Choosing a Marquee Hire Company

Choosing Between Sussex Marquee Hire Companies

There are lots of firms providing marquee hire in Sussex, which itself is a mixed blessing. If there weren’t a lot of marquee hire companies to select from, the choice of Sussex marquees and related services would be much less, the cost would be higher due to less competition, and you could well have to put up with some things that you wish you didn’t have to because, you really didn’t have much alternative. You are lucky therefore not to be in this situation. On the other hand, due to the large number of companies offering Sussex marquee hire, it will require more effort from you to identify a suitable supplier that you trust to have the responsibility for making certain your particular event is an unqualified success. Listed below are some criteria that you may find helpful in identifying suitable companies.

- Be sure that the marquee hire company is fully insured, and that their Sussex marquees conforms to British Standards specifications.

- Can they provide you with testimonials from people in your area of Sussex who they have supplied a marquee to? Ask for phone numbers of people you can call for verification. Ask them if they have any marquees currently erected in your area (or about to be) that you could view.

- Are they experienced enough to trust them with your event ? Have they been in the marquee hire business for long, or if they are a fairly new company, do they employ staff and especially a site manager who are sufficiently experienced ?

- Are they reasonably local to you ? They may be ready to travel a long distance to assemble and fit out your marquee in Sussex, but there are a lot of logistics involved in erecting and dismantling marquees, and the further they have to travel from their base, the more potential there is for something to go wrong.

- Is the company big enough to cope with a key member of their staff 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 ?

- If you have some flexibility over dates, ask them if their rates vary during the year. Ask them if they offer a price reduction if you book well ahead?

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

- Can they provide advice on the right size of marquee hire and the internal layout of the marquee for your Sussex event? It is important you get the size of the marquee right. If it is too small, guests will feel too crowded, too big and it will too empty, and it will make it harder to create any atmosphere.

- Can they arrange a free site survey?

- If you don’t want to have the marquee on your own property, you will need a marquee venue in the Sussex area. Any marquee hire company in Sussex should be able to recommend suitable locations, perhaps even some unusual, or little known ones. Can they ?

- Are their prices lower because their marquees are older or in poorer condition than others you have been quoted for ? You must establish the age and condition of any marquee, furniture or equipment you hire.

- It is most likely that your event will require other accessories and services apart from the marquee itself. For example, marquee furniture, bar, catering, toilets, generator, staging, fencing, flowers, lighting, music etc. You may be completely happy to organise all of these yourself, but if not, and you’d prefer one company to handle everything for you, is this company big enough to do it ?

- Keep in mind that marquees need to be built before the event, and dismantled after it. How many days before the event will it need to be erected, and how many days after will it be dismantled ? Is this convenient for you, and is there any room for flexibility ? 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 see what is negotiable.

- Is their telephone manner professional and does it inspire confidence ? Why not telephone them before submitting your details by email, just to try and get a feel for the sort of company you are dealing with, and might be working quite closely with between now and the event itself ? A few minutes on the phone can often tell you more than a time-consuming and ultimately futile exchange of emails.

- Give them 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.

- Do they respond positively, quickly and helpfully to your requests, and phone or visit you when they say they will? Would you say they are professional, reliable and likeable? Do you feel comfortable with them?

- Will they have their site manager on site, or on call during your Sussex event?

- 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?

- As one of the most important factors to consider when making your decision about which marquee company to hire will be price, it is important that you understand exactly what the price includes. Does the price include a marquee lining, flooring etc? Does it include clearing all the rubbish from the site afterwards? Does it include travelling expenses, VAT etc). You must get a detailed quote in writing, so that you can make meaningful comprisons between quotes.

We hope you found the above information helpful, and look forward to being put to the test with a phone call from you very soon.

For East Sussex / West Sussex Marquee Hire in Brighton, Hove, Horsham, Chichester, Crawley, Bognor Regis, Arundel, Hastings, Horley, Haywoods Heath, Gatwick, Lewes, Littlehampton, Worthing, Peacehaven, Eastbourne, Bexhill, Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Billingshurst, Rye, Heathfield, Shoreham-by-Sea, Steyning, South Harting, Crowborough,  Forest Row, Uckfield and all surrounding areas.