Stand walls and panels for Manchester Central

The venue and what it demands

Manchester Central is the old Central Station, and the great arched train shed is now the main hall. It is a striking space and a demanding one, because the calendar is conference-led rather than exhibition-led.

That changes the timetable more than the technical brief. A conference exhibition is frequently built overnight or in a few hours between sessions, with the delegates arriving the next morning. There is no second day of build-up to absorb a mistake. Everything that can be done in the factory has to be done in the factory — edges, cut-outs, door hanging, cable routes — and the assembly on site has to be dry: connectors and alignment rails, no glue, no saw, no dust in a space that will host a keynote.

The arched roof also means rigging is not a given in every position, so tall elements need to stand on their own. Above 3,000 mm that is corner returns and the connection system; we manufacture up to 6,000 mm in one piece, which removes the horizontal joint that a lit arched hall shows up clearly.

Manchester is about 1,650 km from our workshop, with the customs step on arrival. Not a difficulty, but a reason to confirm dimensions three weeks out rather than in show week — on an overnight build there is no slack to spend.

The main shows

What we are asked for most at this venue:

• Conference exhibitions — overnight builds, dry assembly, compact stands with a high finish.
• Trade and professional shows of the north-west calendar, with exhibitors returning annually.
• Consumer and hobby shows — material handled by the public, white MFC rather than gloss.
• Stands above 3,000 mm, where corner returns and the connection system carry the stability.

What we supply for a stand

What leaves Fontanelle for a build is almost always the same package:

• standard PSL panel for the stand walls, 40 or 50 mm, up to 6,000 mm tall;
• fire-rated version where the venue requires it — and in the UK the requirement needs reading twice, documentation included;
• stand doors, assembled and ironmongered, reversible, with vision panel or panic bar;
• levelling platforms, drilled for adjustable feet, for a raised floor;
• alignment rails, I·L·T·X connectors and cover strips for dry assembly, with no saw on the stand.

How and in what time we deliver

Standard sizes from our warehouse in the Netherlands. Our warehouse in Waalwijk holds thousands of raw honeycomb panels in standard sizes, ready to ship with no production lead time. It is about 100 km from Rotterdam Europoort: ferry to Hull, then roughly 160 km to Manchester Central — instead of 1,650 km by road from Italy, and cheaper. UK customs formalities still apply. More on the Waalwijk warehouse.

Made-to-measure and special versions are built in Fontanelle, province of Treviso, and that is where the lorries leave from. Manchester is roughly 1,650 km away: delivery direct to the hall in your build-up slot, or to your store if you would rather prepare the stand first.

Great Britain is outside the EU, so every consignment carries an import declaration. Nothing about that is difficult, but it is sequential: we ask for sizes confirmed about three weeks out, and for the importer of record to be named at order stage rather than at dispatch — the whole picture is here.

Standard sizes are held in stock. We normally dispatch within 7 days of order confirmation, often sooner. No minimum order, single pieces included, and no surcharge for non-standard sizes: the price of the next standard size up applies.

Frequently asked questions

A stand to cost at Manchester Central?

Send us the drawing, the sizes and the quantities: you get a written quote, normally within 24 working hours, in English, German, French or Italian.