Choosing an exhibition stand company
How to choose among exhibition stand companies: five questions to ask, the difference between a broker and a manufacturer, and how Akros Mimarlık answers each criterion.
An exhibitor searching for “exhibition stand companies” is not really looking for a list; they do not know whom to trust. That is the problem: a manufacturer and a broker who subcontracts the work appear side by side in the results and cannot be told apart from the outside. The difference shows up on build night.
Below we set out how to tell them apart, then put ourselves against the same criteria. The criteria are useful even if you do not choose us.
01
Five questions to ask
1. Where do you produce? If a workshop address can be given and visited, production really happens there. “We work with a partner workshop” means the job goes to a subcontractor; the problem is not that subcontractors are bad, it is that responsibility gets divided.
2. Who will build it? If the team that draws the stand is not the team that goes to the hall, the detail in the drawing is lost on site. When a dimension does not fit on build night, the person deciding has to know the stand.
3. What is in the quote and what is not? Vague scope costs more than a price difference. Which of freight, installation, dismantling, electrics, carpet, furniture and printed graphics are included must be in writing. We cover this in detail on the cost page.
4. Who handles the correspondence with the organiser? Height permits, rigging applications, electrical drawings and fire certificates differ in every hall and the deadlines are early. A firm that does not take this on will have you chasing paperwork during build week.
5. Can they show work they have already done? Not renders — photographs taken in the hall. The difference between the two is whether the job was actually built; every project in our portfolio carries a frame from the floor.
02
Where Akros stands against these criteria
| Criterion | Akros Mimarlık |
|---|---|
| Production | Our own workshop in Beylikdüzü, Istanbul — open to visits |
| Build crew | Our own crew; the same crew travels abroad |
| Quote scope | Written item by item, within 48 hours on business days |
| Organiser paperwork | Ours: permits, regulations, electrical drawings |
| Freight and customs | A single contract, ATA Carnet included |
| Proof of work | A photograph from the hall on every project |
| Countries served | Türkiye, Germany, USA, Russia, UAE, Italy, France, Qatar |
| Systems offered | Custom timber and the maxima modular system |
Which system suits you is decided together, by looking at your fair calendar and how many sides of the stand are open; we compare the four systems on the stand types page. How production and installation run day by day is set out on the production and installation page.
On international participations the schedule is the critical variable: customs time differs several-fold between Europe and transatlantic routes, and a delay cannot be recovered. So we plan backwards from the fair date and close production noticeably earlier.
- Why do prices differ so much between exhibition stand companies?
The difference is usually in scope, not quality. One firm folds freight and installation into the square metre rate and looks expensive; another leaves them out and looks cheap. When comparing quotes, make sure they cover the same items.
- How do I tell a broker from a manufacturer?
Ask for the workshop address and say you would like to visit. A firm that produces its own work welcomes this. The second question: who will be in the hall during the build, and is anyone from the design team among them?
- How far ahead of the fair should I sign?
Six weeks for a domestic fair and eight for one abroad make a comfortable schedule. We work to shorter timelines too, but the system choice narrows: modular systems go up quickly, while custom timber needs longer production.
- Can I have the stand designed by you and built by someone else?
We offer design as a separate service. Our experience, though, is that when the designer and the builder differ, the detailing is lost on site and responsibility gets divided. Staying with one team usually means fewer surprises.
- Does the same company build at fairs abroad?
Yes. Production is completed in our Istanbul workshop, the stand is fully assembled and checked there before it travels, and our own crew installs it. Freight, customs and the ATA Carnet are ours as well.
Sources you can verify
- Support for participation in fairs abroad — Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Trade
- Turkish fair calendar and fair regulations — Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye
- International exhibition industry standards — The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry
Ask us the same questions
Tell us your fair, your stand size and the layout on your mind; we reply within 48 hours on business days with a quote whose scope is in writing.