For Saed Arekat, his father’s support has played an important role in his achievements that lead to him culminating into a pioneering CFO. Saed has been part of Bloom Holding’s growth since its inception in 2007 and has played a pivotal role in driving the holding’s growth in real estate sector by leading the corporate finance strategy for the Group including budgeting and planning, treasury, control and cost synergies, reporting and consolidation, investor relations, corporate accounts and finance ERP applications.

Saed’s vast experience in the real estate sector has assisted him develop dynamic strategic plans focusing on value creation, sustainable profitable growth and maximizing free cash flows in the short and long term, while adopting proactive measures to explore new business opportunities. The steadfast leader has been result oriented and focused on continuous improvements and increasing the work efficiencies through elimination of time consuming and limited added value activities and continuous assessment of how daily operations can be completed in a different way to achieve better results in a short time. “I focus on the future and avoid surprises! I develop an effective financial planning and analysis function, by building this knowledge across the finance team in all business units we are able to provide accurate forecast and insights to executive management to take the right decisions in the right time,” explains Saed.

According to Saed, technologies that digitally transform the company have the ability to make the work of the CFO and all employees more streamlined. Having a holistic view of introducing technological innovations, he has been instrumental in a number of initiatives across the group including introducing sustainability technology solutions in real estate development, deploying SAP S/4 HANA Cloud, Success Factors, FOCUS ERP for education, Computer Aided Facilities Management software, enhancing social media and web-sites as well as initiating projects for Smart buildings and communities which include IOT solutions, machine learning and analytics.

“The thesis of my MBA study at Alliance Manchester Business School was related to using technology in sustainable real estate development. Since this date, I focused on introducing technology and sustainability in the real estate new development and the retrofit of existing buildings.”

Bloom is a specialist in real estate projects that brings added value to their customer. “The leadership of the UAE has put in place a strong platform for future growth and the flourishing of the country,” adds the innovative leader. “Initiatives such as Ghadan 2021 and Expo 2020 Dubai will strengthen the economy and the investment case for the UAE.” Bloom’s long-term commitment to delivering quality and supporting the sustainable growth of their communities remains constant and they take a positive view on the future. The company develops sustainably designed, integrated residential communities, commercial offices and retail spaces, and anticipate market needs by developing sustainable communities that meet the diverse lifestyle needs of their residents. Bloom is seeing demand, particularly from millennials, to incorporate technology into residential developments, making it easier for people to be in control of their homes while also making them safer and more energy efficient through smart home automation.

For the days to come, Saed and the Bloom team have an ambitious development cycle to seek to fill the demand with their high-quality homes across the full buyer spectrum. Bloom is one of the UAE’s foremost companies and are committed to developing premium real estate and enriching the lives of customers through their excellence in managing and operating the communities, schools and hotels. “We are an owner and first-choice developer of sought-after, sustainable communities in favored locations throughout the UAE,” adds Saed.