Argon & Co celebrates Middle East growth with client events
Argon & Co has hosted a series of events across the Middle East, to celebrate the growth of the firm’s regional footprint. Speaking at breakfast events in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, the firm’s leaders discussed the journey of Argon & Co so far, and how the company plans to keep growing its on-the-ground capability to support clients wherever needed.
Paris-headquartered Argon & Co is a global management consultancy that specialises in operations strategy, supply chain, procurement, and operations. The firm has 15 offices worldwide, in North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania – including two in the Middle East.
Having operated in the region for a decade, Argon & Co formalised its presence with an office in Abu Dhabi in 2018 (inherited from its acquisition of Crimson & Co), and last year, the global consultancy added an office in Saudi Arabia.
One year on from its Saudi market entry, Argon & Co has been celebrating the positive momentum of both its offices, by hosting two events with clients to discuss their thriving relations.
Speaking before the events, Argon & Co’s Regional Director in the Middle East Michael Mitchell said, “We’ve been looking forward to the opportunity to get together with a lot of our team and celebrate what we’ve been doing in the last few years in Abu Dhabi – as well as what we’re going to be doing in the future.”
A former client executive at IBM in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Mitchell joined Argon & Co in 2019, ahead of its push to expand across the region. He was joined by Argon & Co Group Managing Partner Jean-Francois Laget, as another keynote speaker for the events.
Laget, a partner at Argon & Co since 2013 (formerly at Oliver Wyman and Capgemini), added, “I am very happy to join the proceedings here, to celebrate our rapid growth in the Middle East. We have achieved an excellent reputation in the region, and this is an excellent illustration of our global ambition to grow everywhere we are.”
Local and global expertise
Over the course of breakfast conferences in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, keynote speakers – also including Mark Godson, who is the firm’s regional lead for Saudi Arabia – discussed how Argon & Co’s capabilities will support the vision and ambition of clients in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, through digital transformation, talent development and logistics.
More than that, however, the events gave Argon & Co the opportunity to celebrate its achievements to this point in the Middle East, and to thank those who have supported it through its early successes in the region.
This included a blend of international and local talent, which now staffs the firm’s offices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Charlotte Harryman, a consultant with Argon & Co who recently transitioned from the UK to the Middle East, said the event had been “a really nice opportunity for me to connect with our global colleagues, and also to reflect on our global capabilities as we continue to evolve our services.”
Similarly, Jihen Malrech, who had shifted from the firm’s Paris office to the UAE, welcomed the chance to look back on “an incredible journey so far”.
Fares Al Barqawi, another consultant at the firm’s Middle East wing, was keen to highlight the contribution of experts from within the region. He explained the company’s “local expertise, coupled with broad capabilities positions the firm as a leader in transforming businesses across the region”.
Meanwhile, fellow consultant Hisham Ayoub added that this enables Argon & Co to not only “focus on building relationships between colleagues,” but to “build close relationships with clients too.”
Outside of the Middle East, Argon & Co recently acquired two companies in Australia.