How Much Does an Exhibition Stand Cost?

The four things that decide the price

Almost all of the variation between one quote and another comes down to these, in roughly this order of impact.

1. Floor area Cost scales with square metres more directly than with anything else. A 6x3 and a 12x6 are not in the same conversation.
2. Shell scheme or space only Shell scheme means the organiser supplies the walls and you are dressing an existing booth. Space only means building everything from bare floor, including the structure, and it is a different order of cost.
3. Custom or modular A bespoke build is designed and manufactured once for one space. A modular system is bought once and reused, so the cost is spread across every show it appears at.
4. How much of the programme you need Design only, or design through to installation, storage and refurbishment between shows. The scope changes the number as much as the stand does.

What published industry figures suggest

Some UK contractors publish indicative ranges. Quadrant2Design states that most professional installations fall between roughly £200 and £400 per square metre, and Creation Exhibitions publishes an overall project range of about £8,000 to £350,000. Those are other companies' published figures, quoted here so you have a public reference point - they are not a Sovereign quote, and any real number depends on your space and specification.

Use them as a sanity check rather than a budget. A quote far below a published market range usually means something has been left out of the scope, and finding out which part on build week is expensive.

The costs exhibitors most often forget

The stand itself is rarely the whole spend. The items below are genuine costs that regularly arrive as a surprise, and they are worth putting in the budget from the start.

Space rental

Paid to the organiser, entirely separate from what the stand costs to build. This is often the single largest line.

Electrics and services

Power, water and internet are ordered from the venue or organiser, usually at published rates and usually with an early-booking discount that expires.

Stand cleaning and furniture hire

Small individually, easy to overlook collectively.

Transport and storage

Getting the stand there, and keeping it somewhere between shows if it is coming out again.

Graphics reprints

Messaging changes between shows more often than structure does. Budget for reprinting even when the stand is reused.

Staff, travel and accommodation

Frequently the second largest cost of exhibiting after the space itself, and almost never in the stand budget.

Where the money is best spent

If the budget is tight, the highest-return items are usually lighting and graphics rather than structure. A simple stand that is well lit and clearly branded outperforms an ambitious structure that is under-lit and cluttered, and it costs considerably less.

The lowest-return spend is usually complexity that visitors never consciously notice - elaborate structure above head height, or finishes that read the same as cheaper alternatives from two metres away.

Getting a quote that is comparable

Quotes are only comparable if they cover the same scope. Before you ask, confirm your stand size, whether the space is shell scheme or space only, the show and its dates, and whether you need the stand stored afterwards. Then ask every contractor to price the same list.

It is also worth asking explicitly what is excluded. The gap between two quotes is very often a difference in what each one assumed you were buying elsewhere.