Kitchenmaster Cleaning Up in UAE – Minister Hamilton

Date published: 4 October 2016

The visit was part of the Minister’s programme in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this week to promote business and tourism links with Northern Ireland.

Carryduff based Kitchenmaster has been manufacturing high quality cleaning and hygiene products for over 30 years. Speaking during a visit to their Dubai offices the Minister said: “Kitchenmaster started out in Dubai as part of an incubator programme with Invest Northern Ireland. Today the company has its own office here, employing seven people, and has doubled its sales in the region, which have now passed the £2million mark, in under two years.

“Supporting Northern Ireland businesses like Kitchenmaster to identify new export markets, and then grow in these markets is the primary goal of Invest NI’s export support. It is great to see first-hand how this is working in practice with Kitchenmaster now branching out into other Gulf territories to grow the business even further.

“Earlier this month I launched the Trade Accelerator Plan to grow Northern Ireland exports further and build on recent success. During my visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi I will be championing the innovation, quality and skills of Northern Ireland businesses to support achieving that growth.”

Welcoming the Minister to their Dubai office, Brian O’Kane, Managing Director of Kitchenmaster, said: “We have invested significant time and effort over recent years to grow our market presence in the Middle East.

“Invest NI has been a huge support to us here, helping us with market research and identifying opportunities. Invest NI helped us test the market, before deciding to setup our own office. We have benefited greatly from the expert knowledge and assistance of the in-market team to strengthen and grow our business here.

“As a result, we have not only now got an office here and seen our sales in Dubai and Abu Dhabi continue to grow, but it has been a great springboard into the wider GCC region. We are now widening our focus and have just secured our first sale in Bahrain, and, with Invest NI support, will be visiting Saudi Arabia later this week to explore opportunities there.”