Innovate UK seeks exhibition designer for Energy Innovation Summit stand

Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) is seeking an exhibition design company to work on a stand for the Energy Innovation Summit, with a budget of up to £90,000.

Innovate UK is responsible for connecting people and companies with ideas on how to respond to societal, environmental and economic challenges while providing funding to help realise them. Its connections exist across many sectors, such as business, government, funders, research and the third sector.

The Energy Innovation Summit – which will be held in Liverpool from 31 October to 1 November 2023 – brings together groups and companies who are innovating in the field of energy with decision makers from across the UK. It involves talks from relevant industry speakers, networking opportunities and an exhibition hall housing companies that claim to offer cutting edge solutions in the energy field.

The chosen studio will be responsible for the design, manufacture, install and derig of Innovate UK’s cross-government exhibition stand. Innovate UK will work closely with the chosen design team to ensure that the stand is impactful and accessible to its audiences.

It suggests that the budget be broken down into two parts, with £70,000 +VAT going on design, production, transport, build and derig and the remaining £20,000 being saved for “in-event costs”.

The 150m2 stand is positioned at K3 on the floor plan (above). This stand is an opportunity for “significant brand positioning and awareness for Innovate UK”, therefore displaying its brand must be prioritised, according to the brief.

Innovate UK outlines four key objective for the stand. Connecting with and inspiring its audiences is vital to the success of the stand, tying in with the second objective which is to “create a stand that is engaging and showcases the impact innovation has on the UK economy and the energy sector”.

Showcasing Innovate UK and its partners must be a primary consideration, as is putting the UK government “at the heart of the UK’s energy innovation landscape”, says the brief.

The exhibition space should include an area to showcase physical demonstrations, up to three individual semi-private meeting rooms, a networking area, a speaker area and associated audio-visual elements. The brief also states that an on-stand display of digital content, limited on-stand storage and production of impactful graphics are in the scope of this project. Content management is not included in the scope of the brief.

Once designs have been approved, the successful studio will continue with the production design and specification of all exhibition elements. The brief asks that the stand is durable and is easy to clean and that the structures are compliant with relevant statutory and non-statutory requirements, such as Health & Safety regulations and Equality Act legislation.

As well as being constructed of fire-retardant materials, Innovate UK requests that sustainable and reusable materials are used where possible.

Studios can apply for this opportunity by emailing victoria.parsons@iuk.ktn-uk.org by 4 September. Emails must include a proposal with your company details, experience of similar sized design and build contracts, confirmation of availability for the project, suggestions of materials to ensure the stand adheres to Net Zero best practice, a budget and a timeline.

Submissions will be assessed on an ongoing basis until the final date.

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