BUILDING DREAMS: The Sidharthan Kizhkutt Story – 50 Years at The Kanoo Group | A Four-Part Series
In 1975, Kanoo Ventures was the machinery provider fueling Dubai's construction boom. Sidney's role was simple but vital as its machinery parts salesman.
The unit sales office sat in Jafaliya, where Dubai Police headquarters now stands. The spare parts office was in Bur Dubai situated at the same location as the main Bur Dubai HQ. Back then, Dubai was still bare compared to what it is today with endless stretches of sands in every direction. Construction sites dotted the desert like defiant statements against the barren landscape. Buildings rose in skeletal form, iron beams exposed, cranes swinging materials up and across, casting long shadows on the ground below.
Sheikh Zayed Road was just a single lane. On both sides there was nothing. Only the occasional truck rumbling past, and camels moving slowly along the roadside, sometimes stopping to rest in the sand.
Among the key players in this transformation was GK Plant—a partnership between Greenham UK and Kanoo—operating heavy machinery across the growing city. As Dubai's ambitions grew, so did The Kanoo Group's vision. They eventually took over full ownership and established what would become Kanoo Machinery, cementing their position as the backbone of the nation's construction industry. It was here, among the British engineers and managers, that Sidharthan Kizhkutt became "Sidney." His full name was simply too difficult for them to pronounce, so Sidney it was—a name that would stick for the next five decades.
The Early Days
As a parts salesman, everything was manual. There were no computers, no digital systems. Parts sat in boxes, stacked in cabinets. Every item taken or added was logged by hand on paper. It was meticulous, demanding work but Sidney thrived in it.
What made those early years truly special, though, wasn't the work itself. It was the people.
Sidney remembers Hamed Kanoo, the founder of The Kanoo Group, as the kindest person he ever met in this booming city. Mr. Hamed had a way of making everyone feel valued. He would remind Sidney, and everyone else, that The Kanoo Group wasn't just his company. It was theirs too. Sidney's company. Their company.
Those words made Sidney's heart swell with pride. He wasn't just an employee. He was family.
Treated Like Family
The Kanoo family didn't just preach this. They lived it. Sidney recalls spending Ramadan with the family, a tradition that continues to this day. He remembers New Year's Day celebrations shared together, moments of joy and gratitude that blurred the lines between employer and employee.
He was treated like their own.
Sidney also witnessed history unfold in those offices. He recalls seeing Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the visionary ruler of Dubai and former Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, visit Mr. Hamed Kanoo's office. Sheikh Rashid served as Prime Minister from 1971 to 1979 and again from 1990 until his passing in 1990. These weren't just business meetings; they were moments that Sidney believed when the future of a nation was being shaped.
It is right to say that The Kanoo Group reflects the shared journey of a country and its people building a future together. The story of The Kanoo Group mirrors the remarkable story of the UAE itself. For more than 50 years, The Kanoo Group has grown alongside this great nation.
After Sheikh Rashid's passing, his son Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum succeeded him and now serves as Ruler of Dubai, Vice President, and Prime Minister of the UAE.
The Boom Years
By the 1980s, Dubai's construction boom skyrocketed. The Kanoo Group seized the moment and soon reigned supreme in the machinery sector, becoming the sole operators in the region under Hamed Kanoo's leadership.
Kanoo Machinery, where Sidney worked as parts salesman, was moving fast too. The division grew bigger and bigger, expanding beyond its original footprint. It relocated from Karama to larger facilities in Al Quoz, then branched out to Jebel Ali. The expansion didn't stop there. New branches opened across the UAE—from Abu Dhabi, the nation's capital, to Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Al Ain, and Fujairah.
Kanoo Machinery became the backbone of machinery parts supply in the country and throughout the region.
The Kanoo Group, with its multiple divisions working in harmony, became unstoppable. The UAE government relied on their machinery solutions to build the city that would rise from the desert—and Sidney was part of every milestone, every expansion, every triumph.
Watching the Next Generation Grow
Sidney also has tender memories of Mishal Kanoo and Maha Kanoo as children—perhaps 10 to 12 years old—being driven to The Kanoo Group’s office after school. While their father worked, the two would play among the construction machinery, climbing into the driver's seats, pretending to operate the massive machines, jumping up and down with the carefree joy of childhood.
Years later, Sidney watched those same children grow into leaders.
As young adults, Mishal and Maha were tasked with learning the business from the ground up. They weren't given VIP treatment or sheltered from hard work. Instead, they rotated through every department—accounting, sales, marketing, operations. They carried boxes. They made sales calls. They experienced every inch of the company, month by month, preparing for the roles they would one day assume.
Mishal became Chairman of The Kanoo Group. Maha became a Director.
Sidney witnessed it all from the moment they were small children playing on machinery, to the day they took the helm of one of the region's largest conglomerates. Their father, Hamed Kanoo, had prepared them well.
A Shining Symbol
In those early days, Bur Dubai was the beating heart of business. And The Kanoo Group building was the first to stand tall in the area, the first to have walls made entirely of glass. It gleamed in the sunlight, glass panels catching and reflecting the sun's rays.
It shined the brightest. A beacon of what was possible when vision met hard work, when family met ambition, when a young man from Kerala came to Dubai to work with a visionary Emirati family that built something extraordinary for the country.
And Sidney was there for all of it.
Part 3 will be published next Friday, November 28, 2025. Watch out!
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