Brand Licensing Europe is Europe's biggest trade show focused on the world of brand licensing, and I always look forward to exploring the stands.

Excel, Brand Licensing Europe’s new venue for 2019, allows all of the stands to sit in the same space rather than being split across levels as it was in Olympia. It felt like this gave the big players, such as Universal and Viacom Nickelodeon, room to go big with their stands. However this had the effect of dwarfing the smaller stands out on the fringes of the show floor.

The more informal open conference theatre area was a welcome change, great if you want to take a peek at a session without feeling like you need to stay until the end.

With new stand footprints to work to there were lots of new stand designs, and they made the most of the cavernous exhibition hall. A JCB digger and a double decker bus were among the features which would have been tough to accommodate at Olympia, but which fitted in comfortably at Excel.

Here’s a showcase of some of the best and boldest stand design.