On this page 7 sections
Every product page lists its working days to dispatch for each speed: Express from 1 day, Standard from 2 and Saver from 4, depending on the item. That number is how long we take to make the order and hand it to the courier. It starts once your order and artwork are confirmed, and it does not include delivery, which usually adds 1 to 3 working days. The easy way to use it is backwards: start from the date you need the item and count back.
The three speeds, and what changes between them #
Saver, Standard and Express produce the identical item. The material, the print and the finishing are the same. Only two things move: the number of days and the price, with Saver the cheapest and Express the dearest.
- Saver: from 4 days, up to 19 on the slowest products.
- Standard: from 2 days, up to 17.
- Express: from 1 day, up to 16.
The spread is wide because a banner, an NCR book and an aluminium sign go through very different processes. Always read the figure on the page for the item you want.
Real working days to dispatch, product by product #
| Product | Saver | Standard | Express |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoarding boards | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Crowd barrier banners | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Correx boards | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Business cards | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| PVC banners | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Roller banner, 850 × 2000 mm | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Heras fence mesh banners | 8 | 6 | 4 |
| Dibond signs | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| NCR invoice books | 12 | 10 | 9 |
A few patterns are worth knowing. Mesh banners sit two days behind PVC banners at each speed. NCR books are slow even on Express, so reorder before you run out. And some items, such as fence top signs and lamp-post wraps, have a single fixed time of 10 working days whatever option you choose.
What counts as a working day #
Monday to Friday, minus UK bank holidays. Saturdays and Sundays never count. So an order confirmed on a Friday afternoon with a 2-day turnaround cannot be ready over the weekend: Monday is day one and Tuesday is day two. Bank holidays differ between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the gov.uk bank holidays page lists each nation’s dates. Easter, Christmas and New Year each swallow working days, so count them out before relying on Saver.
When the working days to dispatch start counting #
Not when you pay, but when both the order and its artwork are confirmed. How quickly that happens depends on how you supplied the design.
- Online designer: you checked the design on screen before it went in the basket, so it is confirmed at payment. This is the fastest route when you are short of time.
- Uploaded file: a person checks size, bleed and resolution for free. A clean file is confirmed straight away; if it needs a fix, the count waits for the new file.
- File to follow: you can order first. We email to ask for it, and the count starts once it arrives and passes its check.
- Paid artwork service: typesetting includes 1 design and 2 rounds of changes, and design from your brief 1 design and 2 rounds of changes. The count starts when you sign off the final version, so reply quickly.
A worked example: a school fair on Saturday 14 November 2026 #
The PTA wants a PVC banner on the school railings for the fair. PVC banners take 6, 4 or 2 working days to dispatch. The plan is to have it in hand by Thursday 12 November, leaving Friday spare to put it up.
- Delivery first. Allow the full 3 working days for the courier. Working back from Thursday 12 (Wednesday, Tuesday, then the dispatch day), the banner needs to leave by Monday 9 November.
- Then the making time. Treat the confirmation day as day zero and count working days back from Monday 9 November:
- Saver, 6 days: confirmed by Friday 30 October.
- Standard, 4 days: confirmed by Tuesday 3 November.
- Express, 2 days: confirmed by Thursday 5 November.
- Then the artwork. Uploading a file? Send it a day before those dates so a file query does not eat into the plan. Using paid design help? Add a few days for the rounds of changes.
Confirm by 30 October and the PTA pays the lowest price for exactly the same banner. Leave it until 5 November and Express still makes it. Leave it until the following Monday and nothing will reach the railings in time.
Delivery sits on top #
Turnaround ends when the courier collects. After that:
- Delivery usually takes 1 to 3 working days, and we email tracking on the way out.
- Long or heavy items go with a courier set up for large parcels, and need a signature.
- Northern Ireland, the Scottish islands, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight are quoted before ordering, so ask about timing at the same time.
Express speeds up making; it does not change the courier. Delivery is £7.95 to UK mainland addresses, or free on orders of £100 or more after discounts. Full details are on the delivery page.
Mixed orders and tight dates #
- Plan around the slowest item. A banner and a batch of NCR books on the same speed will not be ready together.
- Leave a fitting day. A banner that arrives the night before gives you no slack if a fixing is missing.
- Check the dates before choosing Saver in any week with a bank holiday.
- Send artwork with the order. Paying now and uploading next week means the count does not start until next week, whatever speed you ticked.
- Say if the date is fixed. If you are ordering for an opening or a match day with no wiggle room, get in touch before you pay and ask whether the date works.
How speed affects the bill is covered in how print pricing works, and the steps after you pay are in print order stages. If the working days to dispatch on a page do not fit your date, contact us before ordering and we will tell you straight what is possible.