Choosing a Marquee Hire Company

How to Choose a Kent Marquee Hire Company

It is a mixed blessing that there are so many companies offering to hire Kent marquees. It is good to have so much competition, because it means there is a great range of marquees and related services out there, prices are likely to be lower due to it being so competitive, and you don’t have to put up with someone you’d prefer not to deal with, because there isn’t really anyone else . Then again, having more companies to choose from involves much more research, work and time on your part trying to evaluate the various companies, and making a judgement about which one(s) are worth asking for a quote,  whether they have the necessary experience, equipment and reputation to be trusted with your event, and if they will quote you a good price for it. To help you decide, we have listed below some important factors that you can take into account when deciding which marquee hire companies to approach:

- Confirm that the marquee hire company is fully insured, and that their Kent marquees conform to British Standards specifications.

- How long has the supplier been in the marquee hire business ? Do you feel they are experienced enough to trust your event to ? (If they are a fairly new company, be sure that they at least have a site manager who is experienced).

- What testimonials can they provide from previous customers in the Kent area ? Can you phone a couple of these so-called testimonials for verification ? Do they have, or will they have shortly any marquees erected in your area of Kent that you could view ?

- Are they reasonably local to you ? They might be willing to travel a long way to erect and fit out your Kent marquee hire, but there are a lot of logistics involved in erecting and dismantling marquees, and the further they have to travel, the more potential there is for something to go wrong.

- Ask how much deposit you have to pay, whether it is refundable under any circumstances, and when does the balance for the marquee hire need to be paid by?

- Is the company large enough to cope with a key individual suddenly being unavailable at the time of your event ? What contingencies do they have in place to provide you with the reassurance that your event will be unaffected if somebody is off sick ?

- Is their range of marquees wide enough to provide you with one that is exactly what you want, or perfectly suitable for your event ?

- Can they help you establish the right size of marquee hire for your Kent event, and advise on the internal layout? The right size is important because if its too small people will feel crowded, and if its too large, it will feel empty and lack atmosphere.

- Any good marquee hire company should be able to suggest or recommend some suitable and even unusual or little known venues for a marquee hire in Kent and the surrounding areas. Can they ?

- Will they be prepared to visit your marquee site with regard to a free site survey ?

- Will they have a site manager “on site”, or “on call” during the event itself ?

- How old are their Kent marquees? Their prices might be cheaper due to the condition and age of their equipment? (That may not matter too much if the marquee is for a beer tent, but it will make a great difference if it is for a wedding or corporate event where you want to create a great impression).

- Are they large enough to be able to provide you (either directly, or through their contacts) with all the other things your marquee hire might entail (eg. furniture hire, marquee linings, flooring, catering, mobile bar, portable toilets, lighting, staging, fencing, generator, skip hire etc, or do you want to source and manage all these other services yourself?

- Bear in mind that marquees need to be built before the event, and taken down after it. How many days before the event will it need to be erected, and how many days after will it be taken down ? Is this suitable for you, and can they be flexible at all ? It might be useful to have it for an extra day (especially at weekends), but you might want shot of it the following day. Establish what is possible, decide what is desirable and discover what is negotiable.

- Why not telephone them first instead of rushing to submit your details by email ? The length of time they take to answer their phone, and their telephone manner may help you to assess their level of professionalism, and if they are really the sort of enterprise you want to be dealing with over the period between now and the event.

- Do they deliver on their promises to email, visit or phone you by, or on a certain date ? Are their responses constructive and helpful ? Do you feel more comfortable about trusting them with your marquee hire in Kent with each new each contact, or less so ?

- Give the company as many details as you can about your requirements, eg. date, type of event, number of guests, seated or standing etc, but be receptive to their suggestions and solutions and try and benefit from their ideas and experience. Which company is the most creative or pro-active in coming up with suggestions.

- Can they offer a discount if you booked well in advance ? If you are prepared to be a bit flexible by moving the date of your event, you could perhaps benefit by a lower seasonal rate. Do they have seasonal variations in rates, or reduced ones on certain days of the week and what are they ?

- It is vital that you get a detailed breakdown of exactly what the price includes from each supplier, so that you can compare quotes fairly. Does it include a marquee lining, flooring, VAT, travel expenses, site clean-up etc ? Marquee hire can entail many different components, so don’t make assumptions about what is included and what isn’t.

Hopefully, you will now have enough information to help you start to evaluate and approach promising marquee hire suppliers in the Kent area. We look forward to being put to the test, and hope to hear from you shortly.

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