When time is tight and the venue is Kazakhstan

Client Objective
To strengthen existing relationships with Asian markets for oil and gas exploration and processing, paying special attention to an upcoming multi-million dollar contract with a major Italian oil firm. To create a strong brand presence with easy access areas for informal meetings and entertaining.

The Challenge
We had a desperately short timescale to plan and execute the contract. Delivery to Kazakhstan was scheduled within 7 weeks of the client signing off the design. Our destination, Almaty, is one of Kazakhstan’s largest cities, set in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains. It lies approximately 1,000 miles east of Moscow and 100 miles from the Chinese/Mongolian border. The stand had to be there on time
at all costs.

Our Solution
Almaty is an extremely tricky place to ship to, with customs formalities a lot more challenging than in western European countries. If we’d attempted to air freight the stand, we would have faced potential loss of the shipment, not to mention long delays clearing customs. So our logistics team found a UK trucking company who agreed to run a dedicated load by road via Germany and Russia. This option involved a 6 week transit door to door, leaving us very little time to construct the stand before the show opened. It was a tense journey. Our project team met the truck on site, having hired local Kazakh labour to unload and assemble the display.

Careful planning and strong teamwork paid off. The shipment arrived on time and the event was hugely successful for the client.