| Next edition | 16–17 Apr 2027 · ExCeL London |
|---|---|
| Starting price | £3,950+ |
| Venue | ExCeL London |
| Brands | 250+ |
| Sectors | 25+ |
| Duration | 2 days |
| Quote turnaround | 48hr |
The International Franchise Show Stand Builders: ExCeL Logistics, the Prospective Franchisee, and What Recruits
The International Franchise Show is the UK's largest franchise exhibition, held each April at ExCeL London with 250-plus franchise brands across 25-plus sectors. Its visitors are aspiring business owners — people seriously considering investing their savings and their next few years in a franchise — alongside existing operators looking to expand.
That makes the brief unusual: you are not selling a product, you are recruiting a partner who will represent your brand. The stand has to project a successful, trustworthy business, draw in genuinely interested prospects, and give you the space for the honest, fairly detailed conversation that turns interest into a discovery meeting. Trust and credibility do the selling here.
For a franchisor that means the stand has to do a recruiter's job, not a retailer's: filter the casually curious from the genuinely serious, and give the serious ones the time, comfort and information to take the next step. The brands that recruit well here invest in credibility and conversation rather than footfall tricks.
Building at ExCeL London: the rules that shape your stand
ExCeL is a pillar-free hall with around 10m of clear internal height, but your stand does not get all of it. For space-only stands the working height limit at most ExCeL shows is 6m, and anything ExCeL classes as a complex structure — double-deckers, heavy suspended elements, long unsupported spans — triggers a formal sign-off you need to budget time for, not just money.
Complex designs must be submitted with engineering calculations applying a minimum factor of safety of 1.5. An independent structural engineer reviews the drawings and, if satisfied, issues a Certificate of Structural Adequacy at design stage, which releases your Certificate to Build; the same engineer inspects the stand on site during build-up before you can open. Miss a calculation or submit late and you do not build.
Overhead rigging is controlled tightly: all primary rigging to the ceiling is installed exclusively by ExCeL's own team, ordered through ExCeL's webshop and confirmed around 28 days before tenancy for the advance rate. Lightweight static items hang from drop wires up to 50kg; heavier loads are separate, costlier orders.
The smaller rules catch people out too: platforms above 170mm need ramped, accessible access; solid walls along an open gangway edge are generally not allowed; only water-based paint may be used on site; and every structure must be fully self-supporting. We design to all of this from the first sketch and submit the venue paperwork, so the build you approve is the build that opens.
What a winning franchise stand needs
A franchise stand sells confidence. A prospect is asking ‘would I trust this brand with my money and my time?’, so the stand has to look as established and professional as the opportunity you're offering — a polished, well-lit build signals a business worth joining, while a flimsy one raises exactly the doubts you don't want. We lead with a clear statement of the opportunity and the brand, and design an inviting front that pulls serious prospects in.
Behind that, the conversation is everything: we build comfortable seated space where your team can talk a candidate through the model, the investment and the support, plus storage for the brochures and prospectuses these discussions rely on. The valuable outcome is a booked discovery call, not a leaflet handed over.
Designing for a high-stakes, considered decision
Choosing a franchise is one of the biggest decisions a visitor will make, so they don't buy on impulse — they want evidence and a proper conversation. We design the stand to support that: a hook that communicates the opportunity in seconds, a natural path into a seated discussion, and a calm enough environment that a candidate feels comfortable asking real questions about cost and risk.
Demonstrating the business helps where you can show it — a sample of the product or service, imagery of real outlets and franchisees, recognisable proof points — because a prospect is trying to picture themselves running it, and a stand that helps them do that recruits better than one that just lists benefits.
We also design the stand so a conversation can run without others overhearing the numbers, because investment and fee discussions are sensitive, and a candidate who feels they can speak freely is far more likely to book the follow-up.
What an International Franchise Show stand costs
A turnkey stand typically runs roughly £3,950–£12,500 for a compact, professional build, £12,500–£28,000 for a mid-size custom stand with a branded display and a proper meeting area, and £28,000 and up for a flagship build. The quote is turnkey — design, build, graphics, lighting, delivery to ExCeL, install, dismantle and the venue paperwork are all included — and finish quality and meeting capacity usually move the number most, as they should for a recruitment-led show.
Because the payoff is a recruited franchisee worth far more than any single sale, the spend that pays back is in a credible, professional build and enough seated meeting capacity — a stand that looks like a business worth joining and can hold several serious conversations at once.
Stand sizes and layouts
Stands range from compact spaces for newer or single-territory franchisors up to large builds for established multi-brand groups. The layout question is balancing an attractive, credible frontage with enough private-enough seating to hold several candidate conversations at once, so we design a pull-in front and a meeting zone that lets your team run back-to-back discovery chats without a queue forming in the aisle.
Open or corner positions help a franchise brand be seen and approached, so where your space allows we orient the brand block and entry to the busiest routes.
Whatever the size, we protect enough private-enough seating, because franchise recruitment happens in unhurried, fairly personal conversations, and a stand with nowhere to have them sends your best prospects away to think — and to a competitor's stand.
And because recruitment is a numbers game, the more comfortable, well-run conversations your stand can host across two days, the more discovery meetings you leave with — so seated capacity, not just looks, is part of the brief.
Getting into ExCeL: build-up timing
The show sits in a busy April run at ExCeL, so build-up slots, rigging and power book up early and late orders attract surcharges. We confirm your space-only window, order any rigging and power at the advance rate, and crate to a schedule that lands the stand inside its slot — finishing and inspecting off-site so the stand opens looking immaculate, which matters when first impressions are doing your recruiting.
Reusing your stand between editions
Most franchisors recruit at the show every year, so a modular, reusable stand is sound economics. We store the core, refresh the graphics and proof points for each year, and keep your layout on file — so you arrive each April with a current, credible recruitment stand rather than a rebuild, and can scale up as the franchise network grows.
We also keep the proof points current — new outlets, new franchisee stories, updated investment figures — because a recruitment stand is only as persuasive as its most recent evidence, and last year's numbers undersell a growing network.
Next step for your The International Franchise Show stand
Send us your space size, hall position and goals for The International Franchise Show. You'll get a custom 3D concept and a fixed, all-inclusive quote within 48 hours — designed to ExCeL's rules, with structural sign-off built into the timeline if your design needs it. We build in-house and install at ExCeL London, so the stand you approve in the rendering is the stand that opens.
We also design and build exhibition stands for other major UK shows — see the full show calendar for events, meetings & business and beyond, all with the same in-house team, fixed all-in pricing and full venue paperwork.