Myth Busting: Aren’t Most Retail Displays Made Overseas?

Walk into almost any major UK retailer and you’ll be surrounded by display equipment.

Product stands. Branded bays. Promotional units. Counter displays. Freestanding fixtures. Entire shop-in-shop environments.

It would be easy to assume that most of it has travelled halfway around the world before arriving in store.

But that isn’t necessarily the case.

At Benchmark, we design and manufacture retail displays here in the UK, from our 120,000 sq. ft. facility in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.

And there are some very good reasons why.

Sometimes overseas manufacturing makes sense

Let’s bust one myth before creating another.

There are projects where overseas manufacture can be the right choice. If you need a very large quantity of relatively straightforward, repeatable units and have plenty of time before they are required, there can be a strong commercial argument for producing them overseas.

But retail projects aren’t always that predictable.

Launch dates move. Store lists change. Designs evolve. Prototypes reveal opportunities for improvement. Someone decides they need another 50 units. Stores are added to a rollout. A campaign needs to reach the shop floor on a very specific date.

That is where manufacturing closer to home can come into its own.

Shorter distances can mean greater flexibility

Manufacturing in the UK can remove a significant amount of distance – both literally and figuratively – between the people commissioning a project and the people making it.

Our clients can visit us in Letchworth, walk around the factory, inspect prototypes and meet the people actually responsible for delivering their project.

Designers and production teams can work together. A question about metalwork can be discussed directly with the metalwork team. The same applies to joinery, plastics, print, spraying, powder coating, assembly and installation.

When something needs to change, there are fewer moving parts.

For a fast-moving retail project, that can make a considerable difference.

Retail deadlines don’t tend to move

A product launch is happening when it’s happening.

Christmas doesn’t get pushed back because a display programme is running late. Neither does Easter, a new store opening or the launch of the latest piece of consumer technology.

Retail display manufacturing is therefore about more than simply making something correctly. It is about making it correctly when it is needed.

Keeping design, manufacture and assembly close together gives us greater control over that process and the ability to react when circumstances change.

It can also make lead times easier to manage without relying on long-distance shipping schedules.

What happens after the initial rollout?

This is another area where UK manufacturing can be particularly valuable.

The first order might be for hundreds of displays across a national retail estate.

But six months later, the requirement could be very different.

Perhaps five more stores have opened. A handful of units have been damaged somehow. A retailer wants to extend the concept into another location. Or an existing display needs a replacement component.

Suddenly the requirement isn’t hundreds of units. It might be ten. Or two. Or one.

Being able to return to the original drawings, materials and manufacturing processes and produce additional units locally can make ongoing support much simpler.

For us, a successful rollout isn’t necessarily the end of a project.

There is another advantage: visibility

One of the things we actively encourage prospective clients to do is visit us.

You can see our designers at work and walk through our joinery, metalwork, plastics, print and finishing facilities.

You can see projects being assembled and prepared to leave the factory.

And, importantly, you can see the scale of the operation for yourself.

For someone trusting a manufacturing partner with an important product launch or a nationwide retail programme, there is real value in knowing where the work is happening and meeting the team responsible for delivering it.

Choosing the right manufacturing approach

There is no single manufacturing model that is right for every retail display project.

For some briefs, overseas production might make commercial sense. For others, the lead times, complexity of the design, likely changes during production or need for ongoing support will make UK manufacture a much better fit.

The important thing is to look beyond the initial unit cost and consider the project as a whole.

How quickly does it need to be delivered? How settled is the design? How complex is the build? What happens if quantities change? Will additional units or replacement components be needed six months later?

Those considerations can significantly change the calculation.

For many retail display projects, manufacturing closer to home provides a combination of control, responsiveness and flexibility that can be extremely valuable.

So, are all those displays you see on the British high street manufactured overseas?

Definitely not.

Some of them were designed, cut, welded, fabricated, printed, sprayed, assembled and packed right here in Letchworth.

Planning a retail display project?

Come and see how we do it.

Benchmark’s 120,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Letchworth brings design, joinery, metalwork, plastics, print, finishing, assembly and logistics together under one roof.

Call 01462 633000 or email hello@bench-mark.co.uk to arrange a visit or talk to us about your next project.