Exhibition Stand Builder for Advanced Engineering

From a 12 m² shell package to your own space-only stand

The organiser sells shell scheme in 12 m² steps rather than a single fixed size, so the first decision is how many of those steps you need before a space-only stand starts to make more sense.

What the shell package covers

The standard 12 m² shell includes the build, a name board, carpet, three spotlights and a 1kW socket; the upgraded tier adds 2 m² of enclosed storage and a 3 m branding wall along the side. It is a fast way to get a clean, working stand on the floor, and it suits a business showing a compact product range or a smaller sample set.

When space-only earns its cost

Past two or three shell steps, a space-only build usually costs about the same and gives you a footprint designed around your own equipment, signage and meeting area rather than a fixed shell width. We build that as custom wooden construction or on our DUM FLEX^™ frame, and either way it goes back into storage for the next NEC show instead of being scrapped at breakdown.

Advanced Engineering's own height and frontage limits

The organiser's exhibitor manual sets a lower height limit and a stricter open-frontage rule than the NEC's general guidance, so a design that would pass at another NEC show can still need a rework here.

The 4-metre line

Space-only stands build to a maximum of 4,000mm without extra sign-off; anything taller needs written approval from the organiser's operations team. We work to the lower figure by default and only push past it once that approval is confirmed, rather than designing to the limit and hoping.

How much of your frontage can close

At most half of an open side can be closed off; beyond that, the closed section either steps back at least a metre from the aisle or switches to a transparent panel. Any back wall over 2,500mm needs its own decoration, since the hall behind it is visible above that height. We plan the layout against these two limits before the concept drawing goes anywhere near a client sign-off.

A floor that reads product and process, not slogans

Advanced Engineering's own figures put around 70% of visitors in a final decision-maker or buyer role, from companies including Airbus, BAE, Boeing, Ford, Rolls-Royce and Toyota. It is a floor that comes to look at capability, not marketing copy.

A stand built around a product presentation area

Most exhibitors here are showing a component, a material sample, a piece of equipment or a screen running software, and the stand has to give that object good light, a clear sightline from the aisle and enough power and floor strength to support it. We design the product presentation area first and fit the branding and the meeting space around it, not the other way round.

Somewhere to sit down with a spec sheet

A technical buyer at this show wants a proper conversation about tolerances, capacity or lead times once the product has caught their attention. A semi-enclosed meeting corner, built into the same stand rather than added as an afterthought, keeps that conversation off the aisle without shutting the stand off from passing traffic.

Our most recent build in that venue

Advanced Engineering runs in Halls 3 and 3a at the NEC Birmingham; our own project experience in that venue sits in Hall 5, at Smart Manufacturing Week.

An 18 m² DUM FLEX build at the same venue

The 18 m² DUM FLEX^™ stand we built for Bren Power at Smart Manufacturing Week is our closest reference for the NEC's rigging, loading and hall rules. The exhibitor manual for Advanced Engineering, once you are appointed, sets any detail specific to Halls 3, 3a and 4 on top of that.

Exhibiting at Advanced Engineering: the questions we get asked