With the opening of NMK Beyond, Dubai’s oldest AV distributor continues to lead from the front.

Tucked away in Dubai’s Al Quoz industrial district, the NMK Electronics headquarters may not look especially radical from the outside. But walk through its doors and you’re greeted by something far more ambitious than a typical distributor’s showroom. NMK Beyond – as the entire facility is called – is part demo space, part live venue, part education hub and part AV sandbox for engineers, integrators, students and even artists to play in. It makes a big statement, not only about the company’s intentions in the market, but where it sees the industry heading.

The Dubai-based distributor is no stranger to the pages of Pro AVL MEA. This should be no surprise, given it’s one of the oldest and most proactive AV distributors serving the region. But in reality, it’s more because the company constantly refines and restructures as the market evolves. Simply put, there’s always something new to discuss.

Described as an ever-changing AV exhibit, NMK Beyond perfectly illustrates the mindset. “We didn’t want just another showroom with products on walls,” explains NMK regional director Middle East, Alex Kemanes. “This is a space where technology and design come together, showing how solutions come to life in a real environment. It’s constantly evolving. The entrance and first part of the journey are designed as a co-working space that showcases the unified communications experience, built for nontechnical users and seamlessly infused with tech.”

At 2,000m², the space includes a fully functional auditorium dubbed the Atrium, a 9.4.1 Dolby Atmos mixing studio named Studio B, multiple meeting rooms, a boardroom, a service centre, a stocked demo warehouse and a soon-to-launch broadcast podcasting studio. There’s even a casual café and lounge area, where people can gather and discuss ideas in a less formal environment. The immersive room is currently being reworked, and a new SMPTE ST 2110 demo zone powered by Riedel solutions is being prepared that highlights the convergence of broadcast and live production.

The star of the show though is undoubtedly the Atrium – sat at the building’s core, it’s a fully equipped auditorium that serves as both a live performance venue and technical training environment. It’s been outfitted with over 120 lighting fixtures and more than 30 loudspeakers in an L-ISA immersive audio configuration that’s also capable of Dolby Atmos playback. A major projection mapping upgrade in the Atrium is also being planned using Epson projectors and 7thSense media servers.
As group technical director Peter Herring puts it, “this isn’t static. We want it to feel like a theme park or museum – where every time someone comes back, there’s something new to see.”

Increasingly, NMK Beyond is being used by LDs, systems integrators and partners to test-drive technologies firsthand. “We want people to fall in love with the technology,” says Herring. “A great way to do that is to let them bring in their own consoles, experiment with our rig or mock-up projects before going live. That’s how you build trust and long-term engagement. Studio B, for example, is one of the best-equipped 9.4.1 Dolby Atmos spaces in the area, and being able to give people a taste of that turns the conversation into something much more meaningful.” It’s a vision that is gaining traction. According to Herring, he spends roughly an hour each day touring new visitors through the space, from students to manufacturers. “It’s become a playground for the AV industry,” he smiles.

The facility clearly makes an impression with new visitors, and is a key part of NMK’s wider business strategy. It takes far more to be a good distributor these days than simply shifting boxes. “The technology is so good now it can almost sell itself,” reflects general manager Nicolas Cox. “Our job has been to build the environment to sell that vision.”

NMK’s regional expansion plans, like many, include a significant push into Saudi Arabia, but also smaller, less catered-to markets such as Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. A new facility in Riyadh is already taking shape, including a training centre, meeting rooms and a soon-to-be-opened showroom below. “While it won’t be quite as large as our Dubai space, it’s all part of the bigger picture,” notes Kemanes. “We want to offer the same quality of service and engagement across all our territories.” A regional presence is also being planned for other major cities and, supporting this, there’s been significant recent expansion of the business development team.

If there’s one area NMK has doubled down on over the years, it’s training. What began in 2014 as a modest roadshow initiative by director of strategic development, Costandino Drimakis, has grown into a flagship offering with over 5,000 people trained since moving to Al Quoz. The first four months of 2025 alone saw 42 sessions delivered to 1,350 attendees.

The training strategy is deliberately inclusive. Sessions are mostly free and open to students, freelancers, clients and others. The team works closely with partners like SAE, SPAA and Berklee School of Music, offering certified courses in collaboration with key vendors.

High-profile sessions have included workshops by renowned audio engineer Robert Scovill and the famous lighting designer George Tellos, who attracted full-capacity crowds to NMK Beyond as the space can accommodate up to 100 people.

A newly launched training portal also allows users to log in, track their certificates, view learning paths and receive notifications about upcoming sessions. Company owners can monitor how their staff are progressing and when credentials are due for renewal. “Too many trainings rely on the learner being proactive,” observes group marketing manager, Maleeha Riaz. “We’re trying to flip that around.”

Beyond formal education, there’s simply a need to inspire and nurture talent. Internships have led to full-time positions, and the team has recently commissioned student artists to contribute content to NMK Beyond’s immersive audio system.

“Everything ties back into the philosophy behind our motto, ‘Taking technology further, bringing people together’,” Riaz says, quoting the Midwich Group’s guiding principle. “That’s what NMK Beyond represents.”

Now almost four decades old, NMK’s longevity is itself a testament to its ability to adapt and maintain core brand partnerships, such as Shure and Neutrik, for so long. “It’s about the trust, and that is something that is built. If we say we’re going to do something, we deliver, whether that’s building a new experience centre or allocating resources to develop the brand. We treat our vendors as strategic allies, and there has to be open communication,” says Drimakis.

This consistent track record also plays a role when NMK is approached by new partners. “They see the strength of our existing relationships and know that we are in it for the long haul,” says Kemanes.

“And when a new brand visits the space, 60% of the work is already done,” adds Cox. “They walk out impressed. No one else in the region has everything at this level in one place. The way we actively deploy and demonstrate a company’s products inside a functional space shows our investment in the partnership.”

Back in Dubai, the team is also agile in the face of the unexpected. Following a fire that gutted its warehouse in late 2024, NMK moved swiftly to recover, opening a fully operational replacement in DIP within 30 days. “That was a big moment for us,” says Kemanes. “It showed what we’re capable of under pressure.” The company has since expanded its warehouse capacity in both Dubai and Saudi Arabia to meet increasing demand.

With major brand additions like Riedel and INFiLED this year, as well as strategic investments in new customer tools and back-end support platforms soon to launch, NMK is continuing to scale across product verticals and territories. Team sizes are set to double in Saudi Arabia by the year’s end, and warehouse capacity is expanding in both Jebel Ali and the Kingdom to keep pace with demand.

“Every decision is about improving the overall experience,” Kemanes concludes. “Whether it’s physical, digital or educational, we want NMK to be the standard that others benchmark against.”

In a region defined by rapid change and ambitious development, NMK Electronics seems determined not only to keep up, but set the pace.