OK Guys,
Thanks for the suggestions, It was too late to go for stainless as I'd already made half of it, next time I might give that a go though, the stand Alphonso made looks just the finish I was after. What i did was had it galvanised, primed it with red oxide then mixwed black satin finish exterior paint with graphite powder I bought on ebay ( £8 for 500gramms) about a heaped tablespoon to half a litre, thinned it down with about 10% celulose thinners. While the paint is still tacky but looks dry I brushed the surface with a waxing brush on the end of a drill and can't beleive how good it looks I'll post some pics later in the week, it's really close to polished steel in good light, in dim light less so, looks a bit grey but still good, clients very happy with it and fitting it tomorow.
Thankyou all,
Matthew