The floor-space quote is where an exhibition budget starts, not where it ends. A useful budget lists every cost the stand creates, from venue services and deliveries to staff travel and follow-up, with an owner and a deadline for each line.
Separate the booking from the total cost
Create one working cost sheet with an owner, a supplier, an included or excluded flag, a quote date and a payment deadline for each line. Keep quoted, committed and paid amounts separate so a deposit is not mistaken for the full expense.
Compare quotes on the same VAT basis. If the tax treatment is unclear, ask your accountant rather than assuming every charge is recoverable. Your cash-flow plan still needs to allow for the amount you actually pay.
Build the cost schedule
- Organiser: stand space, mandatory charges, badges and any promotional package you book.
- Stand: design, structure, graphics, flooring, furniture and accessible customer space.
- Venue services: power, lighting, internet, water or drainage where relevant, rigging, cleaning and waste.
- Delivery: packing, transport, delivery slots, unloading, lifting, empty-case storage and return transport.
- People: travel, accommodation, subsistence, parking, staff time and any specialist support.
- Activity: samples, demonstrations, lead capture, printed material and follow-up.
- After the show: dismantling, repairs, storage, replacement graphics and disposal.
Not every stand needs every line. Delete irrelevant costs, but do not leave an essential item at zero because no quote has arrived.
Venue deadlines change the numbers
Venue services are often priced by when you order. The NEC says orders placed within 28 days of the first build day are surcharged 20% above its standard price, and orders placed on site cost a further 30% above the late price. It also expects orders to be paid before the event. Put your venue’s early-order date in the budget as a deadline, not a footnote.
Check who supplies what. At Excel London, internet, rigging, cleaning and piped services come from the venue’s in-house team, ordered through its online shop. At the NEC, your organiser nominates the stand electrical contractor. Third-party quotes cannot replace those services, so budget for them separately.
Parking and delivery access cost money and time. The NEC says some organisers provide free exhibitor parking codes for open days while others do not, and that busy events may run a deposit system for delivery vehicles. Olympia London asks exhibitors to pre-book parking, ideally more than 24 hours ahead.
Compare like with like
Give suppliers the same brief. Ask them to identify exclusions, quantities, delivery windows and responsibility for venue services. A stand quote that includes build and dismantling cannot be compared fairly with a supply-only kit until you add the missing labour and transport. Our guide to briefing a stand builder sets out what to send.
Plan cash flow and changes
Put every deposit and balance date next to the show’s build-up date. Include cancellation exposure for bookings already committed. Keep a separate allowance for identified uncertainties, such as an unconfirmed delivery method, and say what that allowance covers. There is no universal contingency percentage that makes an incomplete scope safe.
Agree who can approve changes and record them before work proceeds. A short written change log stops several people ordering the same service or assuming someone else has included it.
Use a simple commercial test
Compare the total event cost with the contribution you expect from a relevant sale or relationship, not just its turnover. Record the assumptions behind order value, margin and conversion. If those assumptions are weak, treat the event as a measured trial rather than presenting a precise forecast.
Reuse can improve the economics of later shows, but only if the stand fits later spaces and you include transport, storage and new graphics. Treat a reusable asset and a one-show expense separately in planning, and let your accountant decide the accounting treatment.
Close the budget after the event
Reconcile supplier invoices, staff expenses and unplanned purchases. Note which costs were avoidable and which reflected a genuine change of scope. Link the cost record to your follow-up outcomes, without crediting every later sale to the exhibition. Keep the final schedule for next time.
Sources
- NEC exhibitor FAQs (order surcharges, payment, electrical contractor)
- NEC exhibitor parking and deliveries
- Excel London venue services
- Olympia London exhibiting FAQs
Sources checked 19 October 2026. Venue terms and surcharges can change; use your own event’s exhibitor manual and the venue’s current price list. This is editorial planning guidance based on published sources, not an account of exhibiting at a particular show.
Planning guidance, not accounting or tax advice. No supplier prices are assumed.
