Marquee Hire Opportunities
There are many different types of events and celebrations that a person or a business might need to use a marquee for, and they’ll have a specific idea in mind of what they want to do. However, many event hiring businesses aren’t simply leaving it to the client to have the ideas. During the various nationwide lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, the rise of the home and garden celebration meant that people were thinking outside of the box more and more often, coming up with inventive ways of bringing their usual sources of entertainment to their gardens to ensure they were celebrating safely within the rules, and this continued long after the restrictions were lifted. This is a quick guide to the marquee hire opportunities for event professionals to get stuck into.
Weddings
One of the most popular events that a marquee will be used for is a wedding. They offer a great low cost versatility when it comes to location of the wedding breakfast, and are effectively a blank canvas when it comes to decoration, which gives your customers greater control than they perhaps would with a sterile hotel function room. Gala Tent marquees have featured several times on popular TV show Don’t Tell the Bride, where grooms are tasked with organising weddings behind their bride-to-be’s back on a low budget, which is testament to both their cost-effectiveness and ability to be turned into almost anything inside.
Festivals
Another very popular application for marquees has been festivals of all sizes, with smaller structures used as bars, merchandise, and activity tents, and larger structures used as cover for small stages. Tramlines Festival in Sheffield, for example, is covered by one of Gala Tent’s established partners by the name of Totally Gazeboed. Finding a contract like this can go a long way to creating long-term sustainability for your business.
Beyond music festivals, you should also look to secure partners and contacts that operate and promote food and drink festivals. If you’ve ever been to a Beer Festival, for example, you’ll notice that there is more often than not a large beer tent. Gala Tent Fusion Marquees are ideal for this kind of application, as they go up to a massive 9m x 30m and beyond, giving enough coverage for several hundred people.
Birthdays and Other Private Parties
For one-off celebrations, such as the annual birthday or anniversary party, marquees are an incredibly popular piece of kit. Annual celebrations are ripe for event planners and marquee hirers to generate plenty of business through customers who do not want the burden of year-round maintenance that comes with ownership. They’d rather pay for the benefit of somebody to come and erect it, and then take it away at the end of the event.
This is where you come in, and where you have the opportunity to upsell decorations and furniture to them for a whole package deal. You’d also include celebrations such as Bar Mitzvahs and Christenings in this type of offering.
Corporate Events
Another great money-spinner for you as an event and marquee hire business would be to cater for corporate events, such as charity auctions, awards ceremonies, and end-of-year parties.
Some businesses may look to purchase a tent for continued use, but more often than not they will look to rent out a marquee along with the other accessories and furniture, as they don’t want the hassle of setting everything up when they already have their own work to do. You’ll put yourself in a great position if you already have a strategic partnership with a catering company who can provide food and drinks. Business customers really do love a supplier who can act as the one-stop-shop.
Seasonal Council Events
Many council and government authorities promote opportunities online, and they’ll come in the form of tenders that you will need to apply to be considered for. These events might include supplying a large marquee capable of hosting an ice rink for a town or city centre Winter Wonderland, or a semi-permanent structure to host an OktoberFest celebration. Visit the Government website or find sites which source suitable tenders, and get applying.
Agricultural Shows and Fayres
There are hundreds, if not thousands of rural villages and towns that will host annual fayres and fetes. Whether they’re a small event, offering spaces to crafts and food retailers, or they’re a large-scale, long-running annual agricultural celebration with auctions and animal shows in a massive country ground; if you find and secure friends and contacts within these sectors, you can add another solid stream of income to your brand.
If you’re close to any of the rural countryside, then look at what’s in your area.
As a hirer, these are the kinds of gigs that will become your bread and butter, but it does pay to be creative, and put some effort into digging out niche events and applications that somebody hasn’t yet thought of. If you get one request from an industry you’ve never dealt with before, or for an event you’ve never catered to before, don’t see it as a one off. Use that experience to find yourself a new pond to go fishing in, and see what you can catch. To discuss launching your Marquee Hire business and taking your investment even further, why not give our team a call on 01709 242454 or request a callback via the form.
