EY has rolled out a new business model called ‘ EY Growth Solutions’, aimed at helping  midmarket companies adapt to economic changes such as VAT, diversification, digital innovation, and changing consumer sentiment
Whenever there is a period of economic downturn, mid-sized companies are bound to bear the brunt of it, with direct impact on their liquidity and profitability. Some of the key issues facing mid-sized companies in Oman include adapting to new regulations such as VAT, digital innovations and changing consumer sentiment.  In order to address these challenges and help the companies break new avenues of growth, EY has comes out with a new business model called ‘ EY Growth Solutions’ , aimed at providing innovative, on-demand solutions to help companies of all sizes negotiate difficult times .  The new services which were launched across the Middle East and North Africa region offers companies in the region access to subscription services with inbuilt flexibility, standardisation and competitive pricing.
Says Ahmed Al-Esry, office managing partner for EY Muscat, “Organisations in Oman are highly impacted by new regulations such as VAT, digital innovations and rapidly changing customer demand. There is high demand from middle-sized companies for quick and efficient solutions that target technological issues, analytics and empirical data mining. The success factors, global insights and positive experiences we’ve witnessed in supporting the growth of numerous organisations across the region gives us a competitive advantage to support organisational growth plans.
Elaborating on some of the growth solutions, Mohamed Nayaz, Partner, advisory, EY Muscat, adds, “Middle market companies in Oman are impacted significantly by the current challenging market conditions and it is important for them to change the way they run their operations and look for opportunities to enhance revenues and cut costs to compete for growth now and in the longer term. EY growth solutions are aimed to deliver these value-adding services that enable organisations to achieve their growth ambitions.”
EY’s VAT IT offering has been developed to assist companies to comply with the new regulation by assessing their readiness in a structured metrics and plan a cost-effective implementation roadmap. In addition, social media intelligence is also included as part of EY’s solutions, to establish closer relationships with consumers and make smarter decisions. Consumer behavior on social media platforms is an area of interest for many companies. EY’s global IP is utilised by the analytics tools to offer valuable insights solutions to create end-users that are also brand ambassadors.
“EY has been recognised for being the GCC’s leader for delivering business transformation. Our legacy of more than 40 years in Oman and 90 years in the region has given us an inside view of the many changes in the region. The EY Growth Solutions platform is ideal to help companies transform, but also innovate in the way services are packaged and delivered, because the needs of the market have changed dramatically,” comments Nayaz.
Sa’ed Gussous, partner in advisory services, MENA region, corroborates saying: “As the governments in the region are going ahead with the inevitable measures for diversifying the economy, midmarket companies have started feeling the shock of it.  Measures such as introduction of taxes and removal of subsidies will definitely have long term benefits for the economy, but in short term they are going to affect midlevel companies.  The governments in the region have made it clear that sustainability of the economy will not be achieved without private sector. So the government is trying to bring the private sector on board. And now the private sector companies have to identify their issues collectively find solution for them.” He added, “EY’s seven drivers for growth have been designed to enable the companies to navigate the current market situations. The products include VAT IT readiness, social media intelligence, pricing and promotions optimisation, business-lead heath checks & diagnostic services and risk & compliance.”
Falah Hasan Al-Lawati, growth solutions market leader for EY Oman, says: “It is a very exciting time for us at EY to continuously provide our high-valued services to our clients in an innovative way. The EY Growth Solution could not have come at better time given the current economic situation in Oman. We are extending our services to include the middle-market with a set of new solutions that enables companies to achieve its growth ambitions. I am very excited to lead this initiative and looking forward to extend our hand to help boost the economy in our local market.”
Digital-led platform
EY Growth Solutions are available on a digital platform where companies can directly select the solutions depending on their business needs. The on-demand solutions leverage EY’s global IP, alliances, and digital know-how based on extensive research which examined the growth journeys of hundreds of companies around the globe, ranging from start-ups to leading businesses, as well as in-depth conversations with business leaders.