A compliant spacer (20) which, in use, is located between planar surfaces (18a, 18b) of two machine elements (11, 12) which are, in use, clamped together in an assembly (10), the spacer (20) having a first generally planar face (22) and a second oppositely facing generally planar face (23) which is generally parallel to the first generally planar face (22), each of the first and second generally planar faces (22, 23) having a plurality of raised regions (25, 28), the raised regions (25) of the first face (22) being offset with respect to the raised regions (28) of the second face (23), so that as the two machine elements (11, 12) are clamped together with the spacer (20) therebetween, the spacer (20) deforms out of plane to maintain the clamping load in use, and each raised region (25, 28) including a bearing surface (30) and edge regions (31, 32) where the raised region (25, 28) joins the respective planar face (22, 23) of the spacer (20), the bearing surface (30) being generally planar and parallel to the first and second planar faces (22, 23), and the edge regions (31, 32) of the raised regions (25, 28) melding smoothly into the respective planar face (22, 23) of the spacer (20) without any sharp discontinuity.