Turkish Natural Stones Set to Feature in Prestigious UK Projects

The Aegean Natural Stone Exporters Association (EMİB), which holds a leading position in Turkey's natural stone exports, is accelerating its 2026 promotion and marketing activities in the United Kingdom. EMİB, which captured USD 771 million of Turkey's approximately USD 2 billion in natural stone exports in 2025, aims to raise its exports to the USD 1 billion level.

In this context, the association will participate in the Surface Design Show Fair to be held in London between 3–5 February 2026, bringing Turkish natural stones together with architects, industrial designers and importers.

Target: Turkish Stone in Britain's New Prestigious Structures
Ege Maden İhracatçıları Birliği Chairman İbrahim Alimoğlu noted that Turkish natural stones' rich variety of colours, textures and patterns will be showcased at booth 145 at the Surface Design Show Fair, stating:

"We are launching our 2026 promotion campaign from the United Kingdom. Our aim is to ensure that Turkish natural stones are preferred in new and prestigious architectural projects being carried out in the UK. Surface Design Show is an extremely strategic platform for this objective."

Turkish Natural Stones Going Digital with EgeBIM
Alimoğlu, emphasizing that they will introduce an important innovation at this year's London event, noted that visitors will be able to access detailed information about the stone samples and companies displayed via the EgeBIM digital platform:

"Visitors will be able to access information about the stones and companies quickly and easily in the digital environment through EgeBIM (www.egebim.com). This application represents an important step in the digitalization of international promotion of Turkish natural stones."

Natural Stone Exports to UK Up 11%
Highlighting that the United Kingdom is a strategic market for Turkey, Alimoğlu stated that natural stone exports to the UK in 2025 rose from USD 15.8 million to USD 17.5 million, an increase of 11%.

"The UK is a hub for global architectural projects. Having architects based in the UK become closely acquainted with Turkish natural stones will lead to Turkish stones being preferred not only in this market but also in projects they carry out in different countries around the world."

Special Networking Meeting with Architects and Designers
Within the scope of the fair, a special networking event will be held on the evening of 4 February organised by the Aegean Natural Stone Exporters Association. The event will address the applications of Turkish natural stones in architectural and interior design projects, current design trends and innovative implementations; direct communication will be established between sector representatives and architects and designers.

Strong Representation
Ege Maden İhracatçıları Birliği will be represented at the Surface Design Show Fair and networking event by Board Members Reyhan Sezgin, Efe Nalbantoğlu, Mehmet Şen and Oben İnceler.

EMİB aims with this event to increase the visibility of the Turkish natural stone sector in the UK market and to strengthen its design- and digitalization-focused approach on an international scale.