Tier 5 is the highest level of the ESSA Sustainability Accreditation, and Rocket-X has reached it. Independent evaluators score each supplier out of 100 across 12 management areas, including carbon footprint calculation, waste, energy and sustainable procurement. Tier 5 needs 90 points or more, and every supplier is reassessed each year. Our ESSA Tier 5 sustainability accreditation puts us in the top band the UK events industry recognises.
If you exhibit regularly, you already feel the pressure. Procurement asks about sustainability before it asks about design. Visitors notice when a stand ends up in a skip after three days. A green claim printed on a panel convinces nobody who has walked a show floor.
Checking the evidence before you sign is the right instinct. Tier 5 gives you evidence you can check.
We’ll be straight about where we are. We haven’t reached net zero. Our target is 2050 across our supply chain, production and logistics, and we cut carbon at source first, with offsetting kept as a last resort.
So what did ESSA score?
What the assessment looked at
ESSA runs six levels, from Certified at the bottom up to Tier 5. Points come from documents and records showing action taken, so a policy that sits in a drawer scores very little. Evaluators scored Rocket-X across 12 management areas, from policy and staff training through to modern slavery and equality. The six that shape the stands we make most directly are supporting the community, air quality, energy management, sustainable procurement, waste management and carbon footprint calculation. Every area counts towards the 100-point total.
Tier 5 lasts a year. ESSA reassesses every supplier annually, so keeping it means showing progress each time. We track ours through the year and report it at every assessment.
Noel Reeves, founder and CEO of Rocket-X, said: “Our team has spent years designing stands that come back for another show. Tier 5 tells clients that work stands up to independent scrutiny. We’ll keep pushing towards 2050, and we’ll keep publishing how we’re getting there.”
So what does that change for your stand?
What Tier 5 means for exhibitors
Your design keeps its freedom. Reuse applies to the frame and structure underneath, so graphics, layout, branding and furniture are designed around your brief each time. Across several shows, reused components can cost less than a stand made once and thrown away. You can see how we build sustainable exhibition stands on our sustainability page.
From the first conversation, we’ll talk you through your stand’s environmental footprint. Your sustainability goals then sit in the brief from day one, where they shape material and logistics decisions early.
Procurement teams get evidence from outside the supplier. You can find Rocket-X in the ESSA accredited members directory and cite it in your own sustainability or ESG reporting.
98% of exhibitors recommend us, and 84% rebook. Many of those stands return for another show, and our reuse system is set up for exactly that.
So when’s your next show?
Plan your next stand while there’s time to build it right
Plot choice narrows every month before a show, and design time shrinks with it. Late briefs leave fewer chances to reuse components or source certified materials, so the sustainable option gets harder to deliver. Send us your show name and stand size. We’ll come back with options and a price. Get in touch today.
Got a brief ready?
Send it over and we'll come back with ideas, not a sales pitch.
