In a bid to reinforce its image in the region, Hempel Bahrain has undergone a major restructuring over the last couple of years and is currently the headquarters for Hempel Middle East-West, which groups the entire Hempel operation in the northern and western half of the region, namely in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

“In order to further strengthen Hempel’s position as a market and brand leader in the Middle East, its associates in the region decided to join forces to flex its muscles in the industry as a pioneering paint company,” says Juan Guijarrubia, the new general and country manager, who was with Hempel Spain for the last 30 years and has been recently appointed to the post by the company’s corporate headquarters in Europe.
The company’s manufacturing facilities and offices in the Mina Salman Industrial area in Bahrain have undergone a major facelift and expansion to increase its production capacity. A new showroom – the best of its kind in the region – has also been set up, featuring a large customer sales and service area and a variety of room settings, where customers can be aesthetically inspired by the many colours, effects and finishes for both interiors and exteriors, to decorate to their homes and offices. The showroom also stocks a variety of paints and accessories such as brushes, rollers, wallpaper border, decorative stickers, stencils, tools for effect paints, household tools, ladders and art and craft paints.
All sales and marketing activities are planned, initiated and monitored from the Bahrain headquarters, spearheaded by Ian McCahill, a Hempel veteran from the 90s who has rejoined the company as its area sales director. Zaher Moukadem, responsible for both retail sales and projects, leads a competent decorative sales force, which is charged with the responsibility of convincing the market about the “Hempel Advantage” and living by the slogan “Number one in quality and service.”
“Hempel’s recent change of management and an overhaul of its sales and marketing, technical support services and research and development is part of its overall strategy to keep it extremely competitive. The company’s true strength lies in its in-depth knowledge of the region’s climate and environment with its paint portfolio being specially formulated to cater to the harsh weather conditions of the region,” says Roger Rayla, marketing manager.
Hempel is a major supplier of high-quality decorative and protective coating, industrial, marine and yacht paints, manufactured to achieve ultimate reliability and durability.
A training centre facility has also been set up at Hempel Bahrain to conduct varied training programmes for both clients and staff to ensure the company’s competitive edge.
“The Hempel Open Retailers Training (HORT) programme is designed to keep all retailers’ staff updated about product knowledge and hands-on application methods for the various decorative products in the market. A Painters Academy has also been initiated to ensure that applicators have a full knowledge of the various coating systems from the company. It is equipped with a computerized tinting system to train both retail staff and those responsible for maintaining the company’s tinting machines,” he says.
“Whether it is a home, commercial building, industrial factory, oil refinery, pipeline and ships and containers, you name it – Hempel has got it all covered,” Guijarrubia says. “Our protective and marine coating range are second to none worldwide and we will continue to build our strength in this field in order to keep our loyal clients and other potential customers happy all the time.”
Established in 1972 in Bahrain, Hempel today has an excellent reputation for manufacturing high-quality paints and offering skilled technical service that focuses on providing total coating solutions and on customer satisfaction. The company is also keen to maintain a strong partnership with its retail partners in the Gulf. It recently organised a workshop for its retailers in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to discuss a retail business strategy for the region that would be mutually beneficial.
“Hempel extends full support to its chain of retailers to ensure their business goals and target revenues are met while the retailers have full faith in the reputation and the quality offered by the brand,” Rayla concludes.