Ordering Print for a Manchester Event From London: A Working-Day Planning Calendar
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Manchester's events calendar barely stops. CityCo's list of major city events runs from the Manchester Christmas Parade on 6 December, through the Super Duper Family Festival (17 to 20 February 2027) and the Manchester Flower Festival (22 to 24 May 2027), to Manchester International Festival in July.
And for every big event, there are dozens of smaller ones. Charity dinners. Product launches. Community fun days. Conferences in hotel function rooms.
If you're organising one of them and ordering print from London, the big question is always the same: how early to order print for an event so it turns up with time to spare?
We print from London and send all over the UK, Manchester included. This guide gives you a simple way to plan it, counting working days back from your event. No guesswork, no last-minute panic.
Why the calendar starts at the event
Most people plan forwards. "We'll sort the design this week, order next week, and it'll be fine."
Then something slips. The logo isn't signed off. The speaker list changes. A bank holiday sneaks in. Suddenly the banner is still in a van on the morning of the event.
So we always suggest the opposite. Start with your event date and work backwards.
Why it works
- It shows you your real deadline for each item, not a vague "soon".
- It makes delays obvious early, while there's still time to fix them.
- It gives everyone on the team the same dates to work to.
Your event date isn't your deadline
Here's the bit people miss. You don't need your print on the day of the event. You need it a few days before. That gives you time to unpack it, check it, fold the t-shirts, and still have a moment to breathe.
And some print is needed much earlier still. Flyers and posters that promote the event have to be out weeks ahead, or they can't do their job.
Working-day lead times explained
Here are our print lead times, in plain words, as shown on our delivery information page.
- Standard UK shipping is 2 to 3 working days of production, then about 2 days for delivery.
- Working days are Monday to Friday. Weekends and bank holidays don't count.
- Same-day delivery is only available in London and inside the M25. It isn't an option for Manchester.
What that means in practice
Add it up and you're looking at roughly five working days from order to doorstep. That's a full working week. And that's before you add any spare time for a file that needs fixing or a parcel that needs a second try.
These are estimates, not guarantees. So we always build in slack.
The planning rule we'd use
Event date, minus a few days of buffer, minus about a week for production and delivery, minus time for design and sign-off. That's your order date.
Planning back from an event date
Let's take a real example. Say your event is on Saturday 20 February 2027, the weekend of the Super Duper Family Festival in the city.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Wed 27 Jan | All artwork final and signed off. |
| Wed 3 Feb | Ideal order date. Gives you a full week of slack. |
| Wed 10 Feb | Latest sensible order date. Production could run Thu 11, Fri 12 and Mon 15. |
| Mon 15 to Wed 17 Feb | Delivery, about 2 days after production. |
| Thu 18 to Fri 19 Feb | Unpack, check everything, pack for the venue. |
| Sat 20 Feb | Event day. |
That's for on-the-day items, like banners and boards. Your promotional flyers need to be in hand well before, so they'd follow a much earlier timeline.
A second example: a summer event
Say your event is on Saturday 22 May 2027, the weekend of the Manchester Flower Festival. There's a bank holiday early in the month, on Monday 3 May, so working days are a little tighter.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Fri 30 Apr | All artwork final and signed off, before the long weekend. |
| Wed 5 May | Ideal order date. |
| Wed 12 May | Latest sensible order date. Production could run Thu 13, Fri 14 and Mon 17. |
| Tue 18 to Wed 19 May | Delivery, about 2 days after production. |
| Sat 22 May | Event day. |
See how the bank holiday nudges the sign-off date earlier? That's the kind of thing a back-planned calendar catches.
Watch out for these
- Bank holidays. Christmas and New Year swallow a big chunk of working days. If your event is in January or February, much of your ordering may need to be done before Christmas.
- Your own team's diary. If the person who signs off artwork is away for a week, that's a week gone.
- Delivery to the venue. Not every venue will accept parcels for you. Ask first. If not, send it to your office or home.
Treat this calendar as a planning guide, not a promise. The earlier you order, the calmer the final week.
Give one person the job
On busy event teams, print falls between the cracks. Everyone assumes someone else ordered the banner. So name one person as the print owner. They hold the calendar, chase sign-off and place the orders. It sounds simple. It saves a lot of grief.
What to order first
Not everything needs to arrive at the same time. Here's the order we'd tackle things in.
1. Promotion: flyers and posters
These have to go out first, because they bring people to your event.
- A5 flyers are easy to hand out, post through doors and leave in shops and cafes.
- An A1 poster (594 x 841 mm) is big enough to catch eyes in a foyer, a shop or a community space.
- Aim to have them in hand four to six weeks before the event, so they have time to work.
A promotion timeline
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 8 weeks before | Promo artwork done. |
| 7 weeks before | Order flyers and posters. |
| 6 weeks before | Flyers out, posters up. |
2. Crew kit: t-shirts
- T-shirts need sizes, and collecting sizes always takes longer than you think.
- Start that early. Then order your unisex t-shirts along with the rest of your on-the-day kit.
3. On-the-day signs: banners and boards
- A pull-up roller banner (800 x 2000 mm) for the entrance, the stage or the registration desk.
- An A1 foam board (594 x 841 mm) for a welcome sign, a schedule or a map. It's rigid, light and best used indoors.
Group your orders
Order all your on-the-day items together where you can. One delivery is easier to plan around than four, and there's less chance of something getting left behind.
Keep evergreen items evergreen
If you run the same event every year, leave the date off banners and boards. Then you only need to reorder flyers and posters next time, and your planning gets shorter every year.
Checklist
Run through this event print checklist before you place your order.
- ☐ Event date confirmed. Written down, shared with the team.
- ☐ Back-planned calendar done. Order date worked out in working days, not calendar days.
- ☐ Bank holidays checked. Especially around Christmas, New Year, Easter and May.
- ☐ Promotion print ordered early. Flyers and posters in hand weeks before the event.
- ☐ Sizes collected. For every t-shirt, with a few spares.
- ☐ Artwork final. Right size, sharp images, spelling checked by a second person.
- ☐ Venue asked. Can they take deliveries? Where can signs go? Do they have stands or easels?
- ☐ Delivery address sorted. Somewhere someone will be in to sign for it.
- ☐ Buffer built in. At least a few working days between delivery and the event.
When the clock is against you
If you're short on time, call us before you order. We'll tell you honestly whether standard shipping will get there. That's better than hoping.
Plan it once, relax on the day
Ordering print from another city doesn't need to be stressful. Start with your event date, count back in working days, and get your promotional print out first. Do that, and the only thing to worry about on the day is the event itself.
Ready to start? Choose your products, upload your designs and we'll print and send everything to you in Manchester. Want help with your timings? Call us on 020 7701 2515. You can also see all our printing services in Manchester City Centre.
