Many of Britain's construction material manufacturers have been established in the Gulf states for several decades but there are numerous others whose potential to export their products to the region goes unrecognised due in part to a lack of knowledge of what information and assistance is available to them prior to visiting the market.

Catnic, a leading supplier of steel building products for the construction industry, has been exporting to the Middle East for more than two decades. The UK-based company has established a network of distributors in most countries in the region, all holding stock for immediate availability, says Richard Brown, export manager.

Eurobath, which has been active in the Middle East for nearly eight years, continues to expand in the region. The bathroom and plumbing specialist has enjoyed continuous year-on-year growth in the retail and project sector through an emphasis on quality, design and service.

One of the UK's leading steel glazing specialists has successfully completed a prestigious contract in Egypt, using its advanced roof glazing systems. Wright Style, based in Devizes, Wiltshire, supplied 350 sq m of its SR roof glazing system for the Mubarak TV centre complex in Cairo, which included a 16-m single-span sloped main entrance.

A high-profile executive team headed by chairman Sir Anthony Bamford recently completed a fact-finding mission to three key Middle East territories where JCB's business is expanding.

Adjudication, a method to resolve disputes, has received very little exposure in the region. The process, which brings a further dimension to the dispute resolution process, is described as be an equitable and more effective in terms of cost and time involved.

JCB, Europe's premier manufacturer of construction equipment, is keenly eyeing prospects in the Middle East and is actively promoting itself as a single source for a full line of construction equipment.

Renderplas of the UK has recently supplied its plasterers beads made of uPVC for a number of prestigious projects in the Gulf. Among them is the beach resort for Emirates in Fujairah. ''Work on this resort is progressing well with the handover expected at the end of the year," says a spokesman for Renderplas.

Following the successful launch of its new planetary mixers, Steelfields has announced that it is increasing the number of models in the range. There is now a choice of eight models with compacted output capacities from 330 litres to 3 cu m.

MORE than 500 of SunPipe natural daylight systems have now been installed in the Gulf region since the launch of these British-made tubular skylights in the Middle East in December 1999.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Terrain story. Terrain's origins can be traced back to 1902 with the launch in Manchester of Key Engineering - a pioneer of pitch fibre pipe manufacturing using raw materials imported from Canada and the US.

Allgood Worldwide, the international arm of Allgood, claims to have produced a revolutionary form of wireless access control which offers total flexibility while being easy to install.

UK-based Tremco Limited has supplied its sealant technology to a number of major projects in the Middle East. The company's Proglaze II and SGT 920 tapes were selected for the four-sided structural glazing on the prestigious Al Ittihad Tower in Sharjah,UAE.