All Expo Hire prices are published on the website. Every customer pays the same rate. The price on the product page is the price on the invoice.
Item prices on the Expo Hire website are shown per hire period. A standard hire covers up to 72 hours — one evening, a full weekend, or a three-day event all cost the same at the standard rate. Extended hire periods of 4 to 7 days and 7 to 14 days are shown separately on each product page for events that need longer.
All item prices are shown exclusive of VAT. VAT at the standard rate is added at checkout and shown clearly on the order summary before you confirm.
Carriage is calculated on road distance from the nearest Expo Hire depot to your venue postcode, weighted by order volume. The checkout calculates this automatically when you enter your delivery postcode and dates. For orders above a threshold, carriage is free — this threshold is shown on each product page.
Most high-volume product lines carry tiered pricing. Add your required quantity to the quantity field on a product page and the unit rate updates automatically to show the applicable tier price. The tiers are typically structured around quantities that reflect common event sizes:
| Quantity range | Price tier | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| 1–19 | Standard rate | Small parties, meetings, breakout rooms |
| 20–49 | Tier 2 | Medium events, seated dinners up to 50 covers |
| 50–99 | Tier 3 | Conferences, wedding receptions, charity events |
| 100+ | Tier 4 | Large dinners, festivals, major corporate events |
Tier pricing varies by product — exact thresholds and rates are shown on each individual product page. For orders significantly above the published tiers, contact the team for a tailored quotation on very large requirements.
The item hire rate includes delivery to your venue, collection after the event, standard depot cleaning on return, the free Minor Damage Waiver covering accidental damage, and live order tracking on delivery and collection day. These are not add-ons or extras — they are part of the base rate on every order.
The only items shown separately are carriage (a real cost based on route distance) and VAT (a statutory obligation). No element of the hire rate is hidden in carriage, and no carriage cost is hidden in the item rate.
A significant number of event hire companies operate on a quote-request model. You submit your requirements, the company calculates a price, and a sales person contacts you with a figure that may include fees and charges not visible in the initial rate card — fuel levies, handling fees, insurance premiums, admin charges.
On a typical corporate event order of 200 covers, those additions can add 8 to 15% to the visible item total. Getting to the real cost requires a phone call, a wait for the quote, and often a second call to clarify what each line item covers.
The Expo Hire model eliminates that cycle. You see the real total — items, carriage, VAT — before you make any commitment. That makes it faster to compare Expo Hire against another supplier because you are comparing the same number: what you actually pay.
Corporate buyers, public sector teams, schools and organisations working to approved budgets benefit from transparent pricing in practical ways. A purchase order can be raised against the checkout total before any conversation with a supplier. A budget comparison can be run against actual figures rather than estimates pending a quote. An event manager can confirm a supplier to a client without waiting for a quote to be authorised by the finance team.
All invoices are standard VAT invoices suitable for UK VAT-registered businesses. Invoices are available to download from your account immediately after the order is placed.
Regular clients and agencies booking multiple events per year can apply for a trade account. Trade accounts carry 30-day payment terms and may have agreed rates on high-volume lines specific to the client's typical order profile. Trade account rates are agreed at account setup and applied automatically to all orders placed on the account.
The same transparency principle applies to trade accounts — agreed rates are confirmed in writing at account setup, and invoices reflect the agreed rates without adjustment.
Yes. The rates shown on the website apply to all customers. Volume discounts apply based on quantity, not on who the customer is. Trade account holders may have separately agreed rates, but those are confirmed at account setup and applied consistently.
Rates on the website reflect the current price list. Once an order is confirmed, the price is locked at the rate shown at checkout. Price changes do not apply to confirmed orders.
No. Carriage is shown separately at checkout. It is not embedded in item rates. For orders above the free carriage threshold shown on each product page, carriage is waived.
Add items to the basket and proceed to checkout — the order summary provides a full cost breakdown including carriage and VAT. For a formal PDF quote document valid for 14 days, use the online quote request function. The quote reflects the same pricing shown on the product pages.
There is a minimum order value of £50 ex-VAT excluding carriage, shown at checkout. Most event orders with any meaningful quantity of furniture or tableware exceed this naturally.