Costume Characters.
Costume characters are performers who wear a brand mascot, a licensed favourite or a themed outfit at a live event, giving people something to walk over to, photograph and talk about afterwards. We supply them across the UK to brands, retailers and the agencies that run their campaigns.
We supply costume character staff for brand mascots and themed characters
Wearing the suit is the easy part. The job is staying in role from the first wave to the last photo, playing to whoever turns up, whether the head on top belongs to your own mascot, a character a retailer holds the rights to or something made for one launch.
Mascot performers are picked against your brief from a register of more than 6,000 people, drawn from 40 UK hubs, for one shop morning or a string of dates around the country.
Never Out In The Suit Alone
Nobody we place goes out in costume without a chaperone alongside. If someone from your side will do that job, say so in the brief and we price it without one.
Cleared To Perform
Each performer's Right to Work and ID is confirmed, and Employer and Public Liability insurance protects each appearance. If you need DBS checks or risk assessments, they are available on request.
Knows The Character First
You fill in a briefing form about the character, the brand and the crowd you expect. Each performer then sits a session built on your answers before the event begins.
Tax And HR Sorted Here
Performers are paid through our PAYE, and their tax, their HR and their National Insurance stay with our own people in house rather than landing with you.
The mascot characters we supply
Six kinds of booking we take on most often. The costume itself comes from you; we put the right person inside it and someone trusted next to them.
Tell us your character →Your brand mascot
The suit your company owns, worn by a performer briefed on how that character moves, says hello without words and holds a pose for the camera.
Licensed favourites
Characters from film, TV and toy ranges, appearing for retailers that hold the rights. The Entertainer has booked performers like these for character days in its shops.
Seasonal characters
Christmas, Easter and Halloween appearances, from a single grotto weekend to a run of Saturdays across the busy weeks before a holiday.
Walkabout characters
Roaming through a shopping centre, a showground or a fan zone, stopping for photos wherever a small crowd forms, or heading out on the road with a roadshow marketing tour.
Opening day arrivals
A character turning up at the doors of a new shop or a product reveal, the moment people film and share, booked on its own or within a wider brand activation.
Chaperones
The second person on a character booking, who stays at the performer's side from the moment the head goes on until it comes off again.
I have worked with Executional now for a number of years and have nothing but positive reviews.
Recent work from our costume staff
Character days in toy shops, mascots working the crowd at supplier days, and shop launches with a famous face at the door. Open any tile for the full story of that job.
See all our recent work →
Hire costume characters in four steps
One character for a Saturday or several across a month of dates, the order of things stays the same, from your first message through to the day.
The character brief
Send us the character, the place and date, how long each appearance runs and how many performers you would like, plus whether a chaperone from your side will be there.
Costs laid open
A transparent quote arrives fully itemised, so each day rate, each hour and each on-cost is visible and nothing is hidden. How you are billed is fixed inside that quote ahead of any work.
Performers chosen
Our operations team selects performers for their time in character, their skills and where they live. With the quote approved, an account manager is named for your booking.
Briefed and in costume
Every performer is briefed in a session shaped by your form, with online or in-house training available if you want it. A project manager runs things on the day itself, backed by a reminder before each shift, check-ins that carry a geo-tag, attendance watched live and someone to call day or night.
Great company with great staff. We have used Executional for various different roles and occasions and we couldn't recommend them more. The staff and actors are always extremely helpful and professional.
Most recently I used Executional promo staff for a store opening and they were fantastic! Nothing was too much trouble and everything ran so smoothly. Tim is fantastic with communication and always fast to reply.
Hire mascots, fully itemised and quoted fast
Give us the character, where it is going, which dates and what times, and how many performers each day needs. Your quote comes straight back.
Prefer to talk the character through? Head Office Line 0113 479 0075, London office 0203 026 1069.
Walkabout characters and mascots: your questions
The things brands most often check with us before a character goes out, answered plainly.
What do costume characters add to a brand event?
Attention, mostly. A character gives passers-by a reason to stop, a photo to take away and something to tell friends about, which helps a brand get noticed in a busy space. The performer keeps that going for the length of each appearance.
Do you provide the costumes?
The costume comes from you, whether that is your own branded mascot suit or a licensed character you have arranged with the rights holder. Our side is the performer who wears it and the chaperone who goes with them.
Does every performer come with a chaperone?
Yes, unless you bring your own. We do not send anyone out in costume without a chaperone beside them. If a member of your team will take that role, flag it in your brief and we leave the chaperone off your quote.
Can I hire a mascot for a single day?
Yes. One appearance on one day is as ordinary a booking for us as a run of weekends. Give us the date and the times and the quote covers just those.
How much does a costume character cost?
It depends on the hours, how many performers and chaperones you need and where the appearances are. You set those in your brief, and your quote is built from them.
Can you supply mascot performers at short notice?
Often, yes. We take late bookings, although the sooner we hear from you, the wider the pool of performers we can choose from.
Can the same performer appear on every date?
Yes, if you ask for it. Some brands want one familiar face in the suit for a whole run of dates. Write that into your brief and it gets priced that way.
How far around the country will you send a character?
Anywhere, from our 40 staffing hubs. Four big cities also have dedicated pages: event staff London, event staff Birmingham, event staff Manchester and promotional staff Leeds.
Characters we have supplied for
