P&J Live stands on East Burn Road in Stoneywood, postcode AB21 9FX, about six miles north-west of central Aberdeen and roughly a mile and a half from the airport. The venue publishes a 9,000 sqm pillar-free arena and halls A, B and C totalling 6,000 sqm, and vehicle entry is from the A96 or Dyce Drive, because the other entry points are bus gates.
The entrance your satnav does not know about
The venue tells arrivals plainly to enter via Dyce Drive or the A96 when travelling southbound, because the other entry points are bus gates only. You may leave by all three exits: the A96, Dyce Drive and Wellheads Drive. This is exactly the kind of information no satnav carries and no driver will guess from a map: the road is there, it leads to the venue and it looks perfectly normal. So on a first run to this venue we go through the approach with the driver before departure rather than over the phone at the gate.
Apart from that one detail the approach is easy. The southern section of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, the A90, takes through traffic, so an artic does not have to fight its way across the city. The venue sits outside the centre with its own car parks and room to manoeuvre, which is everything a city-centre venue lacks. We cover the destination itself in the article on transport to Aberdeen and northern Scotland.
Hall specifications that actually change the load plan
The venue publishes figures that matter more than floor area when planning a display. The 9,000 sqm pillar-free arena has three roller doors of five by five metres with external canopies and a minimum height of 18.2 metres. Halls A, B and C together give 6,000 sqm of pillar-free space with a minimum trim height of 7 metres; halls A and C have five by five metre roller doors and hall C an additional door of 3.5 by 5 metres. The venue quotes floor loading of 50 kN.
A five by five metre door means a trailer gets into the hall, not just a forklift. For an exhibitor with a heavy exhibit that settles the unloading method: either the exhibit comes off inside the hall, close to the stand, or it has to be moved across the hall with equipment. The difference is measurable in time and in risk. Rules for choosing equipment and checking venue specifications are gathered in the article on unloading an oversized exhibit.
The longest run in Britain
Aberdeen is further from the crossing than any other major exhibition centre in Britain. The practical consequence is simple: the British leg is the longest and most variable part of the journey here, so the time reserve has to be larger than for a delivery to Birmingham or London. In winter the weather on the eastern Scottish route adds to it. The method for counting a schedule backwards from the build-up window is in the article on the build-up and breakdown calendar, and transit times and the Scottish low emission zones in the piece on trade fairs in Scotland.
What to settle before arrival
- Whether the stand is in the arena or in halls A, B or C, since they differ in height and doors.
- Which entrance the vehicle should use and whether the approach avoids the bus gates.
- Whether vehicles may enter the hall or unloading happens outside under the canopy.
- The build-up window and entry regime set by the event organiser.
- The dimensions, weight and siting method for the heaviest exhibit.
We do not quote build-up hours for a particular edition, because the organiser sets them and they change from event to event. The division of roles between organiser, venue, exhibitor and carrier is in the article on responsibility on a fairground.
Groupage or a dedicated vehicle
On a run this long the balance tips towards a dedicated vehicle earlier than usual, because every handling step adds to an already long journey. Single pallets and small stands still travel as groupage: the load waits for the next scheduled line departure and passes through two handling points, the Polish hub and the cross-dock in Milton Keynes. Above roughly twelve pallets, about a third of a trailer, a dedicated vehicle is usually simpler and faster. For an exhibit that has to arrive in one piece on one date we choose it regardless of volume.
What we do on a delivery to Aberdeen
We collect from the exhibitor in Poland or the surrounding countries, consolidate at our Kielce base, prepare the paperwork with the customs agency we work with regularly and deliver to the nominated gate at an agreed hour. We commit to an hour at the gate, because the order of entry is set by venue staff. The load is handed over at the point agreed with the exhibitor. After breakdown we collect the set and arrange the return to Poland or storage until the next show of the season.
Sources
- P&J Live: address, directions and entry rules
- P&J Live: exhibition hall specifications
- mygov.scot: Scotland's low emission zones
Exhibiting in Aberdeen? Send the hall, build-up window and item list through the quotation form and we will plan the run with the reserve this route deserves. See also exhibition logistics and full truckload transport.
