March 1989 · Sharjah
The First Step
PEPCO Engineering is founded
Far from home, a vision took its first shape.
In March 1989, V G Prem founded PEPCO Engineering
in Sharjah. The UAE was still a young nation, growing fast,
and full of opportunity for anyone willing to work for it.
Like so many from Kerala who made the Gulf their second
home, he started small, took on every job with care, and built
his name one project at a time. There were no shortcuts:
just long days, demanding clients and the slow work of
earning trust. That first engineering operation in Sharjah
became the foundation for everything PEPCO would grow
into over the next three decades.
March 1996 · Dubai
Building in the City of Ambition
Engineering expands to Dubai
Seven years of trust opened the door to a city on the rise.
By 1996, PEPCO's reputation in Sharjah had earned it the confidence
to grow. In March that year, PEPCO Engineering expanded to
Dubai, a city then beginning one of the most remarkable
transformations in the world. The company took on MEP
(mechanical, electrical and plumbing) and civil engineering work,
helping to build the homes, offices and infrastructure of a rising
city. Later, PEPCO added solar energy to its capabilities,
looking ahead to a cleaner future long before it became mainstream.
For V G Prem, building other people's dreams was also teaching
him what it would take to build his own.
July 1996 · Manufacturing
From Building to Making
The PEPCO Fiberglass Factory opens
Momentum, once found, is worth following.
Just four months after arriving in Dubai, PEPCO took
another bold step. In July 1996, the PEPCO Fiberglass
Factory began manufacturing and production, adding a
second industry to the group. Moving from building to
making meant new machines, new skills and a new kind of
responsibility for quality, from the raw material to the finished
product. It showed a willingness to act quickly when the
opportunity was right, and a confidence that the same
values that made PEPCO a trusted engineering company could make
it a trusted manufacturer too.
1997–2000 · Information Technology
The Courage to Try
PEPCO Computers
Not every road leads where you expect.
Every road teaches you something.
As the world raced towards the new millennium, computers
were changing how every business worked. In 1997,
PEPCO stepped into this new world with PEPCO Computers.
For three years the venture explored a fast-moving industry,
one where technology and markets shifted almost month
by month. In 2000, the group made the clear-headed
decision to close it and focus its energy where PEPCO
was strongest. It is a chapter many companies would leave
out of their story. We include it because it matters:
real entrepreneurs try new things, learn honestly from the
results, and have the discipline to change course when
the time comes.
PEPCO Resorts & Convention Centre
After almost three decades away, the journey turned towards home.
In 2016, PEPCO moved into hospitality, and with it,
V G Prem's journey came full circle. PEPCO Resorts &
Convention Centre brought Eco Garden Resort to
Cheruthuruthy, a quiet village in Thrissur beside Kerala
Kalamandalam, where Kerala's classical arts have been
nurtured for nearly a century. Here, on a hillside estate
of gardens and lakes, the experience of a
lifetime in building came together: halls for great celebrations,
cottages and villas for families, and space for people to slow
down. Fora Malayali who built his life in the Gulf, it was
more than a new business. It was a way of giving back
to the land that started it all.
