Autumn Fair, 5 to 8 September 2027, NEC Birmingham
Exhibition stand builder for Autumn Fair and Glee, one stand for both NEC fairs
T2 Display design and build bespoke stands for spaces from 20 to 100 square metres at the NEC. Our workshop is in Tamworth, Staffordshire, about 20 minutes away. Book us by early July 2027 and there is time to do it properly.
The dates, and the date you actually need to act on
Autumn Fair runs 5 to 8 September 2027 at the NEC Birmingham, with Glee alongside it on 6 to 8 September 2027.
Work backwards from that and the real deadline is not September. It is summer.
- Appoint your stand builder by early July 2027. Design approval and the CDM declaration can take up to six weeks, so a builder should be in place at least two months before the show.
- Finished artwork is needed by early August 2027, four weeks before the doors open.
- Anything after that and you are compressing design, approval, fabrication, print and installation into the space where the checking should happen.
If you are reading this in spring, you are in good shape. If you are reading this in August, get in touch anyway and we will tell you honestly what is still possible.
One stand, two shows a year, same venue
This is the argument that decides it for most home, gift and retail brands.
If you exhibit at Autumn Fair in September and Spring Fair in the new year, you are standing at the same venue twice a year. Hiring a stand twice means paying twice for something you never own. Owning a custom stand means you pay for the build once, then stand it again.
What that looks like in practice:
- We design and build the stand once, to your space and your brand.
- After breakdown at Autumn Fair, the stand comes back to Tamworth and goes into storage, quoted separately.
- Before the next edition, we reskin the graphics for the new season or the new range, and reinstall.
- Structure, joinery, lighting and electrics carry over. You are only re-buying the parts that should change.
For a brand showing at both Birmingham fairs, and possibly Glee as well, this is exactly the situation where owning beats hiring.
AIRSYS
“Your experience and implementation of our requirements and marketing value is top notch.”
Colin Jones, AIRSYS
What twenty minutes from the NEC buys you
We have been building bespoke stands from Tamworth, Staffordshire since 2001. The NEC is our home venue, about 20 minutes away.
That proximity is not a boast. It is a set of practical advantages:
- Site visits during design. We can go and look at your space, check the floor, the columns, the height restrictions and the neighbours, then bring that back into the drawings.
- The crew on site early. No overnight travel before build-up. Our team is there at the start of the tenancy, not chasing the tail of it.
- Problems fixed from the workshop. If something needs remaking during build-up, our carpenters, electricians and fabricators are a short drive away with the materials and the machines. Not sat in a hotel waiting for a courier.
- Local storage between editions. Your stand lives near the venue it keeps returning to.
We also work regularly at the ICC and Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, Coventry Building Society Arena, ExCeL London, Olympia London, Harrogate and international shows.
Custom build only, 20 to 100 square metres
So you can qualify yourself quickly, here is the plain version.
We build custom stands only. Designed and made from scratch for one brand and one space, with no system limits on height, shape or finish. We work on spaces from 20 square metres up to 100 square metres.
We do not sell modular or hybrid stands as a product line. Modular means off-the-shelf systems: pole and panel, pop-ups, aluminium frames with infill panels, pre-manufactured to standard sizes at a standard height of about 2.5m. Hybrid is a mixture of modular and custom, usually system light boxes combined with purpose-built elements, and it is much less common now.
Modular genuinely suits some exhibitors. If you do five or more shows a year on a modest budget and want something you can put up yourselves, that is a sensible route, and it is not us.
We explored modular systems many times over the years and invested in the kit. Clients kept coming back for more personalisation, greater height and shape, and a more dynamic presence. So that is what we make. Where a system component such as a light box is genuinely the right answer, we use it inside a custom build.
If your Autumn Fair space is a small package or shell scheme stand under 20 square metres, we are not the right fit, and we would rather say so now than waste your time.
What an Autumn Fair stand costs
We quote line by line so you can see where the money goes. Design and 3D visuals are free of charge for qualifying enquiries.
Fabrication and build is typically around half of any contract value:
- Fabrication and build: from 4,000 GBP at the small end, 8,000 to 20,000 GBP mid-range, up to 50,000 to 60,000 GBP on large contracts.
- Graphics and print: typically 3,000 to 8,000 GBP mid-range. Graphics-led builds, common in home and gift, can run 12,000 to 18,000 GBP.
- Electrics and lighting: typically 1,200 to 5,000 GBP, up to 6,000 GBP on larger builds.
- Transport and logistics: typically 600 to 2,000 GBP.
- Installation: typically 2,000 to 5,000 GBP depending on contract size.
- Breakdown: typically 1,500 to 4,000 GBP. De-rigging takes nearly as much labour as build-up, so it is never free.
- Storage: quoted separately.
A typical mid-range custom build totals 16,000 to 44,000 GBP. If you stand it twice a year, the graphics and installation costs are what repeat, not the build.
Who does the work, and who we do it for
We have a permanent in-house team of carpenters, electricians and fabricators. Not a list of subcontractors assembled per job. The people who draw your stand work alongside the people who make it.
It is a full service: design, 3D visuals, build, graphics, transport, installation, breakdown and storage. One contract, one point of contact, one team on site.
We are an ESSA member, and more than 75% of our work comes from existing clients. For a show you return to every year, that repeat relationship matters more than a clever first pitch.
Clients include Soudal, Pinarello, Dentally, Journeo, Software of Excellence and Horiba Mira. We have designed and built Lely's key UK event stand at the NEC for six consecutive years, and we built the BSA Guns stand in Hall 6 at The Great British Shooting Show at the NEC.
Your questions, answered.
When are the next Autumn Fair and Glee dates?
When should I appoint a stand builder for Autumn Fair 2027?
What size stands do T2 Display build?
Can you store our stand between Autumn Fair and Spring Fair?
What does a custom stand for Autumn Fair cost?
Are you an official contractor for Autumn Fair?
Tell us about your Autumn Fair space
Send us your stand size, your space number and a rough idea of what you want to show. We will come back with ideas, 3D visuals free of charge for qualifying enquiries, and a clear quote broken down line by line.
Let's work together
Tell us about your show and your stand space. One project lead will work with you from the first sketch to the final dismantle, and we are always happy to sign an NDA.
In-house design & build since 2001 · ESSA member · 75% of clients come back