Printing for events and conferences in London
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Delegate badges, pull-up banners, backdrops, tablecloths, place cards and flyers for a London event are produced around the clock, the same day or overnight depending on the item and that day’s capacity, and couriered to the venue. A typical print of a single item takes about an hour, and print plus a same-day courier about four hours from the start of production — typical times, confirmed at quotation rather than promised in advance. Six pull-up banners ordered at 18:08 on a Friday were in production by 19:09; 350 conference flyers paid for at 23:44 were signed for at the venue hotel at 15:30 the next afternoon, ahead of a 17:00 deadline.
An event has one date that cannot move, and the print for it arrives in pieces: a delegate list that changed overnight, a banner that was approved late, a stand drawing that only exists on the build day. Event printing in London works best when it is ordered as one job with one deadline rather than as six separate print orders — one conversation covers the badges, the banners, the tablecloth and the place cards. Our London print shop runs production around the clock, so the deadline that counts is the event’s.
What does an event actually need printed?
Most London events and conferences order the same dozen items, and each one has a service page that sets out its sizes, stocks and file requirements. The table below is a map: what the item is for, the formats we print it in, and where the full detail sits.
| Item | What it is for | Formats and stocks |
|---|---|---|
| Delegate and staff badges | Registration desk, speakers, exhibitors and VIP passes | 90 × 60 mm landscape, CR80 (86 × 54 mm), A7 and A6 lanyard-pouch inserts; 350 or 400 gsm card hole-punched for a lanyard, or encapsulated for multi-day events; names merged from your delegate spreadsheet |
| Pull-up banners | Sponsor boards, registration, directions and stage side-boards | 850, 1000, 1200 and 1500 mm wide stands on 440 gsm front-lit PVC, with an aluminium base and a padded carry case |
| PVC banners | Venue frontage, fences and scaffold | Hemmed with metal eyelets every 50 cm; one piece up to 150 cm wide and 30 m long, welded from two drops when wider |
| Backdrops and exhibition graphics | Stand walls, platform graphics and photo backdrops | Cut to the stand drawing, rollable or rigid panels, Velcro or magnetic mounting |
| Fabric walls | Press walls, step-and-repeat backdrops and media walls | Straight walls from 1 to 10 m wide, curved walls from 2.4 to 6 m |
| Printed tablecloths | Registration tables, exhibitor tables and sponsor stands | Custom dimensions — a centred 260 × 150 cm cloth on a 122 × 60 cm trestle 72 cm tall leaves a 69 cm drop at the ends |
| Place cards and table plans | Gala dinners, award evenings and seated lunches | Guest names set from a spreadsheet exactly as written, accents included; urgent overnight cards on 250–450 gsm card; table plans on 3 or 5 mm Foamex |
| Flyers and programmes | Delegate packs, agendas and stand handouts | 3 mm bleed on every edge; flyers print and trim in 2–4 hours during the day once the file and payment are in |
| Posters and foam boards | Session boards, wayfinding and welcome signs | A0 and smaller on paper, or mounted on 3 mm Foamex; one A0 for a conference is a normal same-day job |
How fast can event printing be produced in London?
Production runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the print itself takes about an hour; print plus a same-day courier takes about four hours from the start of production. Those are typical working times for a single item, not a commitment: an exact ready time is given at quotation by someone who can see the queue, and it depends on the item, the quantity and what else is on the machines. An order that mixes badges, banners and a backdrop is quoted one ready time for the whole set.
For work that has to be on site before the doors open, the cut-off is the evening before. Banners, flyers and place cards with files and payment in by 21:00 are printed overnight for delivery before 9am the next morning, subject to that night’s capacity, which is confirmed at quotation. A pull-up banner ordered by noon can be at an ExCeL stand the same afternoon, again subject to that day’s capacity. The full overnight routine is in overnight exhibition printing, and same day or next day helps when the event is more than a day away.
| Job | Recorded starting point | Recorded outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Six pull-up banners, 850 × 2000 mm, for a Sunday event in Kensington | Enquiry on Friday at 18:08; paid 18:54; confirmed in production 19:09 | Printed for the Sunday event |
| 350 double-sided conference flyers for NVIDIA at the Dell Technologies CSG Tech Summit | Paid at 23:44 | Printed the next day and signed for at the Hilton London Metropole at 15:30, ahead of a 17:00 deadline |
| 8 × 8 ft platform graphic for a boxing weigh-in at Olympia London | Enquiry on Friday at 17:14 | Printed overnight in two sections; a fitter at the venue on Saturday morning |
| Tablecloth, two roll-up banners and 400 stickers for an AWS booth in the City | Briefed after 7pm | Delivered by 8am |
| 300 double-sided delegate badges | Quoted at midday | Delivered at 16:56 the same afternoon |
| 4,000 posters and 4,000 QR cards for Star Wars Celebration at ExCeL | Ordered on the Saturday | Printed by mid-afternoon; the delivery address changed twice while the boxes were packed |
How does event print reach the venue?
The fastest route is a same-day courier who drives the job directly to the venue; the slower route is a next-day carrier, and the difference is how much control remains once the parcel leaves. A direct driver has our contact details and yours, so if anything goes wrong the driver can call either of us, and you can instruct the driver yourself. Once a parcel is handed to a national carrier we cannot guarantee when it arrives or step in easily if there is a problem at the delivery address, which is why a fixed event date usually points to the courier. Inside Central London the run is typically about an hour. Delivery is quoted against the postcode and the courier available, not priced from a fixed list; how printed work reaches you in London sets out the three routes.
Same-day printing has a page for each of the main London event venues: ExCeL London, Olympia London, the QEII Centre, The O2, the Business Design Centre and Wembley Park. The same run covers addresses in Kensington, Marylebone and the City of London, each with its own page.
What does an event print order need from you?
A venue address, the hall or stand number, the name that will sign for the delivery and the hour the print has to be in place are what turn an event order into a delivery rather than a parcel. For exhibition graphics we also need the stand drawing and the build-day deadline, and whether each wall takes rollable or rigid panels with Velcro or magnetic mounting.
- Delegate list as a spreadsheet — one row per badge or place card, spelling and accents exactly as they should print; 114 conference name badges for Imperial College London were merged from a delegate spreadsheet and pre-punched for lanyards.
- Artwork as a print-ready PDF with bleed — which file format to send and how to prepare artwork for large format cover the detail; every file is checked here before it goes to production.
- The card for the badge — which card for a lanyard name badge explains why a punched badge wants 350 or 400 gsm card.
- One deadline for the whole order — the hour the last item has to be in place, not the date of the event.
Q&A
Who can print conference badges, flyers and banners in London at short notice?
Silver Image London prints all three, 24 hours a day, and can deliver them to the venue by direct courier. A typical print of a single item takes about an hour and print plus a same-day courier about four hours from the start of production; an exact time is confirmed at quotation. Badges are merged from a delegate spreadsheet and punched for lanyards, flyers print and trim in 2–4 hours during the day once the file and payment are in, and pull-up banners are supplied with a carry case. One example: 300 delegate badges were quoted at midday and delivered at 16:56 the same afternoon.
What is the latest time to order event print for delivery the next morning?
For banners, flyers and place cards, files and payment by 21:00 are printed overnight for delivery before 9am the next morning, subject to that night’s capacity, which is confirmed at quotation. Work paid after 21:00 is quoted a ready time instead: the NVIDIA flyers, paid for at 23:44, were printed the next day and signed for at 15:30 that afternoon, ahead of a 17:00 deadline.
Can one order cover badges, banners, tablecloths and place cards?
Yes. The AWS booth in the City was a single job: a printed tablecloth, two roll-up banners and 400 stickers, briefed after 7pm and delivered by 8am. Putting the whole event into one order means one quotation and one deadline for the set, and Pantone or CMYK references are held across every item in the order.
Do you print backdrops and press walls for launches and award evenings?
Yes. Backdrops are printed as exhibition graphics cut to the stand or platform, and press walls, media walls and step-and-repeat backdrops are made as fabric walls: straight walls from 1 to 10 m wide, curved walls from 2.4 to 6 m. The largest Foamex sheet is 8 × 4 ft, so a larger platform graphic is printed in sections and joined: the 8 × 8 ft graphic for a boxing weigh-in at Olympia London was printed overnight in two sections and fitted at the venue on Saturday morning.
Can print be delivered to a hotel or conference venue and signed for?
Yes, by courier to the venue address with the room, hall or stand number and the name that will sign for it. The NVIDIA flyers were signed for at the Hilton London Metropole at 15:30, ahead of a 17:00 deadline. A same-day courier drives directly, and the driver has both our contact details and yours; delivery is quoted against the postcode and the courier available.
Send the venue, the date and what is needed — quantities and sizes if you have them, a rough idea if you do not — and the quotation comes back with a ready time and a delivery plan for the venue. Stands and launches have their own pages: printing for exhibitors in London and printing for launch events and press calls in London. The service pages above set out each item in detail, and the case studies show event jobs from first message to delivery.
Send us the event
Tell us the venue, the date and the items. We come back with a ready time and a delivery plan, and we check the artwork before anything goes on press.
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