololo@ke.nationmedia.com
Kenya Bus Service Management Ltd (KBSM)
has once again beaten the odds and made
to the list of Kenya’s Top 100 Mid-sized
companies, just as it did as it did in the 2013.
The ranking in the Top-100 has not come
easily for KBSM, given the volatile Kenya’s
transport sector.
KBSM have scored highly since their rise
from the ashes of the former KBS, when they
started off with only 12 franchised buses.
Today, they have over 270 buses owned by
investors (franchisees), who have invested
close to Sh1 billion in the reborn company.
KBSM employs over 856 staff and carries
over 100,000 passengers per day.
KBSM’s revenues have been growing at an
annual rate of 18 to 20 per cent.
“The brand has enjoyed immense goodwill
from the public,” said KBSM finance manager
Joseph Wangalwa.
“Our success is derived from collaboration
between franchisees working with us, our
staff and the board.”
To remain afloat, KBSM employs a
structured, prudent, experienced and
professional management team.
To maintain its growth, KBSM is eyeing
expansion outside of Nairobi County, in order
to fill in a gap in other cities and towns which
hardly enjoy services of an organised bus
service.
Other towns almost exclusively rely on 14-
seater matatus for town service.
“We will now eye county transport services
relying on our technical and infrastructure
capacity to manage a professionally managed
urban public transport service,” added Mr
Wangalwa..
The bus franchise model has made KBSM a
powerful brand. Commuters enjoy a safe and
clean ride, while bus owners get high level
technical advice on bus operations. They also
enjoy shared services, such as IT solutions
and the automatic fare collection using Abiria
Card in partnership with KCB and Tap-to-Pay.
Using its innovative staffing agency model,
franchisees and their crew will soon enjoy
customized employment bureau services in
line with NTSA regulations.
Its driver training school is now equipped
with new vehicles to meet the ever increasing
demand using its new curriculum. In the event
that an accident occurs, its insurance agency
is equipped to investigation effectively to
mitigate risk.
“At KBSM we operate from a purpose built
depot with facilities to clean, park and repair
mechanical and body conditions of our buses,”
said Mr Wangalwa.
KBSM employs over
856 staff and carries
over 100,000 passengers
per day.
We Kenya Bus Service Management offers the following services
1. Franchising
2. Private Hire
3. Contract Hire
4. Excursions
BUSES MEAN BUSINESS
5. Staff Transport
6. School Transport
7. City Commuter Service
8. Inter City Service
• Vehicle Servicing
• Vehicle Washing
• Vehicle Parking
• Training Road Crews
Managing Director Mr.
Edwins Mukabanah
(seated),
Standing from (L-R)
Mr. Hannington Egalla
( Depot Officer), Mr.
Elias Omondi
( Operations
Manager), Mr. Joseph
Wangalwa (Finance
Manager), Mrs. Phyllis
Barasa (PA TO MD) &
Mr. Edward Mwaro
(Staffing Manager)
• Transit Advertising
• Breakdown Services
• Insurance Services
OTHER SERVICES
Kenya Bus Service Training School
P. 0 Box 41001-00100, Nairobi
Mobile : 0720332171/ 0717207999
abiria
abiria
BREAKDOWN SERVICES
Email: info@kenyabus.net
Website: www.kenyabus.net

XX BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
TOP 100 MID-BTB Insurance Brokers feted for off ering are grateful for the honour,” said one of
the fi rm’s directors during an interview
at their offi ces in Nairobi.
When the announcement was
made, they were “ecstatic, pleased
and deeply honoured” but the
management was “surprised that we
had won after waiting for so long.”
He said they believe they have the best
solutions in the industry and off er the
best services.
It received accolades for being the
They therefore hope to henceforth
champion in fi nancial services and was
exceed the service levels that they have
ranked at position 15 overall – out of
attained so far.
100.
The directors believe the award is a
“It took long to be recognized but we
confi rmation that insurance brokers
have won the respect that they
deserve.
It is not by coincidence that many
clients have been with the fi rm for
more than a decade. There are those
who have stuck with BTB for 14 years
or more, testimony that they are being
served well.
“They stay because of the excellent
According service we off er them,” said the
director. “We are risk management
professionals and through our staff
compliment of 50, we attend to clients’
insurance needs in Kenya, Uganda and
BTB Insurance Brokers’ role in the
fi nancial services sector has fi nally
been recognized. The innovative
brokerage fi rm was declared the winner in
the fi nancial services category during this
year’s celebration of the Top 100 mid-size
fi rms in Kenya.
Tanzania.
Buoyed by this success, the insurance
brokerage fi rm now eyes the Rwanda
and Malawi markets where it plans to
put up shop soon.
By EVANS ONGWAE >>> eongwae@ke.nationmedia.com
100 “because a morale The The directors believe the
award is a confi rmation that
insurance brokers have won the
respect that they deserve.
BTB Insurance Brokers team collecting trophy at Gala Night.
BTB Team posing in post gala photo shoot.

MID-SIZED COMPANIES 2014
ering quality services to clients
According to the director, the Top
100 award has motivated his staff
because it approves of our work. It is
morale booster for our staff .”
The fi rm’s bosses are optimistic that
since BTB has now joined the Top 100
Club, government agencies will give
them a chance as suppliers. In the past,
BTB has not made any breakthrough
with its tender application but the
management is hopeful that they have
found the key to unlock opportunities
previously unavailable to them.
Other than the possibility of winning
government contracts, BTB expects to
attract more clients.
Service is BTB’s key selling point
and this, the directors say, they are
committed to maintaining. This has
been highlighted through timely
placement of risks, timely collection of
premiums, timely processing of claims
and advising clients appropriately
based on their respective needs.
“We are there for our clients and
provide them with legal, fi nancial and
investment advice and guidance.”
Furthermore, the brokerage fi rm
links clients with each other so that
they can share experiences and grow in
their fi nancial journeys. BTB is striving
to be a fi rm off ering more than just
insurance products and services.
The insurance business in the group
was started in 1950 in Thika and since
then, the fi rm has come a long way.
Before then, the group was involved in
coff ee, sisal and spares business.
It is 65 years later that the group
has been recognized for the quality of
its insurance brokerage services. “The
award is a great gift to the company.”
BTB has, indeed, been through
challenging times as in 1999, it nearly
went bankrupt.
Staff and other stakeholders helped
to resurrect it from the ashes and lift
it to its current position of greatness.
This success is refl ected in the fi rm’s
fi nancial performance last year when
it collected premiums worth Sh.1.6
billion in Kenya and in excess of Sh.2
billion when the regional business is
factored in.
BTB is credited with developing
insurance premium fi nancing which
enables clients to pay premiums
comfortably.
For managing client claims
professionally, insurance fi rms have in
the past feted BTB Insurance Brokers.
Its trophy-laden cabinet attests to
this.
Last year, insurance fi rm Kenindia
Assurance feted BTB with several
awards: Sales Achievement Award
(pension), Sales Achievement Award
(group life), Best in credit Control,
Runners-up, Best broker in General
Insurance and Sales Achievement
(Best in premium Volume). Also last
year, DTB feted it with the Best in
Banking Network award.
The Insurance Regulatory
Authority too, recognizes the fi rm’s
professionalism and the expertise of
its personnel. That is why some BTB
experts are in a technical board that
advises the IRA Commissioner on
specifi c industry matters.
The fi rm’s directors and top
management boast more than 200
years’ experience gained in the
insurance industry.
The insurance business in the group was
started in 1950 in Thika and since then, the fi rm
has come a long way. Before then, the group was
involved in coff ee, sisal and spares business.
Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY XXI
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XXII BUSINESS DAILY | Wednesday October 29, 2014
Fi≥m that packaged its
way up the money ladde≥
HEALTH
11 Mega Pack
BY MUGAMBI MUTEGI
Mega Pack Limited
is the fourth com-pany
that its chief
executive officer, Mr Akash
Shah, operates locally. Being
the youngest firm of the lot, at
just six years, its entry into the
Sh70 million and above annual
revenue league this past Febru-ary
is a giant feat.
The Nakuru-based firm
manufactures corrugated
packaging material (or simply
carton boxes) and sells them
to a wide range of clients who
use the ubiquitous material
to pack and safely transport
their wares.
Mega Pack was founded
in 2008, borne of the success
of two floriculture firms and a
blanket manufacturing com-pany
that Mr Shah and his two
business partners co-own.
The carton company now
produces and delivers 1,500
tonnes of corrugated packag-ing
material to the local market
a year, with plans of increasing
that output to 2,000 tonnes by
the end of next year.
“Our main customers are
in the fast moving consumer
goods industry and include
manufacturers of confection-eries,
edible oils and fats, min-eral
water producers and many
others,” said Mr Shah during
an interview with the Business
Daily after being selected to the
coveted Top 100 list.
“We like to keep our clients
ahead of the game and focus on
supplying custom built corru-gated
requirements,” he said,
adding that the company now
has 150 employees.
Mega Pack’s main clients are
based in and around Nakuru
town but they also make deliv-eries
to Mombasa.
When asked why he and
his business partners settled
on the carton business as their
next venture, Mr Shah simply
noted that “everybody uses car-tons”.
“The demand for corru-gated
packaging material in
Kenya is growing and at the
time when we did our market
research, we discovered that
most companies in this line
of business were based in Nai-robi,”
said Mr Shah.
“There was not a single
company in Nakuru. That is
why we decided to give it a try
and it has been a rewarding
journey since 2008 when we
set up shop.”
However, even with de-mand
for cartons increasing
year on year, it has not been
smooth sailing for Mega Pack
with the number of competitors
having also increased.
Ente≥p≥ise that saw
gold in love fo≥ tents
MANUFACTURING
12 East African
Canvas Co. Ltd
RBY DOREEN WAINAINA ob Flowers and Gary
Macintyre were in-spired
by the region’s
dramatic landscape when they
founded East African Canvas
Company Ltd 11 years ago to
manufacture tents that are
today used principally by up-market
tour companies and
in camps.
The tents they make have
evolved to meet shifting tastes,
needs and raw material con-straints.
At the firm’s factory
along Nairobi’s Magadi Road, a
large steel frame sits bare in the
compound, representing a rad-ical
departure from the tradi-tional
wooden frames that they
began with. When the market
ran short of hardwood a few
years back, the firm had to re-think
and move forwards, with
innovation sitting at the centre
of its every operation.
Mr Flowers previously ran
a tenting firm, Pengo Limited,
which he later merged with
Mr Macintyre’s Sandstorm,
to form East African Canvas
Company. “When Gary and I
came together, we already had
a market base from our existing
clientele, so it took only about
three to four years to recoup the
investment,” he recalls.
The initial investment that
the two made for tent manufac-ture
went into hiring a work
force and sewing machines.
The whole tent-making proc-ess
is done in-house except for
the making of the tent frames,
which they sub-contract.
Mr Flowers says tents were
a natural space for him, having
previously spent 20 years in the
tenting business, 15 of them as a
tour guide. He took up the task
of innovation upon the merger,
always striving to create value
by varying colours, designs and
the comfort of tents.
The new firm initially faced
a challenge of coming up with
a different look for the tents,
which existed only in green
and light green. “No one had
thought of making a beige tent,
and now that is almost all you
will get in the market,” said Mr
Flowers.
They also had to create de-mand
by educating the market.
“Educating a market to what is
possible is almost as difficult as
anything else. It is very hard for
people to see innovation unless
it is right in front of their faces.
Proof of concept is very impor-tant,
they have to see it to be-lieve
it will work,” he said.
Man who left a bank job fo≥ b≥icks and mo≥ta≥
CONSTRUCTION
13 Hajar Services
Limited
BY LYNET IGADWAH
When Mohamed Ahmed, 42,
finished repaying a Sh300
million loan to finance a
construction project, he sighed with re-lief,
confessing it had been a torturous
three years.
He had taken a bank loan to facili-tate
the construction of 120 apartments
located off Waiyaki Way, the biggest
project ever undertaken by his firm,
Hajar Services Ltd.
Since its inception in 2004, the build-ing
and construction company has com-pleted
over 30 projects including villas,
offices, and maisonettes in and around
Nairobi.
Mr Ahmed founded the company
on spotting an opportunity in Kenya’s
property market, which made him quit
his lucrative job at a bank.
At the time he entered the market, the
country’s real estate sector was experienc-ing
a boom as the expanding middle class
fuelled the demand for properties.
“I had worked for Diamond Trust
Bank for five years before resigning to
pursue a business venture in real estate. I
had risen up the ranks in various depart-ments
to be the credit manager at the
bank,” says Mr Ahmed, who is the CEO
at Hajar Services Ltd.
His Economics degree from Egerton
University and a solid family background
in real estate played key roles in fanning
his flames of passion for running a suc-cessful
building and construction com-pany.
He even convinced his wife, who
worked for Barclays Bank, to leave the
corporate world and join him as finance
director in their business.
A sister company, Homescope Proper-ties
Limited, now focuses mainly on de-velopment
and joint ventures with land
owners. All the construction works for
Homescope Properties are undertaken
by Hajar Services Limited. This means
that the group does not outsource serv-ices
from other firms. Before the incor-poration
of Hajar Services, Mr. Ahmed,
together with others, started their first
project in South C, comprising 20 mai-sonettes
in Asilia Estate and 24 maison-ettes
in Eleganze Gardens.
After incorporation in 2007, the com-pany
handled bigger projects, including
Loresho Springs, the ICPAC Centre offic-es,
Eve Gardens, Woodside Villas, Fahari
Heights, and Pergolla Villas, among oth-ers.
Currently, the company is handling
over 10 projects at the same time. Each
project takes around two years to com-plete.
The firm’s target clientele spreads
across the spectrum, including high-end
buyers as well as those who are seeking
budget units.
With a ‘Category 2 of Building Works’
from the National Construction Authori-ty,
the company now qualifies to do works
valued up to Sh1 billion.
Hajar Services Ltd is also registered
with the Kenya Federation of Master
Builders, confirming the firm as de-pendable,
quality builders and special-ist
trades people.
Though headquartered in Nairobi,
the company operates branches in Ma-lindi
and Watamu, and has over 550
employees, including permanent and
contractual workers.
“One outstanding feature about us
is that we allow for the personalisation
of our finishing, unlike our competitors.
This is because we appreciate clients have
their own lifestyles, which are dictated
by their family size and cultural back-ground,”
he says.
Staying ahead of the game calls for
a lot of patience and calm, he says, es-pecially
with clients who disappoint
when it comes to payment for the serv-ices
supplied.
“Despite the obstacles along the way,
I have managed to keep my eyes on the
ball and quitting the business has never
crossed my mind,” says Mr Ahmed, who
is currently pursuing an MBA from the
University of Liverpool.
Representatives of Hajar
Services Limited pose with
their trophy during the TOP
100 Mid-sized Companies
gala night.
FILE

Wednesday October 29, 2014 | BUSINESS DAILY XXIII
North Star Cooling Systems was one of the winners during
this year’s Top 100 Mid-sized companies Survey, picking
two awards at the gala event. It was declared the Best in
Professional Services besides emerging 4th overall.
The projects that the firm has completed are more than 50
and several others are ongoing.
One of the highlights of the firm’s works is the Ice Rink
Area commissioned in December 2005 at the Panari Sky
Centre. Mr Kishore Reddy, the director of North Star Cooling
Systems, which has installed the facility, told media it will
require maintenance throughout the day to prevent the ice
from melting.
Most of the works that the firm has engineered comprised
all HVAC elements. These include: Tullow oil Head office
at westend Towers, JKIA Terminal 4, Park in Garage P3A,
Centre for Disease Control Projects includes; Kisumu East
District Hospital Microbiology TB District Laboratory, disease
control building (NASCOP) Administrative Building Kenyatta
Campus, Central Microbiology, TB HIV Laboratory (CML
Complex). IBM Research Centre at CUEA in Nairobi, The
World Bank Group office in Nairobi, African Development
Bank Office Fit-out Upper Hill, Magic Slot Casino at Fortis
Towers, SBC
Kenya Ltd.’s
Pepsi Cola
Bottling Plant
in Ruaraka,
The New
Diagnostics
Surgical Ward
and ICU
building at
Gertrude’s
Gardens
Children
Hospital,
Nairobi
Hospital Cancer
Centre, ILRI/
BecA Phase I
II-IV, Nakumatt
Westgate,
Sarova White Sands Hotel, Thika Road Mall,
Galleria Mall along Langata Road, among the
ongoing Projects are; Parkin Inn Hotel, The
Lazizi Premiere Hotel, Hilton garden Inn Hotel,
Two Rivers Lifestyle Centre among others.
According to Mr. Reddy, any business should
strive to add value to the economy and should
live up to or exceed the expectations of the
clients. He asserts that quality service delivery
guarantees business continuity.
Mr. Reddy adds that, to be successful in
business, working extra hard is key.
HVAC systems, which his firm specializes in,
is important in the design of medium to large
commercial or industrial, Level III Laboratories,
Cold Rooms office buildings where safe and
healthy building conditions are regulated with
respect to temperature and humidity, using
fresh air from outdoors. Ventilation
is used to remove unpleasant smells and
excessive moisture, introduce outside air, to
keep interior building air circulating, and to
prevent stagnation of the interior air. Ventilation
includes both the exchange of air to the outside
as well as circulation of air within the building.
It is one of the most important factors for
maintaining acceptable indoor air quality in
buildings.
In modern buildings the design, installation,
and control systems of these functions are
integrated into one or more HVAC systems.
For larger buildings, building service designers,
mechanical engineers, or building services
engineers analyze, design, and specify the HVAC
systems. Specialty mechanical contractors then
fabricate and commission the systems. However,
Mr. Reddy emphasizes that, North Star Cooling
System’s unique competency and perhaps the
biggest differentiator is that, they do not simply
carry out the project as a typical contracting firm,
where as they work closely with all the stake
holders of the project and look at the entire
system in a holistic manner keeping in-view of
certain critical factors such as optimal design,
efficiency, reliability, life cycle cost, after sale
service etc.. And he continued saying that, this
philosophy and approach of our firm earns the
confidence of our esteemed clientele
By EVANS ONGWAE
eo
ng
NORTH STAR COOLING
SYSTEMS LTD
Best in professional services
NORTH STAR COOLING SYSTEMS LTD, P.O Box 5085-00506, Nairobi, Kenya
Shiv Business Park, Unit No.4, Old Mombasa Road, Tel: - 2013142 Tel/fax: - 551398
Cell:0710-200400 / 0737-777600, E-Mail: - info@northstar.co.ke md@northstar.co.ke

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