Request a quote
Request a quote
Shell scheme is a room you rent. Space only is a plot you build on. The choice is made at booking — months before anyone thinks about walls.
Every UK show floor plan divides into two kinds of space, and the choice is made when you book — often months before anyone thinks about walls.
| Shell scheme | Space only | |
|---|---|---|
| What the organiser provides | A modular partition system: walls, fascia board with your company name, usually carpet, lighting and a power socket. | An empty floor, marked out with tape. Nothing else. |
| Who builds the stand | Nobody — it is already up when you arrive. You add graphics. | You do, or a contractor you appoint. |
| Wall construction | Aluminium poles with infill panels, typically 1 m wide × 2.4 m tall, often fabric-faced for hook-and-loop graphics. | Whatever you build. Commonly a timber-based wall, built to the drawing. |
| Height | Fixed by the system, usually about 2.4 m. | Up to the hall limit — 4 m and above is routine. |
| Floor rate | Similar per m²; the package price includes carpet, lighting and power. | Similar per m², but the build is a separate cost on top. |
The short version: shell scheme is a room you rent. Space only is a plot you build on.
We supply the walls for space-only builds. We will still say plainly when shell scheme is the better call — it usually is, in three situations.
Take shell scheme if the stand is small and the show is one-off. On 6 or 9 m², at one show, the shell scheme package with carpet and lighting included is hard to beat on cost and impossible to beat on effort. Put the budget into the graphics instead.
Take shell scheme if nobody on your side will be on site. It is up when you arrive. A space-only build needs somebody present who can make decisions during the build-up.
Take shell scheme if this is your first show in the UK. Learn the venue, the traffic flow and the build-up rules on somebody else's structure, then go space only next time knowing what you actually need.
Space only earns its cost when at least one of these is true:
It is not a binary. You can book shell scheme space and build your own structure inside it — and at many shows you can go up to about 4 m doing so, well above the shell scheme's own height.
This is the most under-used trick on the UK circuit. You keep the cheap package rate with its carpet and power, and you put a real wall in front of the organiser's panels instead of sticking graphics onto fabric. The result photographs like a space-only stand at a shell scheme floor rate.
Two things to check before you rely on it: the organiser's rules on building within shell scheme — they vary by show and are in the exhibitor manual — and whether you have to keep the fascia board, since some shows require it. Both are one email to the organiser.
What we supply for that job is the same as for a full space-only build: walls made to the drawing, dry-assembled with connectors and alignment rails, so it goes up in a build-up slot and comes down again intact.
We are the panel manufacturer, not a stand contractor — we do not design or build stands, and we do not appear on your stand. What leaves our workshop is the material, made to your drawing:
Our price list is published, so you can cost a space-only build before you speak to us — and compare it against a shell scheme package with real numbers.
A modular stand provided by the show organiser: aluminium poles with infill panels, typically 1 m wide and 2.4 m tall, plus a fascia board with your company name and usually carpet, lighting and a power socket. It is up when you arrive; you add graphics.
You are allocated an empty floor area marked out with tape, and nothing else. You build the stand yourself or appoint a contractor, and you supply flooring, lighting and power. It costs a similar rate per square metre, with the build as a separate cost on top.
The floor rate is usually similar, but shell scheme works out cheaper overall for a single small stand because carpet, lighting and power are in the package. Space only becomes the better value once you need height, a distinctive design, load-bearing walls, or you are exhibiting more than once.
At many shows, yes — and often up to around 4 m, well above the shell scheme's own height. You keep the package rate and put a proper wall in front of the organiser's panels. Check the organiser's rules on building within shell scheme and whether the fascia board must be retained; both are in the exhibitor manual.
Up to the hall limit, which is normally well above shell scheme height. We manufacture up to 6,000 mm in one piece, which removes the horizontal joint at mid-height. Above 3,000 mm plan for corner returns: stability comes from the connection system, not from the panel alone.
No. We are the panel manufacturer: we make the walls, doors, platforms and connectors to your drawing and deliver them. We do not design or build stands and we do not appear on your stand — our customers are contractors, shopfitters, joiners and design studios.
Send us the drawing, the heights and the quantities: you get a written quote, normally within 24 working hours, in English, German, French or Italian.