Our experience at Grand Designs Live London 2026

Just a few days ago, we packed up the van in Belfast and began the long trip to London for Grand Designs Live 2026 - not as visitors, but as exhibitors representing Velcorian⁠ for the very first time.

The drive over felt like a mix of excitement, pressure, and disbelief. A business that started as an idea, sketches, prototypes, and late nights was now heading to one of the UK’s biggest design and home shows. With a van full of boards, stands, displays, and far too much coffee, we made our way from Belfast to London wondering what the next few days would bring.

If you’ve never exhibited at a show before, nothing really prepares you for it. The setup day was intense, fast-paced, and full of moving parts, but it was also incredibly exciting.

Despite having no previous experience exhibiting at a major show, we worked together as a team from start to finish - unpacking, building, adjusting displays, solving problems on the go, and helping each other through every stage of the process. There was a real sense that teamwork made the dream work. Watching the Velcorian stand come together piece by piece after all the planning and preparation was a proud moment for both of us.

Meeting customers face-to-face for the first time was honestly one of the biggest highlights of the entire experience. Watching people walk over, touch the boards, ask questions, react to the design, and understand the concept behind Velcorian made all the hard work feel worthwhile. Getting our first in-person sales was a moment we won’t forget anytime soon.

The number of people who stopped to tell us how unique the product felt, how premium the material looked, or how much they loved the story behind the brand gave us a huge confidence boost - not just personally, but for the business idea itself. As a new brand, you always question whether people will “get it.” This event showed us that they do.

Beyond the sales, the networking and conversations were invaluable. We met other exhibitors, designers, creators, chefs, and people from all kinds of industries. Every conversation taught us something and gave us fresh ideas for where Velcorian can go next.

To everyone who visited our stand, supported us, shared kind words, followed us online, or purchased a board - thank you. It genuinely means the world to us!

This definitely won’t be our last event either. We’ll be exploring more shows in the future and continuing to grow the Velcorian journey one step at a time.

If you’d like to see more behind-the-scenes content from the show, follow us on social media and subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/@velcorian :)