alex

Congratulations, a wise choice. But where to begin? Research: You need to look into who you’re targeting, what competition you face and the quality of marquees you want to buy. Target Market: Weddings, parties, country fairs or maybe all 3. Weddings require a better quality finish (interior linings, flooring etc) than country fairs who generally […]

There are times when you have to put a marquee up and the customer isn’t around for whatever reason, my advice is to be very careful and have an accurate diagram or get the customer to mark out where it’s going. I remember I attended one wedding we did where the groom turned round halfway […]

Out of hours marquee cover is a nice selling point to offer customers, especially weddings. The downside to that is you have to man an out of hours number. Whilst the most important thing to emphasis to customers is that their marquee will meet their expectations everyone realises that problems can occur. Offering customers a […]

When you go out to see a customer as well as creating a good impression you obviously need to take a good look at where the marquee’s going. Ask the customer if there are any underground cables or pipes you should be aware of -if so have them clearly indicated on a diagram. If there […]

It’s good practice when you’ve finished a marquee (and before the event) to have a check list, one copy for the customer and one for you. What goes on a check list is entirely up to you but here’s some suggestions: It’s also good practice to have the emergency contact number on the bottom. Note […]

95% of the time anchoring a marquee down is very simple, just use a tie down kit with the marquee stakes knocked in to a lawn, this is very secure and the risk of underground pipes should be taken care of beforehand (generally in your terms and conditions of hire). Some companies do use a […]

One of our favourite customers has recently had a problem that is interesting to highlight for others in the industry. They erected a marquee for a client and left it well strapped down. The client then in all their wisdom decided to ‘borrow’ most of the tie downs to anchor down their own gazebos as […]

As with a lot of industries health and safety has become a bit of a nightmare, with ignorance no defence all you can do is try your best and hope nothing happens. The biggest health and safety issue I heard of was someone dying (yeh that’s pretty big) by touching an overheard power cable with […]

Most of this is taken (with permission) from our friends at Essential Supplies: Did you know: Under HSE guides and Electricity at Work Act you are responsible for the electrical safety of every electrical item your company owns. You must be able to prove that you have adequately tested all your portable electrical equipment whether […]

When starting a marquee hire business it’s worth having a chat with your local fire safety officer. In my experience they are very nice people and easy to talk to. Why talk to them? Well it’s always better to be prepared and to know what is expected of you. My personal recommendation is to have […]