The joint venture between the Kanoo group and German tower crane manufacturer Wolffkran has relocated to new offices in Dubai, it was announced on Friday.
Wolffkran Arabia’s new Dubai offices, which also house Wolffkran’s regional sales office, covering the Middle East, India and Africa regions, will also host new training facilities for operators and engineers and a new 24-hour technical support operation.
The joint venture was originally set up in Abu Dhabi in 2006 with the aim of providing the UAE with Wolff tower cranes on a sale or rental basis. It currently has a fleet of 150 cranes in operation across the country.
“Dubai is a natural hub, since you’re going to find a lot of people from different nations. It seems to be a melting pot now, so it’s a perfect initial position for our growth course,”said the chief executive of Wolffkran, Peter Schiefer.
“The Middle East region is one of the key regions in my eyes right now. We felt that we needed to have a big presence,” he added.
Martin Kirby, the managing director of Wolffkran Arabia, said that the majority of contracts on the market these days were for rental deals.
“In times of economic difficulties contractors have a preference for utilising suppliers with all-inclusive packages including the crane, the crew and the customer service. This frees them of the need to maintain their own assembly crew and the liabilities that this comes with,” he explained.