Regatta Professional island stand case study at The Health and Safety Event, NEC Birmingham

Regatta Professional, the workwear and PPE arm of the Manchester-based Regatta Group, briefed Motive Exhibitions to design and build a 7m x 7m island stand at The Health and Safety Event 2026 at the NEC Birmingham, the UK’s largest dedicated workplace safety event, attracting over 14,500 health and safety professionals and 400+ exhibitors.

Regatta had the idea. We worked out how to build it

The Health and Safety Event is the UK’s largest dedicated workplace safety event, attracting over 14,500 health and safety professionals and 400+ exhibitors to the NEC Birmingham each year.

Regatta Professional came to us with a strong idea of what they wanted. The brief was clear – the stand needed to feel industrial, tough, and true to the workwear range they’d be showcasing. They had rough visuals based on a previous stand. Our job was to take that concept and engineer it into something that could actually be built, on budget, without losing what made the idea compelling in the first place.

An exhibition stand with serious industrial character

The stand was a 7m x 7m island, built on a beMatrix modular system with bespoke fabricated elements throughout. The finish palette was deliberately industrial – stainless steel effect ACM (Aluminium Composite Material) panels, concrete effect worktops, and printed vinyl diamond plate flooring that looked like real metal underfoot without the weight and cost. Two screens were integrated into the modular structure, and hanging rigging was introduced as a new feature for this build.

Mannequins were positioned on plinths, with hanging rails on two sides keeping the product range visible from every angle.

Building the displays from scratch

The biggest challenge on this project was the clothing displays. We had to design and fabricate them from scratch – because nothing suitable exists off the shelf for displaying workwear at this scale.

Rather than treat it as a problem, we turned it into an opportunity to add extra character to the stand. The custom rails and display structures were built using chunky industrial piping and black bolts, tying directly into the wider aesthetic. For the corner unit, we used beMatrix frames clad in stainless steel effect ACM (Aluminium Composite Material) panels and bolted the clothing rails directly to them – keeping the build tight on budget without it looking like a compromise.

The result was a set of displays that felt like they’d always been part of the design – hardworking, purposeful, and built to reflect exactly what was hanging on them.

“The Regatta team knew exactly what they wanted on their exhibition stand. Our job was to make it work in the real world, on a real budget.” David Hennessy, Managing Director, Motive Exhibitions

What we delivered:

• Trade show stand design
• Exhibition stand manufacture
• Island exhibition stand
• Bespoke display unit fabrication 
• Installation
• Dismantle
• Storage
• Logistics
• Project management

Ready to create your own showstopper?

Get in touch with us today and let’s bring your vision to life. Whether you want an industrial-feeling exhibition stand like Regatta Professional or create something completely different, we’re experts at finding fun and creative ways to help you stand out at your next event.