Celebrating 60 Years in Business

Catherine Dove • March 2, 2016

We recently looked at how we got to this point in the business & how we can gear up for the next 60 years.

We recently celebrated our 60th year in business, making us one of the longest serving events & exhibition specialists in the UK today. Whilst some of our product offering may have changed over this time, our commitment to innovation and customer service is as strong as it’s ever been. When engaging the team, it is easy to see the passionate eye for detail which has transcended down through each generation of ownership and with it an unwillingness to settle for anything other than the best we can deliver.

Leading the helm today are brothers David and Simon Cooper, serving their virtual apprenticeships from their early years under their father John who ran the company for over 25 years, having started himself at the age of fifteen as a young apprentice. Simon, who has worked for SD for the past fifteen years, keeps a watchful and hands-on role in ensuring clients are set-up and ready to impress at every event and location they can. David, who has taken the mantle as the driving force of SD, spends much of his week engaging with both existing and new clients, creating bespoke stands and helping clients take advantage of their modular systems and display boards for hire.

David reflects back to his early memories growing up with a father who was a genuine craftsman and innovator in the sector. “I remember growing up playing with the exhibition stands and parts from of our innovative display boards whilst my jigsaws & Lego gathered dust. As I grew older I was amazed at how the big names from the TV were all around me as my father worked on new ways to help brands like Black & Decker, ICI Paints, Bandai and Kellogg’s showcase their products. He taught me the importance of being 100% customer focused and how to truly help our customers make the most of their own opportunities. Today we’re looking at technology opportunities to add in to the mix but that’s just a modern day interpretation of what we’ve always done here – looking ahead”.

Today we continue to work with clients new and old with products ranging from Pull-Up Roller Banners to large bespoke exhibition stands and anything in-between. Some clients have been long standing and loyal to our company, ranging from ten to twenty years.


We are proud to say that our 60th anniversary has also been published in Business Voice, the magazine of Thames Valley Commerce group, and Buckingham Business First, which has a distribution of over 8,000 members.

Close Down for Christmas

By Jenna May Taylor • December 16, 2019
Our office hamster Syd would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. At SD Displays, we understand how quickly calendars get filled up around this time of year, so here are our special Christmas opening hours to help you plan accordingly: We are shut for Christmas from Monday 23rd December to Thursday 2nd January.

Bespoke Boards for GEWISS

By Jenna May Taylor • November 19, 2019
SD Displays have been working with GEWISS for the past 3 years providing them with exhibition stands, graphics and Point of Sale (POS) boards. GEWISS is a well-established leading market player in the international electrotechnical industry, with offices, subsidiaries, and production sites in more than 80 countries. The POS boards are by far the most work we do with GEWISS as we make these in large quantities at a time. We create two sizes of boards with them – the large ones being 1100 x 800mm and the mini ones being 800 x 400mm. These eye catching and lightweight boards are used to display their products such as industrial plugs and sockets and rotary isolator switches, in electrical wholesale outlets, exhibition stands and demos. We print directly onto 19mm Strada boards and then attach their products to create the final display. We process about 50 – 100 boards per order and it takes on average 20 minutes to produce one board. These are a great example of the bespoke displays we can produce for our customers, so if you have an idea in mind for your own products, get in contact to see how we can help.

Flexpo 2019

By Jenna May Taylor • October 17, 2019
Flexible working and working from home is becoming more and more popular within our modern world, yet so many companies still don’t know how to deal with the requests from their employees. On 4th October, the UK’s first flexible working conference was held at Sandown Park Racecourse. It covered everything from interview tips and tricks, how to get back into a career after a break and how to handle being refused flexible working. SD displays became involved with the conference after Maddy Cole from Venture Business Events gave us a call in search for some shell scheme stands. Flexpo were excited to have Anna Whitehouse aka MotherPukka chair the overall conference and after learning more from Maddy about the event, we were excited to get involved. We supplied the conference with 3m x 2m shell scheme stands as well as graphics for the stands. We also created a theatre area which allowed speakers from the likes of Amazon, Linked In and HSBC to present. After speaking with Maddy, she said “We saw 427 visitors and 19 exhibitors across the show. We had over 30 speakers, so we are pleased with the support and the feedback we had from what was an inaugural event.” After such a successful event we are looking forward to working with Maddy again in the future.

Eco-Friendly T3 Stands

By Jenna May Taylor • September 5, 2019
Whether you are a first-time exhibitor or regularly attend events, you will know that trade shows are one of the best ways to connect face to face with your target market. Therefore, you will be aware of the costs behind hiring floor space and involved in building a stand – so why do so many exhibitors throw away their stuff at the end of a show?

Our year so far...

By Jenna May Taylor • June 4, 2019
We have had such an amazing start to the year and can’t believe we are halfway through 2019 already. So much has already happened and we are excited to see what the rest of the year has instore for SD Displays. At the end of 2018 we started talking with a new agency called We Are Process to supply a T3 stand for their event in February. We had 5 working weeks after the initial enquiry to turn around a 6m x 5m L shaped stand, counter and graphics. Like true champions we had the stand built and graphics supplied a week before the show.

Providing Boards for the UK & International Veterinary Vaccinology Network Conference 2019

By Jenna May Taylor • January 29, 2019
On 9th and 10th January 2019, the UK Veterinary Vaccinology Network and International Veterinary Vaccinology Network hosted the UK & International Veterinary Vaccinology Network Conference 2019 in The Tower Hotel, London and we’re proud to have helped out.

How Our Discovery Day at Tecna Helped us Understand T3 Even Better

By Jenna May Taylor • January 2, 2019
Recently, we were lucky enough to spend a Discovery Day at Tecna UK, our T3 display system suppliers. Tecna UK host a number of these interactive training experiences at their Farnborough premises. These are helpful events that Tecna run for all of their partners, where they showcase their offices and warehouse space, as well as do a bit of training with us regarding their systems.

SD Displays Christmas Opening Hours

By Jenna May Taylor • December 21, 2018
Christmas is here, which means the festive season is heating up. At SD Displays, we understand how quickly calendars get filled up around this time of year, so here are our special Christmas opening hours to help you plan accordingly: We are shut for Christmas from Monday 24th December to Wednesday 2nd January. Everyone at SD Displays wishes you a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year! There’s a lot to look forward to in 2019!

Kent Tattoo Convention was a Great Success!

By Jenna May Taylor • November 23, 2018
SD Displays recently completed a fantastic job in Kent at the first ever regional Tattoo Convention! Not only did it feature general tattoo stalls, demonstrations and entertainment, it also hosted body painting, art competitions, live bands, burlesque shows, craft stalls and all kinds of food and drink. Award winning tattoo artists from all over the world came to exhibit their skills, so they needed a space to unleash their creativity on willing subjects! Below was the setup we created, and although it looks quiet now, it was soon buzzing with visitors looking to get inspired!

What the Longest Existing UK Exhibitions Business has Learned

By Jenna May Taylor • October 24, 2018
Attending an exhibition can be a little overwhelming, especially if you don’t have a clear strategy. The key to success is careful planning for all your event activities and identifying the role in which the exhibition plays in your marketing and sales strategy.
Show More