One of Bahrain’s oldest industrial services compa-nies has announced it is opening a branch in Qatar.

Bridge Industrial Services will invest BD1 million in the facility at Qatar, a market it is already serving from Bahrain, general manager Mohammed Shaban said.
“We have an experienced team and equipment, which will make it easy for us to start in Qatar,” he said. The Qatar branch is expected to start functioning in 2009.
Bridge’s services cover the overhauling and restoration of old engines, manufacturing of spare parts (custom-made), moulding and shaping of steel and concrete blocks, aluminium welding and fabrication. As well as steel, the company moulds and remoulds copper, alumin-ium, bronze and iron, among other material. One of the sections it operates relates to automobiles.
Shaban said demand was particularly good in the welding and fabrication sector and the company recently introduced trailers as one of the products it manufactures.
Most raw material it uses is locally sourced with the remainder coming from Saudi Arabia. The company plans to import some of its requirements from Iran and Bulgaria.
In addition to Qatar, Bridge exports to Saudi Arabia, Fifteen per cent of its sales turnover is accounted for by exports. Total sales in 2006 were BD600,000. During the first nine months of 2007, the company achieved sales of BD800,000.
It expects to see a surge in sales in 2008 thanks to the “the boom in markets and non-stop projects in Bahrain and abroad.” Shaban also said the company would acquire more sophisticated machinery, which would help it to pursue additional business.
“We have invested up to BD400,000 in new equipment that will come from Italy. One of the good things about the machines is that they are portable and can be taken from one worksite to the other. This is an add-on to our income as we save time and make more money providing customers with services at their own site.”
Equipment the company has in place includes manual, semi-computerised and fully computerised machines, plasma machines and blenders.
Shaban said Bridge had projects ongoing for Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and Al Taweel in Saudi Arabia. The work was being done under a four-year contract.
The company’s customer list in Saudi Arabia includes Al Ghunaim Block Factory, Wessam Al Khaleej, Precision Engineering, Ahmed Sultan Block Factory, Al Askar Ready Mix Concrete, Al Qahtani Ready Mix Blocks and Al Ghanim Ready Mix Block Factory.
The company lists more than 250 companies as its Bahrain customers. They include Garmco, Midal Cables, Basrec, companies in the Al Moayyed Group, Awal Food Factories, Awal Plastic, Hidd Power Company, the Ritz Carlton Hotel and a number of ministries and government organisations.
Shaban says it is in challenging times.  As a result of new labour laws the company’s overhead costs have risen. “We have a restricted number of workers we can recruit, which is the reason why we have to hire on part-time when needed.”  Part-timers have to be trained each time  they are hired, but since they are not permanent staff other part-timers may have to be hired and again trained each time there is work to be done, thus escalating costs, he explained.
Initially the company operated from a small workshop on Lulu Road in Manama. But with demand for its services increasing, it opened a large facility, measuring 3,051 sq m, at the Mina Salman Industrial Area in 1972. Since then, the company’s reputation has grown as a provider of industrial services.