The Nuqul Group was established in 1952 by Elia Nuqul as a small food importer and distributor. Today, it is one of the Middle East’s leading manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods and construction materials. Headquartered in Amman, Jordan, the Nuqul Group is a conglomerate of 30 regional and global companies operating in nine countries with over 5,000 employees. The business is wholly family-owned by Mr Elia Nuqul, and his sons Ghassan and Marwan.
When Ghassan Nuqul joined the business in 1985, he set himself a mission: to put in place a more structured approach to running the business.“My father is a great entrepreneur—a risk-taker, determined and charismatic, and had achieved so much, but I knew that in order to take the company to the next stage we would need to professionalise the management of the business,” he explains.
Since that time, the Nuqul Group has been on a journey that has left virtually no area of the business unchanged. The company has worked on a major decentralisation initiative, helped to establish clear operating procedures and a management structure across the business, and appointed a board with independent directors—a rarity in the region. The process was driven by the Nuqul family, but senior managers have played a key part in the process. The goal was to achieve the highest principles of corporate governance and, eventually, an initial public offering.
Over time, the Nuqul family’s relationship with the business has changed. They now see their priority to be good owners of the business, rather than just good managers. “We realised that if we wanted to continue to grow, we would need to hire the very best people in the business, to be the employer of choice in the region, and to do that we had to make sure that the senior positions of management were available to anyone whether they were a family member or not,” says Mr Nuqul.
The board of the company now includes familymembers, senior managers and two independent directors. They work on the principle of what they call “NIFO” (Noses In, Fingers Out), a term they use to reflect their view that the board is involved in the business on an as-needed-basis.
“We have launched many new business investments, the group has had its fourth year of double digit growth and we have hired many excellent new employees. I think it’s fair to say that the whole group has been re-energised.”
The Nuqul Group has grown rapidly in the past five years. Mr Nuqul believes that this growth would not have been possible without the ongoing professionalisation of the business and opening up management to non-family members. “The effect has been extraordinary,” he says. “We have launched many new business investments, the group has had its fourth year of double digit growth and we have hired many excellent new employees. I think it’s fair to say that the whole group has been re-energised.”
