Choosing A Marquee Hire Company

Advice on Choosing a Dorset Marquee Hire Company
 
It is a mixed blessing that there are so many suppliers offering marquee hire in the Dorset area. It is good to have so much competition, as it means there is a great range of marquees and related services available, prices are likely to be lower due to it being so competitive, and you don’t have to deal with somebody you’d prefer not to, simply because there really isn’t another viable option. Then again, having more marquee hire companies to choose from needs more research, work and time from you when it comes to analysing the different companies, and making a judgement about which one(s) are worthy of your business, whether they have the necessary experience, equipment and reputation to be trusted with your event, and whether or not they will quote you a sensible price for it. To help you decide, we have listed below some important factors that you may want to take into account when deciding which Dorset marquee hire companies to approach:
 
- Confirm that the Dorset marquee hire company is fully insured, and that their marquees conforms to British Standards requirements.
 
- Are they experienced enough to trust your event to ? Have they been in the marquee hire business for very long, or if they are a newish company, do they employ staff and especially a site manager who are sufficiently experienced ?
 
- Are they reasonably local to you ? They might be prepared to travel a fair way to assemble and fit out Dorset marquees, 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 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 a key person is off sick ?
- What testimonials can they provide you with and how credible, relevant or recent are they ? Can you phone any of these testimonials to check them out ? Can you look at any marquees that they have constructed in your area of Dorset ?
- Do they have a wide enough range of marquee styles and sizes to choose from to ensure that they can supply you with a marquee that is just right for your event, instead of offering you something that “will do” because its the only one they have available ?

- Getting the correct size of marquee is very important. Too small and it can feel very crowded, or get uncomfortable. Too big and it is hard to get a good atmosphere because it looks and feels so empty. Can they advise on sizes and the internal layout of your Dorset marquee hire ?

- If you are not planning to erect the marquee on your own property, you will need a marquee venue in the Dorset area. Any marquee hire company in Dorset worth its salt, should be able to suggest suitable Dorset marquee venues, perhaps even some unusual, or little known ones. What can they suggest ?

- Will they be prepared to visit the marquee site to do a free site survey ?

- Are their Dorset marquees fairly new ? If their prices are significantly lower than others, it might be because of the age and condition of their equipment. It may not matter too much if it is for a beer tent, but will matter considerably if it is for a wedding. Just take this into account.

- Are they big enough to be able to supply 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 would you want to source and manage all these other services yourself?

- Remember that marquees need to be assembled before the event, and dismantled after it. How many days before the event will it need to be built, and how many days after will it be taken down ? Is this practical 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 find out what is negotiable.

- Why not phone 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 professionalism, and if they are really the sort of business you want to be dealing with.

- Give the marquee hire 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.

- Are their responses timely, positive and helpful ? Do they contact or visit you when they say they will ? Do you feel you can trust them, and that they are reliable, likeable and professional ?

- Will they have their representative “on site”, or “on call” during the event itself ? Would that make a difference to you ?

- How much do their rates vary depending on dates ? You can perhaps be a little flexible over precise dates if you knew how much difference it could make by moving things back or forwards a few weeks/months, or even doing it on a different day. Is a discount available for booking well ahead of time ?

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

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

Hopefully, you are now armed with enough information to help you start to evaluate and approach promising marquee hire suppliers in the Dorset area. We look forward to being put to the test, and hope to hear from you very soon.

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