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In a race against time two West Yorkshire companies have helped ensure the glittering success of the inaugural Bahrain International Air Show in the Middle East in January

In less than six months Pudsey-based bespoke buildings producer Town & Country Bespoke Buildings Ltd., designed, manufactured, shipped and erected nearly five dozen permanent steel structures for the high profile event at the Sakhir Air Base. Working closely with Bradford-based shipping and warehousing specialists Bower Green, the complex project involved a huge logistics operation including the hiring of four Jumbo jets and sending a hundred containers by sea.

The prestigious business-to-business air show was the brainchild of the Bahrain Royal Family and was erected next to the country's new Grand Prix racing circuit. The King of Bahrain saw Town and Country's buildings at the Farnborough Air Show in 2008 and again at the Paris Air Show in 2009

After securing the contract in late July 2009 Town & Country had just six weeks to get the buildings manufactured by Steadman's of Carlisle and for the initial 220 tonnes of steel to be flown out by Boeing 747 Cargo Planes to the Middle East by early September. Clinching the deal was helped by a special software pricing system supplied by Capital Steel Buildings for whom Town and Country are Yorkshire distributors. The system details what each building requires down to the last nut and bolt and enabled Town & Country to give realistic prices at an early stage.

One of the giant buildings, which included the prestigious Royal Pavilion and 42 Business Units, was half a kilometre long. Other buildings comprised a Restaurant, a Media Centre, a Medical Centre and Offices, a Show Entrance and an additional 10 Business Units.

"Three months before the Show it was literally desert out there," said Town & Country director Ron Cousins, who came out of retirement to start the business with friend John Driver three years ago. "The overall contract was given to Lea International and Arena Structures and was worth £27 million. Our part of it was worth £5.5 million and it means our turnover has gone up from £500,000 two years ago to £7 million this year."

Town & Country began working with Bower Green after winning the contract for temporary buildings for the 2008 Farnborough Air Show. Bower Green, which started out in 1953 as a wool warehousing company and has developed into a global logistics specialist, moved the portable buildings and later stored them at its Bradford warehouse until they were needed for last year's Paris Air Show. The steel structures, still stored in Bradford, will be used again at this year's Farnborough Air Show.

"Bahrain was the most complex project we've ever done," says Graham Sharp, Bower Green's operations director. "Time was the big issue. We were in contact with the manufacturers and we also had to meet Ron and John's requirements, getting them what they needed in the right order at the right time."

Town & Country, which also supplies customised steel buildings across the industrial landscape, including to power stations, chemical works, distilleries etc., are now set to build on their Bahrain success. They have already received enquiries from the Middle East as a result of the Air Show and one of these is a potential contract approaching £50 million for a new Petroleum Studies & Research Centre in Saudi Arabia.