Picture the scene. You're strolling down the high street, past one of the few big ticket outlets that hasn't succumbed to the credit crunch, and something takes your eye. A poster in the window proclaiming the latest red hot deal - a 2.5% saving!

Precisely, you carry on walking.

Naturally, when talking to our exhibitors over the last couple of days, the subject has turned to the current financial fix we all find ourselves in and, put simply, with an industry feeling the full force of the halt in construction and RMI, people are wondering where the next sale is coming from.

Housing developers have stopped peppering our skylines with apartment blocks and commercial office projects have disappeared faster than the bankers who would have sat in them.

So, putting it bluntly, who's buying bogs any more?

Well, the good news, when you look past the sensational headline of our massive cut in VAT (and, if leaked documents are to be believed, the future rise to 18.5%, but that's another story) Darling looks to be proposing to bring forward the government's catalogue of public works from 2011 to 2009. This is where the good news of the pre-budget report actually lies.

The news that a whole host of PFI projects, the construction of schools, hospitals and other public buildings, commanding a government spend of over £3 billion is something that we all ought to sit up and take notice of.

Rather than cry into our beer, we should be out there battling for the contracts to supply these jobs. The healthcare and education programme can't be stopped - no government, however broke, would let that happen - so why not ride the public sector gravy train. It might just see us through the hard times.

The first step, the foot in the door, must be to keep yourself in the public eye, to make sure that those architects and specifiers tasked with selecting preferred bidders aren't allowed to forget your brand.

Forgive me a little plug here, but at kbbreview EXPO registrations are up 60% on this time last year and, crucially, when you look past the overall figures, over 10% of those potential attendees are architects and designers - precisely those people that will be rubber stamping the suppliers to these public buildings.

It's not too scientific I know, but if registrations are up by such a significant amount then clearly there's an audience out there looking to kick start their own business by looking for new products and making sure they're up to date with the latest business advice and information.

Public sector work tends to revolve around enormous contracts, so unless you're a major player in terms of volume, it's unlikely you're going to get any big school or hospital contracts.

But big building works like that have peripheral benefits that might be more modest and attainable. How about nurse or student accommodation? New restaurants popping up to feed the workforce? Train stations? Car parks? Supermarkets? Big building works often lead to developments in community and that may just see some kitchen, bedroom and bathroom companies through this downturn with a healthy growth.