The Floor Is the Part of the Stand Nobody Briefs, and the Part the Venue Can Bill You For

An exhibitor who books 18 square metres of space-only at a UK show is renting a patch of hall floor, and what happens on that floor is theirs to arrange. At one NEC show the exhibitor manual says carpet must cover the whole stand. At another, the hall already has grey carpet tiles and a custom floor is optional. Same venue, opposite starting points, which is why flooring belongs in the brief rather than in the last week of planning.

What Two NEC Shows Actually Say

For Highways UK 2026 at the NEC on 14 and 15 October, the organiser’s rules require space-only exhibitors to cover the whole stand with carpet or another suitable covering, secured and kept free of hazards. The NEC has a sole floor tape supplier, so only that supplier’s tape may be used on the hall floor, and exhibitors are charged for damage including tape residue, stickers and floor paint.

The BEVA portal for its show at the NEC takes a different position. The hall carries standard grey carpet tiles, flooring is not mandatory, and an exhibitor who lays their own must fix it with NEC Group approved exhibition carpet tape. Tape left behind brings a dilapidation charge, and nails, screws, sellotape and gaffer tape are banned on the floor altogether. A contractor who builds from a template written for the last show can get either of these wrong.

Platforms Add Rules and Cost

A raised floor is sometimes needed to cover electrical installations, and the exhibitor is responsible for it. The Highways UK rules set a minimum thickness of about 25mm, close joints and enough strength for the load. Any raised section needs a compliant ramp at least 1.5m wide, no steeper than 1:12, slip resistant and in a contrasting colour, and platforms over 170mm high need handrails. Those details change the layout and the price, so they need to reach the builder before the design is signed off.

Prices Move, Rules Do Not Wait

Suppliers charge by the square metre. One supplier lists cord carpet at £24 per square metre, which puts a plain 18 square metre floor at about £432 before tape, removal or any platform. An older Full Circle order form from 2018 showed cord carpet at £8.75 per square metre and charged £1 per metre to lift carpet and tape at close, so the figures here show a spread rather than a current rate card. The charge that surprises exhibitors is usually not the carpet but the removal and the repair bill for tape left in the hall.

Put It in the Brief

The brief should state whether the show requires a floor covering, who supplies it, which tape the venue permits, and whether the design needs a platform. Exhibitors who want help briefing a space-only stand can get in touch with Stand Between.