Perrin & Rowe, the upmarket kitchen and bathroom brassware brand, has sealed its commitment to the Gulf with the appointment of Dubai-based Jos Hansen & Soehne as its distributor in the region.

The agreement is the latest Middle Eastern development for the brand, and follows successful stints at The Hotel Show in Dubai earlier this year and at The Big 5 in October.

Managing director and co-founder, Greg Rowe comments: "Appointing Jos Hansen is a great step forward for us and quite an achievement considering we have only just begun to focus on the Gulf."

The distribution deal will cover the full range of Perrin & Rowe kitchen and bathroom taps, showers and accessories, and a comprehensive display of fittings is already taking pride of place in the Jos Hansen showroom.

Jos Hansen general manager, Andrew Davies comments: "We're delighted to have secured the Perrin & Rowe brand. The product has that quintessentially English styling, and its combination of design and quality means that one of our first objectives will be to introduce the range to some of the Emirates' most influential designers and specifiers."

Jos Hansen & Soehne is a member of the Khalifa Juma Al Nabooda group of companies, and has been established in Dubai since the creation of the UAE. Its multi-disciplinary interests include industrial supplies, building products, engineering and office furniture.

Rowe continues: "The Gulf is an incredibly quality-orientated area, and the Perrin & Rowe brand identifies very strongly with that. Perrin & Rowe is the Rolls-Royce of the faucet market. We have already established Perrin & Rowe with great success in the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand - and we believe there is a requirement for high-end brassware in the Gulf that Perrin & Rowe can encourage and satisfy."

Perrin & Rowe has benefited from the current luxury hotel trend that dictates a greater amount of attention and detail is lavished on fittings that would have once been considered functional only. In fact, Rowe suggests that it is brands such as Perrin & Rowe that have been instrumental in encouraging architects and specifiers to reach 'beyond the standard' when they focus on bathrooms and kitchens.

"We have established good working relationships with architects who have great influence on product specifications and appreciate the benefits offered by Perrin & Rowe products," he says.

Rowe continues: "We have promoted the concept that design-led, quality-orientated brassware can be just as aspirational and desirable as designer furniture, jewellery and cars.

''In the five-star-plus hotel and resort sector, both business and leisure travellers now expect room fittings and fixtures to be luxurious and of the best quality as a matter of course, and one of the best places for recognising this is the UAE.

''The region has a very refined appreciation of quality and I think Perrin & Rowe will quickly find its niche," he says.

Recent high profile specifications for Perrin & Rowe have included the refurbishment of Sandy Lane, Barbados, the Savoy Group's London hotels and Huka Lodge in New Zealand.

Exclusively designed and manufactured by Avilion in the UK, the brand's products are the result of blending the most advanced engineering techniques with cutting-edge design skills and a fastidious approach to attention to detail, says Rowe.

"Only the most superior raw materials - including ceramic and porcelain are used - and key items from the bathroom collection, such as the thermostatic shower mixer feature casings machined from solid brass bar," he explains.

"Extra durability comes from a 'three-part' plating process that gives some fittings a plating density of up to 25 microns (much higher than brassware industry averages) and products have generous guarantees and warranties - including five years for working parts."

Bathroom basin, bidet and bath taps and a wide range of thermostatic showers in traditional and contemporary styles are available and the kitchen collection of mixer taps features over 350 design variations with finishes ranging from pewter to inca gold.

Bespoke brassware collections can also be commissioned.

On display at the Big 5 show in Dubai was Perrin & Rowe's Trademporary collection which was launched earlier this year. This new bathroom brassware collection combines key elements from the Perrin & Rowe Traditional Collection with a clever contemporary twist.

Also on display was the Traditional collection and the soon-to-be-launched Contemporary collection.

Perrin & Rowe also promoted the Swiss group Franke's Triflow purified water dispenser at the show.

Besides the UAE, the company is also actively trying to penetrate other Gulf markets. It is currently working on creating two mock-up rooms for two large hotels in Kuwait.