Maher Mahmood, who set up his interior decor firm M&M Interiors a decade ago, looks upon his work to the Citibank Headquarters Building as an important addition to his company's portfolio of projects.

The Bahrain-based company was responsible for providing and installing the full-height gypsum partitions throughout the building as well as some column-cladding work.

Some 4,000 sq m of partitions and 3,000 sq m of cladding has been supplied to the project. The partitions are fire-rated and offer moisture resistance for one hour.

Interior decoration work accounts for the lion's share of M&M Interiors' business. The company can take on turnkey interior jobs and has a design department and consultancy.

The Salmabad-based M&M Interiors has also diversified since its inception into joinery works, upholstery and curtains, painting (including special effects), flooring (parquet) and supply and installation of carpets.

Among the turnkey jobs it is currently handling is the 10-screen cineplex at the Seef Mall, under a subcontract from main contractor Olympic Contracting. It is also responsible for the interior decor work at Jeffrey's Coffee Shop - an American franchise - at Bahrain Mall and a number of residential projects.

Projects it has recently completed are the Yum Yum Tree in Sanad, an office for Bahrain Call, renovation work at Hilton Hotel and an Ericsson unit for Fakhroo Electronics.

M&M Interiors has also extended its market beyond Bahrain having completed two boutiques for men's wear in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and a Mont Blanc boutique in Doha, Qatar.

Commenting about business levels in Bahrain, he says: "Business is good. Bahrain is now a positive market and the coming years look very promising."

Mahmood looks optimistically at the future, aiming to expand cautiously to the other Gulf states and eyeing joint ventures.