Bell Equipment has opened an office in Bahrain as part of plans to develop its articulated dump truck market in the Middle East.

The new Bell operation in Bahrain capital city Manama will oversee marketing, sales, service and support of Bell dealers in 11 Middle East countries, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The move forms part of a long-term business strategy, which has been in development since 2006.

Bell has already established a network of dealerships and commercial partners across the Middle East to assist in ADT sales. Customers also have the backing of a dedicated parts depot based in Bahrain, which is managed by Bell's own product and after-sales support team.

Neville Paynter, managing director of Bell Equipment UK, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Bell. The decision to develop Bell's ADT market in the Middle East comes at a time when the region is embarking upon an unprecedented level of large construction projects.

“Our intention is to show potential customers that Bell can not only supply strong, reliable and highly efficient machines, but that a huge part of our strategic planning is ensuring we can provide our customers with the best after-sales service and support in the industry.”

Paynter said that the move into the Middle East had been a long time in the planning stages.

“We have been researching and developing Bell's Middle East strategy for more than two years, and we've already seen some major sales successes, particularly in terms of our larger ADTs,” he said.

“The launch of our Bahrain office is just the beginning. We see greater growth opportunities in the future.”

Bell Equipment has appointed South African Kevin Rock as its new business development manager based at the Bahrain office. He is now responsible for Bell's commercial activities in the Middle East.

Rock, who has spent the last three years in Saudi Arabia working for transport and logistics firm Arabian Hala, said that Bell machines were particularly suited to quarrying, mining and construction operations in the Middle East.

“Bell ADTs are so well-built that they can withstand an awful lot of punishment under the more extreme conditions we have in the region,” he said. “It's not unusual for machines to be operated 24 hours a day out here – mostly in very hot and dusty conditions – so it's imperative that the trucks are extremely robust.

“Bell machines will fit well into the market because they are simple to operate and maintain and this will emphasize Bell's value proposition of high productivity, improved uptime and low daily operating cost.

“Also, given the number of on-going large-scale projects in the Middle East, Bell is in the enviable position of being able to offer its flagship 50-tonne B50D – which is still the biggest production ADT in the world.”