A good stand brief lets several builders quote for the same job. It describes what the stand has to do, gives the venue and organiser facts that constrain the design, and asks for quotes in a form you can compare line by line.
Lead with the job the stand must do
Describe the audience and the conversations you want to have. Explain whether visitors will watch a demonstration, inspect products, sit down for a meeting or place an order. List what the team needs behind the scenes, including storing bags, charging devices and replenishing samples.
Give the builder a realistic budget basis and say whether it includes venue services, transport and installation. A clear scope is more useful than asking for the most impressive design at the lowest possible price.
Supply the venue and organiser facts
Attach the stand plan with dimensions, open sides, neighbouring stands and any columns or obstructions. Add the organiser’s current technical manual, build and breakdown windows, access instructions and submission deadlines. Mark anything that is still provisional.
Some venue rules shape the design directly. At the NEC, power, water, compressed air and data are pulled up from floor ducts to positions you mark on a stand plan; without one, services are brought to the centre of the stand. Pipework there needs a platform at least 80mm high to cover it. Electrical work on the stand is done by the organiser’s nominated contractor. At Excel London and Olympia London, rigging is a venue or appointed-contractor service, so hanging signs need to be planned with them.
Tell the builder whether the booking is space only or a shell scheme package. Do not assume a shell scheme wall can support equipment, that a platform is included or that hanging signs are permitted. Our guide to shell scheme or space only explains the difference.
Turn the brief into a short schedule
- Show, venue, hall, stand number and footprint.
- Primary audience and the action visitors should take.
- Products, demonstrations and equipment, with sizes and weights.
- Power, data, water and lighting needs, with positions marked on the plan.
- Storage, seating, accessible circulation and staff requirements.
- Brand files, messages, artwork ownership and approval dates.
- Transport, installation, dismantling and storage responsibilities.
- Future shows and alternative footprints if reuse matters.
Include only requirements you actually need. A brief overloaded with optional features makes it harder to protect the essentials.
Ask for proof of the working design
Review a dimensioned layout as well as the visual. Walk through how a visitor approaches, where the conversation happens and whether people can pass while a demonstration is running. Check where coats, stock, cases and cables will go, and how people with different access needs will use the stand.
For screens and graphics, check viewing distance, content format and what is readable from the aisle. Approve production artwork separately from the concept render, and make sure someone owns each approval and has the final dimensions.
Make the quotes comparable
Request an itemised scope covering design, manufacture or hire, graphics, flooring, furniture, lighting, labour and transport. Ask for exclusions and the change process. Confirm who orders venue services and who submits technical drawings and risk assessments to the organiser.
Check how each builder demonstrates competence for the work. The HSE suggests contractors should be able to show knowledge of the hazards, a trained workforce and a record of safe work, and notes that membership of an accreditation scheme or trade association can help. In the UK events sector, the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) runs an accredited status for its members. Membership is a starting point for your checks, not a guarantee.
Approve a usable handover pack
Agree who will be on site, when your team can inspect the stand, how defects are recorded and who to contact during the show. Keep the agreed design, artwork, service orders, contacts and schedule together, and plan dismantling before the event opens. Obtain cancellation, damage and storage terms in writing. A photograph of a previous project is evidence of that project, not a guarantee of yours.
Find potential partners in the supplier directory. Listings describe published services; they do not replace your own checks, a written contract or the organiser’s requirements.
Sources
- NEC exhibitor FAQs (stand plans, utilities, electrics)
- Excel London venue services
- Olympia London exhibitor services
- HSE, roles and responsibilities at events
- Event Supplier and Services Association
Sources checked 19 October 2026. Technical suitability must be checked for the actual stand and event. This is editorial planning guidance based on published sources, not an account of exhibiting at a particular show.
