Check out our FAQs

We supply all services listed on our website under ‘Services’ in-house. We do not sub-contract any design or marketing services. We sub-contract structural calculations to professional structural engineers for double-decker structures to comply with all necessary Health & Safety regulations. We sub-contract build to contractors whom we have partnered with for over 20 years. Please see answers below regarding build.

Some clients ask agencies for free creative work at the selection and appointment phase of a project. We don’t like to give away our strategic or creative skills for free and we don’t offer ‘free’ design. However, we are so confident in the quality of our work that we offer a 100% No Risk Guarantee. If you are unhappy with our proposals, you can stop the design process at any time, we will withdraw our design solution (which remains ours and is protected by Copyright and Design Right) and not charge you for anything.

1 Interpretation
1.1 In these Conditions:
‘Contract Work’ means any or all of the work which Shapes Design Ltd agrees to perform and/or the services which Shapes Design Ltd agrees to provide including the provision of Goods on hire or by sale in accordance with the relevant quotation. ‘Goods’ means all goods of whatsoever description including but not limited to materials, plant, equipment, machinery and fittings. ‘Client’ means any person, firm or company who enters into a Contract with Shapes Design Ltd. ‘Contract’ means any contract between Shapes Design Ltd and the Client for the carrying out of Contract Work. ‘Quotation’ means a quotation by Shapes Design Ltd for the Contract Work.
1.2 Any reference in these Conditions to any provision of a statute shall be construed as a reference to that provision as amended, re-enacted or extended at the relevant time.
1.3 The headings in these Conditions are for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation of a Contract.
1.4 A reference to one gender includes a reference to the other gender.
2 Orders and Specifications
2.1 The Contract shall be on these conditions to the exclusion of all other terms and conditions (including any terms or conditions which the Client purports to apply under any purchase order, confirmation of order, specification or other document).
2.2 No variation of, or addition to, these Conditions shall be effective unless in writing and signed by Shapes Design Ltd and the Client.
2.3 The Client acknowledges that it has not relied on any statement, promise or representation made or given by or on behalf of Shapes Design Ltd which is not set out in the Contract. Nothing in this condition shall exclude or limit Shapes Design Ltd’s liability for fraudulent misrepresentation.
2.4 Any typographical or clerical error or omission in any Quotation, price list, acceptance, invoice or other such document issued by Shapes Design Ltd shall be subject to correction without any liability on the part of Shapes Design Ltd.
2.5 All specifications, descriptions, drawings, designs, measures or other information provided by Shapes Design Ltd in relation to Contract Work and/or Goods are approximate and, in relation thereto, Shapes Design Ltd reserves the right to incorporate modifications or amendments in Contract Work subject to the consent of the Client, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.
2.6 A Contract shall be created by the Client accepting a Quotation or otherwise placing an order with Shapes Design Ltd, irrespective of how such Quotation, acceptance or order is expressed.
2.7 The Client shall be responsible to Shapes Design Ltd for ensuring the accuracy of the terms of any order or other material (including any applicable specification) submitted by it or on its behalf and for giving Shapes Design Ltd any necessary information relating to Contract Work within a sufficient time to enable Shapes Design Ltd to perform the Contract in respect thereof in accordance with its terms.
2.8 The Client shall be responsible for obtaining all necessary licences and other permissions whatsoever for the performance of Contract Work.
2.9 The Client shall be responsible for ensuring that every building, path, private road, open space or other property to be used in the performance of Contract Work is safe and suitable for the intended use and, without limitation of the foregoing, is adequately served with all required public utilities.
2.10 The Client may not cancel a Contract unless Shapes Design Ltd agrees in writing and then on the terms that the Client shall indemnify Shapes Design Ltd in full against all loss (including loss of profit, costs (including the cost of all labour and materials used), claims, actions, damages, charges and expenses incurred by Shapes Design Ltd as a result of cancellation.
2.11 Shapes Design Ltd shall have and retain the property, copyright, design right and all other intellectual or industrial property rights in all know how, trade secrets, trade marks, service marks, drawings, designs, plans, models, specifications and/or estimates prepared by Shapes Design Ltd. If the Client uses or allows any third party to use any design or other intellectual property rights of Shapes Design Ltd provided as part of the Contract Work other than as contemplated under the Contract, the Client will, without prejudice to any other remedy available to Shapes Design Ltd, pay the Shapes Design Ltd under the Contract plus VAT.
2.12 Where the Client is to supply goods (‘Client’s Property’) to Shapes Design Ltd in connection with the Contract Work Shapes Design Ltd will not be liable to the Client for loss of or any damage to Client’s Property unless caused by the negligent act or omission of Shapes Design Ltd.
2.13 If any part of Contract Work is to be performed elsewhere than on Shapes Design Ltd’s premises, the Client shall be responsible to Shapes Design Ltd for insuring the place of performance of such Contract Work and shall indemnify Shapes Design Ltd against liability for any damage to the place of performance of such Contract Work, however caused.

3 Prices
3.1 Shapes Design Ltd will quote for Contract Work only if requested to do so by the Client.
3.2 The Quotation shall be open for acceptance within either the period stated therein or, if none is stated, within three calendar months of its date.
3.3 Shapes Design Ltd reserves the right by giving notice to the Client at any time before completion of Contract Work to increase the price of the applicable Contract in the following circumstances:
3.3.1 Where additional work is performed at the Client’s request; and/or
3.3.2 to reflect any increase in the cost to Shapes Design Ltd which is due to any factor beyond Shapes Design Ltd’s control (such as, without limitation, any foreign exchange fluctuation, currency regulation, alteration of duties, increase in the cost of labour, materials or other costs of performance) or any failure of the Client to give Shapes Design Ltd adequate information or instructions; and/or
3.3.3 without prejudice to the generality of condition 3.3.2 above, to reflect any increase in the general index of retail prices compiled by the United Kingdom Department of Employment and published in the United Kingdom in the monthly digest of statistics by the Central Statistical Office or any index substantially replacing it.
3.4 Prices are exclusive of VAT and, where applicable, any additional or substitute taxes, levies, imposts, duties, fees or charges all of which shall be paid by the Client.

4 Terms of Payment
The Client shall pay, in sterling, three quarters of the price of a Contract when it is made, and shall pay the balance (including any extra sums due under Condition 3.3 above) on completion of Contract Work as notified by Shapes Design Ltd or, where Contract Work relates to an exhibition, on the opening of the exhibition if earlier. Time for payment shall be of the essence. Receipts for payment will be issued only on request.
4.1 If the Client fails to make any payment on the due date then, without prejudice to any other right or remedy available to Shapes Design Ltd, Shapes Design Ltd shall be entitled, at its option at any time thereafter to:
4.1.1. terminate the relevant Contract and suspend further performance of Contract Work; and
4.1.2. require the immediate return of any Goods hired to the Client; and
4.1.3 require full payment, without deduction, of the total amount due and/or which would have become due under the relevant Contract but for termination.
4.2 Property in Goods supplied by way of sale under a Contract shall not pass until payment by the Client of all sums due under the Contract under which the Goods were delivered; until property in such Goods passes the Client shall hold them as bailee for Shapes Design Ltd, shall store them separately from all other property of the Client or any third party, marked so as to be clearly identifiable as belonging to Shapes Design Ltd, shall keep them insured against all usual risks in their full invoice value and, if any of the events referred to in condition 9 occurs, the Client shall place such Goods at the disposal of Shapes Design Ltd and Shapes Design Ltd shall be entitled to enter upon any premises of the Client, or any other premises where such Goods are kept, for the purpose of removing them.

5 Warranty
Provided that notice is given as soon as reasonably possible, and in any event within fourteen days of the defect being discovered and Provided Always that in the case of Goods such notice must be given within the period of hire, where supplied on hire, or within 12 months of the date of delivery, where supplied by way of sale, if the Client gives notice of a defect in Contract Work, and the defect was not caused in whole or in part by any matter, action or occurrence outside Shapes Design Ltd’s control Shapes Design Ltd shall, in its sole discretion, either remedy the defect or refund to the Client a reasonable proportion of the price of the Contract.

6 Liability
6.1 The terms of Condition 5 are, to the extent legally permissible, in lieu of all conditions, warranties and statements of whatever nature In respect of Contract Work whether express or implied by statute, trade, custom or otherwise and any such condition, warranty or statement is hereby excluded.
6.2 Shapes Design Ltd shall not be liable for any defect in Contract Work arising directly or indirectly from compliance with any drawing, design, specification or order of the Client.
6.3 Without prejudice to the terms of Conditions 6.1, 6.2 and 6.4, Shapes Design Ltd will accept liability for any loss or damage sustained by the Client as a direct result of any breach of a Contract or of any liability of Shapes Design Ltd (including negligence) in respect of the performance of a Contract provided that such liability shall be limited to payment of damages not exceeding the invoice value of the Contract in question.
6.4 Subject to the terms of Condition 6.6, Shapes Design Ltd shall not be liable for the following loss or damage howsoever caused (even if foreseeable or in Shapes Design Ltd’s contemplation);
6.4.1 Loss of profits, business or revenue whether sustained by the Client or any other person; and/or
6.4.2 special, indirect or consequential loss or damage, whether sustained by the Client or any other person; and/or
6.4.3 any loss arising from any claim made against the Client by any other person.
6.5 The Client shall indemnify Shapes Design Ltd against all claims, actions, costs, expenses (including court costs and legal fees) or other liabilities whatsoever in respect of:
6.5.1 Any liability arising under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, unless caused by the negligent act or omission of Shapes Design Ltd in the manufacture and/or supply of Goods; and/or
6.5.2 any claim for breach of industrial and/or intellectual property rights arising out of compliance with any drawings, designs, specifications or order of the Client; and/or
6.5.3 any breach of Contract or negligent or wilful act or omission of the Client in relation to a Contract.
6.6 Nothing in these conditions excludes or limits the liability of Shapes Design Ltd:
6.6.1 For death or personal injury caused by Shapes Design Ltd’s negligence;
6.6.2 under section 2(3) of the Consumer Protection Act 1987;
6.6.3 for any matter which it would be illegal for Shapes Design Ltd to exclude or attempt to exclude its liability; or
6.6.4 for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
NOTHING IN THESE CONDITIONS SHALL AFFECT THE STATUTORY RIGHTS OF A CONSUMER

7 Hired Goods
Unless specifically provided by way of sale, all Goods used or supplied by the contractor in connection with Contract Work shall be deemed to be on hire to the Client. The Client shall indemnify Shapes Design Ltd against the loss of and/or damage to hired Goods unless caused by the negligent act or omission of Shapes Design Ltd. The Client shall keep hired Goods in his possession and/or under his control at all times and shall not remove them from the place where they are installed by Shapes Design Ltd without the latter’s prior written consent. Upon expiry of the period of deemed hire, or upon the earlier termination of the relevant Contract, the Client shall no longer be in possession of hired Goods and Shapes Design Ltd may at any time without notice retake possession of such hired Goods and Shapes Design Ltd shall be entitled to enter the premises of the Client and/or any other place of performance of Contract Work, for such purposes.

8 Force Majeure
Shapes Design Ltd shall be entitled, without liability on its part and without prejudice to its other rights, to terminate a Contract or any unfulfilled part thereof or, at its option, to suspend or give partial performance under it, if performance by Shapes Design Ltd or by its suppliers is prevented, hindered, or delayed whether directly or indirectly by reason of any cause whatever beyond Shapes Design Ltd’s or its suppliers’ reasonable control, whether such cause existed on the date when the Contract was made or not.

9 Insolvency
If the Client, being an individual, or being a firm, is the subject of a petition for a bankruptcy order or of an application for an interim order under Part Vlll of the Insolvency Act 1986, or if the Client, being a company, compounds with its creditors or has a receiver or manager appointed in respect of all or of any part of its assets or is the subject of an application for an administration order or of any proposal for a voluntary arrangement under Part 1 of the Insolvency Act 1986, or enters into liquidation whether compulsorily or voluntarily otherwise than for the purpose of amalgamation or reconstruction, or if Shapes Design Ltd reasonably believes that any of the above events is about to occur, then Shapes Design Ltd shall be entitled immediately, and at any time thereafter, to terminate forthwith any Contract or any unfulfilled part thereof.

10 General
10.1 No waiver by Shapes Design Ltd of any breach of Contract by the Client shall be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach of the same or any other provision.
10.2 If any provision of these Conditions is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part the validity of the other provisions of these Conditions and the remainder of the provision in question shall not be affected thereby.
10.3 Any dispute arising under or in connection with these Conditions or the work done by Shapes Design Ltd shall be referred to arbitration by a single arbitrator appointed by agreement or (in default) nominated on the application of either party.
10.4 The Client shall not be entitled to assign Shapes Design Ltd or any part of it without the prior written consent of Shapes Design Ltd.
10.5 Failure or delay by Shapes Design Ltd in enforcing or partially enforcing its rights under the Contract will not be construed as a waiver of any of its rights under the Contract.
10.6 The parties to this Contract do not intend that any term of this Contract shall be enforceable by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by any person that is not a party to it.
This Contract shall be governed by the Laws of England.

Shapes Design Ltd is registered in England and Wales, registration number: 4940225, VAT registration number: 213 0967 85, registered office address: Shapes Design Ltd, Sentinel House, Harvest Crescent, Ancells Business Park, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 2UZ, UK

Contract negotiations and agreements will vary depending on the scope of the project and can be as simple as an email with a list of your requirements to cover important questions regarding who is responsible for what. With more complex projects, we prefer for you to complete a briefing sheet that aims to capture an overview of your key marketing challenges, the event goals and audience profile along with the specific tasks and scope of work you require. We will however always require that you send us a purchase order before any work commences.

When working on a project that involves construction of any kind we always work in accordance with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) – a comprehensive set of regulations that aims to improve health and safety in the construction industry. It is important that our clients familiarise themselves with these regulations since as ‘commercial clients’ they have important responsibilities under the legislation. Also, if they get actively involved in the design process, then under CDM regulations, they’ll often share ‘designer’ responsibilities with us as well, which brings with it extra responsibilities and compliance requirements. For more information please visit the link: http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/designers.htm

When working on a project that involves construction at event venues, we always work in accordance with relevant regulations. For example, in the UK, the eGuide brings together guidance for achieving common standards of health, safety and operational planning, management and on-site conduct for events at all participating AEV member venues (which covers most venues). The eGuide is essentially an industry-specific guide (or Approved Code of Practice) that incorporates health, safety and operational practices that represent compliance with Building Regulations and health and safety legislation.

Yes, we do! Please request our “Brief Sheet Questionnaire.” The questionnaire asks the necessary questions to enable us to start brainstorming ideas for your key challenges. Our idea generation process will use your brief to inform all our core decisions, so the more detail you can provide us with the better. A well-considered and comprehensive design brief, with clearly defined aims and objectives, is critical to the success of your project. It ensures that the development of the design and ideas for your event are brand relevant, differentiated and positive, and provide added value and a brand-relevant experience for your target audience.

Design proposals take the form of an A3 PDF document – consisting of CAD drawings and 3D visuals, together with all other relevant information. We will provide an animated 3D walkthrough if required. However, the additional cost of providing this is only really justified on larger projects. Before any design proposal goes into production, we ensure that all relevant detail is included on our drawings to avoid any on-site discrepancies. For further information, please view our ‘APPROACH’ page on this website.

A project timescale and scheduled is agreed with you before production gets underway. We use Insightly Projects “Pipelines” and “Milestones” for project planning and to stay on top of every aspect of your project. As a guide, for most event design and build services we allow at least six to eight weeks of pre-event lead time. Of course, quicker turnaround times are possible, but we always advise to book events in early, as very short lead-times may result in higher production costs.

If you require revisions to the design solution during the production process, then we’ll try to implement these as quickly as possible and advise of any cost implications. However, when revisions are requested very late in the schedule, there may not be sufficient time available to make them.

We will happily make revisions as required but will advise if we think they’ll have a large impact on costs or the customer experience. If the revisions have a bearing on the construction cost, then we’ll provide you with new prices for your consideration. We do charge for extensive reviews if they result from belated changes to the brief, or a complete change in direction.

A project timescale and scheduled is agreed with you before production gets underway. We use Insightly Projects “Pipelines” and “Milestones” for project planning and to stay on top of every aspect of your project. As a guide, for most event design and build services we allow at least six to eight weeks of pre-event lead time. Of course, quicker turnaround times are possible, but we always advise to book events in early, as very short lead-times may result in higher production costs.

We work only with well-respected, UK-based, ESSA-registered build contractors, all of whom we have a long-standing professional relationship. The value we add is our ability to cost your event design solution with numerous contractors. Each contractor will price differently depending on logistics cost (based on their location) and availability. We are meticulous in project management to ensure that every project is delivered at best possible price and to the best-possible quality within the lead-time available.

Most of the contractors we work with don’t pre-assemble structure in their workshops, so in most cases, you will see the assembled structure for the first time during the installation period. It is, therefore, vital that our CAD drawing(s) and visuals are studied very carefully because it’s usually too late to make changes on site.

During much of the installation period, we’ll be on site to supervise. We’ll make sure that everything remains on course for completion as per the schedule. We’ll also be there to take delivery of any your supplied items (products, literature, etc.), and although we aim to accept delivery of all your items we do suggest that you consider insurance and security solutions for high-end products that might be damaged in transit or stolen on-site.

We always aim to be ready by the time agreed on the schedule factoring into account the available installation period provided by the organisers. However, in the unlikely event that the installation is behind schedule, we’ll endeavour to ensure that everything is finished quickly and in a manner that won’t hinder your preparations.

We pride ourselves on delivering every project finished to an exceptionally high standard. However, as an exhibition stand or event structure is transported, quickly-assembled and temporary there are occasionally a few minor bumps and scratches along the way. If so, we always try and rectify this on site.

In most cases, we’ll be on site on the first day, just to ensure that everything is as it should be. If we’re not on site, you can contact us should you need our help or advice, but in the case of an exhibition, the show organiser’s office can usually provide assistance if required.

The process of dismantling the structure will begin just after the show or event finishes. We will be on site as required. Any personal belongings and item not supplied by ourselves need collection unless otherwise agreed. Furniture or exhibition equipment provided on hire by third party suppliers will be picked up at this time.

During the event and immediately after your event we always like to catch up with a quick phone call to check how it all went. We also have a formal process where we collect information and your honest assessment of what worked, and possibly what didn’t. We also like to gather feedback and data, where possible, concerning lead generation, customer engagement, brand awareness, social shares or any other data or measurements that your marketing team may have collected for data analysis to determine the success of your event. We use this information for making improvements for future events and to highlight your event success on our website and social media sites.