We will be carrying out some long overdue maintenance on our website over the course of the next couple of weeks.

In response to customer demand and to facilitate easier ordering of products such as pop up stands and banner stands we will be adding google checkout buttons to our website. This will allow customers to buy display stands online quickly and easily.

In addition to the buy-online functionality we will be opening an entirely new area of our website for the purchasing of fine art and canvas prints. We have been producing canvas prints and fine art prints for the trade for many years and the new section of our website will open-up our unbeatable pricing direct to the public.

Through the new canvas printing macro-site, customers will be able to upload their own images, choose sizing options and even crop and scale images in real-time. Fine art quality canvas prints can be purchased with the minimum of fuss and despatched in only 5 working days.

Our website may experience some slight disruption while we move to a newer, more powerful server, capable of supporting the new part of our website so please bear with us in the next week or two.

If you have any queries about our new canvas printing service please give us a call.

Ultima Displays were one of the first major suppliers of affordable portable banner stands in the UK and the original Barracuda banner stand was one of the first models in the range.

The original Barracuda banner stand was a strong, reliable single sided banner stand which featured a no-nonsense wide base design that did not require stabilising feet. The tough metal casing of these stands was capable of taking some fairly rough treatment. In fact we have customers who are still using the original Barracuda banner stands 10 years after purchasing them.

In 2007 the barracuda banner stand design was revised. The new unit kept a similar sized footprint but did away with the rough ’sandpaper’ paint job, replacing it with a satin anodised aluminum finish. Although the overall shape of the new barracuda banner stand is close to the original, perhaps the biggest change was that of the end plates which rather than being constructed from metal are now made from plastic with a smoked translucent finish.

There is no question that the new barracuda banner is aesthetically more pleasing to the eye than the old model but the style improvements come at a price and the new model lacks the bullet proof robustness of the original design. This is not to say that the new model is weak, far from it the new barracuda banner stand is tough enough for frequent use over many years providing it is treated with the proper care.

The operation of the barracuda banner stand is very straight forward and simple. Like most roller banner stands, the unit is assembled by simply pulling up the graphic and hooking it over the top of the pole which inserts into the base mechanism. The pole itself features a twist-lock mechanism that allows the height of the stand to be varied from around 1M up to 2.13M.

The carry bag of the Barracuda banner stand is strong and well padded however we would still advise that additional packaging should be used for those customers who have the need to transport the stand by courier service.

All in all we would give the barracuda banner stand a solid 8/10 score. It’s a nice looking, easy to use, reliable banner stand that should provide years of service.

If you would like to purchase a barracuda banner stand you can find it amongst the products on our website. We offer great pricing and guarantee to beat any like for like quote!

Over the last few years, we have seen a large increase in the number of overseas suppliers selling portable exhibition stands direct to the UK. Frequently the way in which these companies operate can be misleading to say the least. Many of these businesses are nothing more than an individual working from home and ‘drop-shipping’ banner stands from an overseas factory. Of course the websites give the impression of a much larger company with in-house production facilities!

We have numerous calls from customers who have placed orders for banner stands and pop up stands in the expectation that the goods are being produced in this country only to be let down when goods are lost or delayed in the international transit system. If you are thinking about placing an order for any kind of exhibition stand, be it a pop up display or a banner stand then our advice is to checkout your supplier first. A simple call to ask if you can visit the print facility will weed out the ‘box shifters’.

For those who knowingly order from overseas or chinese banner stand suppliers, there is usually one reason and that is…..price. Saving a small amount of money seems like a good idea but almost inevitably the final product is not up to the same standards one would expect from an equivalent UK based outfit. Chinese made banner stands for are usually printed onto thin to the point of being almost translucent PET paper which looks great if you like to see the shadow of the banner stand pole ‘ghosting’ through from the back!

With the pound/dollar exchange rate being so poor at the moment we will see undoubtdly see the price of chinese banner stands and chinese pop up stands increasing to reflect the exchange rate. With the value of the pound predicted to fall further against the dollar in 2009, maybe the days of the chinese banner stand box shifters are numbered?