Dubai, UAE – Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) has honoured 46 winners in eight categories of the 29th Business Excellence Awards during a virtual ceremony held on Monday, 13 March in the presence of more than 1,000 individuals and companies. The event seeks to improve the quality, productivity and competitiveness of UAE-based businesses by recognising service excellence in business establishments and organisations.

The Award comprises two components – the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme, launched in 2002 to promote excellence in customer service standards in the business community, and the Dubai Quality Award, which was launched in 1994 to promote organisational excellence in businesses through the EFQM Excellence Model.

26 winners were honoured in two categories of the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme and 20 winners were honoured in six categories of the Dubai Quality Award.

His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), commented: “Dubai’s commitment to excellence is deeply ingrained in its DNA, and this dedication to achieving the highest standards has earned the city a well-deserved reputation on the global stage. Inspired by the visionary leadership of our wise leaders, Dubai has become a benchmark for excellence, creativity, and productivity, which are key drivers of a successful and sustainable business ecosystem. The annual hosting of the Business Excellence Awards serves as a testament to the resilience of Dubai and its pioneering approach to promoting public-private partnerships, which have played a pivotal role in enhancing the competitiveness of business establishments. The Business Excellence Awards perfectly align with Dubai’s vision and strategy of becoming a future hub of business, talent, and tolerance. This is even more significant in light of the recent launch of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This groundbreaking economic strategy aims to consolidate Dubai’s position as one of the top three global cities, and the awards serve as a crucial component of this strategy, ensuring that the emirate remains an oasis of prosperity that fulfils the ambitions and aspirations of future generations.”

His Excellency continued: “As we extend our heartfelt congratulations to the winners of the Business Excellence Awards, it is important to acknowledge that the positive momentum currently prevailing across sectors in Dubai is largely due to the passion and perseverance of these companies. These businesses have demonstrated a steadfast commitment to excellence, ensuring that it is at the heart of everything they do, thereby contributing to the preservation of Dubai’s international standing. Moving forward into 2023 with renewed vigour and determination, we are grateful to our businesses and enablers for their pivotal role in transforming Dubai into a leading global economic and tourism hub.”

Best Service Performance Brand 2023

The ‘Best Service Performance Brand 2023’ award of the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme, is aimed at promoting excellence in customer service standards in the private sector and recognising businesses that offer excellent service for their customers. The winners include:

• The Dubai Mall (shopping centres).
• Carters – Lals Group (fashion retail).
• Al Rostamani International Exchange (services).
• Aafaq Islamic Finance PSC (services).
• Life Pharmacy- Life Healthcare Group (health & wellness)
• Aster Pharmacy (health & wellness)
• REEL CINEMAS (hospitality & entertainment)
• Global Village (hospitality & entertainment).
• Aswaaq (hypermarkets & general retail).
• Grand Stores (hypermarkets & general retail)
• Interiors (specialised retail).
• INFINITI – Arabian Automobiles (specialized retail).
• Mai Dubai Bottled Drinking Water (e-services – contact centre).
• 6thSTREET (e-services – mobile application).
• Joyalukkas (GCC).
• Matalan (GCC).

This year’s awards highlighted an impressive increase of 30% in the number of applicants, showcasing the growing level of awareness and the desire of companies to embrace and adhere to quality. Over the past 29 years, the Dubai Quality Awards have experienced a net increase of more than 120%, reflecting the consolidation of these concepts in the local business landscape. Over the years the event has honoured more than 700 winners, who were carefully selected from a competitive pool of 23000 applicants across various editions of the award. In addition to recognising outstanding performance, the awards also involved training over 500 mystery shoppers, 3000 evaluators, and 130,000 performance evaluation reports highlighting areas for improvement for applicants in the award categories. These initiatives are aimed at nurturing a culture of continuous improvement and driving sustainable growth in the region’s business sector.

The Dubai Service Excellence Scheme is an innovative and unparalleled initiative aimed at elevating the standard of customer service in the business sector while fostering a culture of trust, ethical behaviour, and best practices. The scheme recognises and rewards businesses that align with Dubai’s vision for quality and customer service, while also promoting organisations that strive to exceed expectations and maintain the high reputation of the Service Excellence Scheme members.

The Dubai Quality Award encourages and motivates companies and institutions to adopt an international framework, with best practices, to achieve excellence and be recognised as role models, honour leading institutions for their services, ensure a mechanism for institutions to evaluate performance and provide organisations with a roadmap to achieve excellence through the adoption of good practices and approaches that are used systematically and continuously measured and reviewed.