FXB recently attended the annual Interiors NEC Birmingham 2010 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK.

The exhibition not only hosts manufacturing and importing companies in the UK but also attracts foreign participants and is popular with visitors from Ireland and Nordic countries.

FXB's participation forms part of the group's increasing efforts to continue its penetration of the export market, which it has nurtured continuously over the last 25 years.

"We chose to take part with a selection from the Winchester Oak range, which comprises reproduction furniture from the Tudor period, as well as with FXB's own modern lines, namely the Romeo wall unit and the Estelle bedroom. We received positive feedback and visitors showed a keen interest in all our ranges, both our modern products as well as our Winchester Oak," explained Joseph Borg, managing director of FXB Group.

Comparing this year's participation with previous editions, he added how over the past years the company saw a gradual decrease in the furniture manufacturing industry in the UK and an increasing flow of furniture importation.

"Moreover, the recession has had a lasting effect on some UK major furniture stores. Consequently, the exhibition saw a large number of smaller furniture operators as well as national retailers with a large number of stores. This helped furniture companies like FXB gain more visibility and attention. But the overall feeling was that the exhibition was much better than last year's and that business is slowly picking up. Participation of foreign companies was a major contributor to this fair and many positive signs vouched for this, especially a perceived increased number of visitors."

FXB's participation was also made possible through the European Regional Development Fund. FXB's stand, a project carried out by Casapinta Design Group, was visited by long-standing clients of the company in the UK as well as prospective ones.

This year's participation was also an interesting experience for FXB Group's contracts division. In fact, the stand was designed and produced in such a way that a whole section was dedicated solely to the group's contracts division, where a series of interesting meetings with a number of designers and contractors took place.

This year's publicity material from FXB also featured a new contract brochure produced in an English version and an English and Arabic version and accompanied by a CD featuring all FXB's product lines .

"We are now busy following up on our recent contacts confident that these will lead to a number of tangible business opportunities in the near future," concluded Mr Borg.

For more information please visit www.fxb.com.mt.