| Next edition | 5–7 Apr 2027 · ExCeL London |
|---|---|
| Starting price | £3,950+ |
| Venue | ExCeL London |
| Next edition | 5–7 Apr 2027 |
| Sector | Pub & bar |
| Duration | 3 days |
| Quote turnaround | 48hr |
The Pub Show Stand Builders: ExCeL Logistics, the Pub Buyer, and What Wins Listings
The Pub Show is the UK's dedicated trade event for the pub and bar sector, held at ExCeL London as part of Food, Drink & Hospitality Week alongside HRC and IFE. It brings publicans, bar operators, managed groups and brewery buyers together with the suppliers of craft beer and cider, drinks, bar equipment, EPOS, furniture and the services that run a pub — with a craft drinks taproom often at its heart.
The audience runs venues and is sourcing to pour more, serve faster and earn more, so the brief depends on what you sell — sampling for drinks, a working demo for bar equipment or EPOS, tactile display for furniture — but the constant is experience plus meeting: let buyers taste or try, then give your team room to talk listings and terms with operators.
It's a hands-on, commercial crowd, so a poured pint, a demonstrated piece of kit or a felt finish does the persuading, not a banner.
For a pub or bar brand that means a stand built around how you sell — pour it, demonstrate it, or let them feel the finish — with room for the operator conversation that follows. The exhibitors who win at The Pub Show design the experience and the meeting together.
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 Pub Show stand needs
The right stand depends on your category, and we design to it: a serviced bar or tasting point for drinks, a working demo for bar equipment or EPOS, or a tactile display for furniture and fit-out. The constant is a clear product story from the aisle and a comfortable spot to talk listings and terms — plus discreet storage for kegs, stock or packaging so it never clutters the shop front.
Whatever you sell, we plan the services from the first sketch — power, water, chilling and waste for a bar, power and connectivity for EPOS, weight and access for heavy equipment — and order them through ExCeL's contractors in good time, because these are exactly what gets caught out at a busy build.
Across three days the bar or demo has to keep performing: we plan restocking, cleaning and turnaround so it looks and runs as well on the final afternoon as it did at opening.
Designing for pub and bar operators
Operators come to source and compare, so the stand has to qualify visitors fast: a clear line on what you supply and to whom — wet-led pubs, food-led pubs, bars, managed groups — so the right buyers stop. We design a path from a first hook (a taste, a demo, a touch) to a seated conversation about listings, volumes and terms, with a natural handover so your team spends three days on the right operators.
Proof and experience carry weight here — a drink poured and tasted, a glasswasher seen running, an EPOS flow demonstrated — so we design for the experience rather than for copy, because a pub buyer commits to what they've tried, not what a banner claims.
We also design the bar or demo so your team can serve and sell at once, because across three busy days you need to keep pouring or demonstrating while still talking terms with a serious buyer.
What a Pub Show stand costs
A turnkey stand typically runs roughly £3,950–£12,500 for a compact custom build, £12,500–£28,000 for a mid-size build with a serviced bar or demo area and meeting space, 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 the bar or demo fit-out, services and bespoke display usually move the number.
Because the value is in the listings and supply deals that follow, the spend that pays back is in a stand that lets buyers experience the product and gives you room to write business — not in scale for its own sake.
Stand sizes and layouts
Stands run from compact spaces for first-time and craft suppliers up to larger builds for established drinks and equipment brands. The layout balances the experience — bar, demo or display — with selling space, so we keep the tasting or demo where the aisle sees it and a calm spot to talk terms behind. Open and corner positions help on a busy three-day floor.
Whatever the size, we protect a spot to talk listings, because at a sourcing show a stand that's all bar and no selling space leaves the deal half-poured.
Getting into ExCeL: build-up timing
The Pub Show sits in a busy April slot during a large co-located week, so material-handling, rigging, the electrical contractor and bar services book up early and late orders attract surcharges. We confirm your space-only window, order rigging at the advance rate, coordinate power, water, chilling and waste with the appointed contractor, and crate to a slot that lands the stand finished and ready before doors open.
We coordinate the bar and equipment services specifically — supply, drainage, chilling and waste — because these are easy to overlook at booking and expensive to add once a busy build-up has started.
Reusing your stand between editions
Pub and bar suppliers exhibit across a calendar of trade shows, so a modular, reusable stand is excellent value. We store the core and refresh the graphics, display and bar or demo layout for each show, keeping your services plan on file — so you can exhibit across The Pub Show and other events with a setup that already worked practically, rather than rebuilding each time.
Next step for your The Pub Show stand
Send us your space size, hall position and goals for The Pub 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 food, drink & hospitality and beyond, all with the same in-house team, fixed all-in pricing and full venue paperwork.