Member Article

Glassmakers look to break Gulf

North East glassmakers are heading out to the United Arab Emirates as they look to break into the Gulf’s lucrative glass market. Anne Tye from Cohesion glassmakers’ network and local glass artist, Eileen Leatherland, travelled out to Dubai on yesterday to represent the talents of regional glass artists at a prestigious interior design conference.

The visit follows a successful trade trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in March by six regional glass companies. The previous trip included meetings with gallery owners, architects, specifiers, property developers and members of the British business community. Such was the success of the last visit that the party returned home to the North East with a host of invitations and new business opportunities including proposals from two galleries for exhibitions and a showcase of architectural and sculptural glass work.

Anne, manager of the Cohesion network, said: “With all the development being undertaken in the area, opportunities for glass artists, particularly our architectural glass companies, are considerable. “But while the opportunities are great, it’s not an easy market to penetrate. This is very much a long-term project and glassmakers are working collectively through the Cohesion network rather than as individuals to develop contacts and understand the area. “It’s early days but our glass makers have been met with great enthusiasm and the initial prospects are very encouraging. We worked very hard to set up and plan the first visit and we hope to build on that this time.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .