Open Air Business April 2017
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glampsites, festivals and outdoor events
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glampsites, festivals and outdoor events
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opulent marquee offering beautiful<br />
views across the lake. We also have<br />
an abundance of other marquees<br />
available to hire, from the traditional<br />
pole style to the ultra-modern.<br />
In our woodland we offer team<br />
building, including quad trekking,<br />
laser clay shooting and archery<br />
amongst other things, and a new<br />
4x4 course is being planned for this<br />
year through 300,000 newly planted<br />
trees.<br />
What services do you offer?<br />
We offer events services both<br />
on- and off-site, and much of our<br />
equipment is for hire. On-site we<br />
host all manner of corporate events<br />
including conferences, product<br />
launches, team building and fun<br />
days but also cater for private<br />
functions such as weddings, parties,<br />
proms, award ceremonies, balls etc.<br />
We have two kitchens on-site, one<br />
servicing our restaurant and the<br />
other being much larger, catering for<br />
the bigger events. Our park area has<br />
electric and water points throughout<br />
and we have many marquees of<br />
varying sizes and styles available<br />
for hire.<br />
Describe how you researched and<br />
sourced your marquees<br />
We own our marquees but have<br />
had occasions where we’ve needed<br />
bespoke ones brought in for a<br />
specific event. We tend to use one<br />
company (Hoecker) for this who<br />
have catered for all our needs over<br />
the years.<br />
How do you work with your<br />
customers to make their event<br />
unique?<br />
Our creative events team is highly<br />
skilled, with a wealth of experience<br />
in designing and delivering bespoke<br />
events tailor made to meet our<br />
clients’ needs and budgets. Our<br />
motto is “nothing is impossible” and<br />
we encourage clients and staff alike<br />
to dream big. We work very closely<br />
with clients to ensure everything<br />
they desire is achieved. This<br />
approach is successfully evidenced<br />
in the feedback and outcomes of our<br />
events.<br />
We’ve seen a rising trend in<br />
customers wanting ‘out of the<br />
ordinary’ and that’s where we<br />
excel. We have a vast collection of<br />
equipment that we own ourselves<br />
and know what works well together<br />
and this is why customers come<br />
back year on year. For Example:<br />
› ACE - For a tennis loving couple<br />
wishing to get married, we created a<br />
tennis festival themed wedding with<br />
three marquee tournament zones,<br />
bouncy castles, giant deckchairs and<br />
picnic tables. We even built the bride<br />
and groom a pair of bespoke umpire<br />
chairs.<br />
› FUN, FUN, FUN - Last Summer we<br />
ran a corporate family fun day out<br />
on our park, complete with carousel,<br />
dodgems, zip wire, fire engine,<br />
party bus, cricket, quadding, 4x4<br />
driving, and ultimate wipe-out (as<br />
seen on TV). Out on the lake we had<br />
the pedalos and the pirate ship, so<br />
“WE’VE SEEN A<br />
RISING TREND<br />
IN CUSTOMERS<br />
WANTING<br />
‘OUT OF THE<br />
ORDINARY’<br />
AND THAT’S<br />
WHERE WE<br />
EXCEL”<br />
there was something for absolutely<br />
everyone. A fantastic day was had by<br />
all, and the customers are booking<br />
again this year.<br />
› CARRY ON CAMPING - We recently<br />
had a corporate event with all<br />
attendees wanting to do something<br />
different and to stay on site. We halffilled<br />
one of our event fields with<br />
five berth bell tents and additional<br />
toilet and shower blocks. The event<br />
itself was an exhibition, which we<br />
hosted in our giant marquee, and a<br />
conference was held in our Birchley<br />
Suite. It worked really well and the<br />
feedback was brilliant.<br />
How do you publicise yourself?<br />
We have tended to advertise on<br />
agency portals rather than in trade<br />
publications to date. A lot of our<br />
work comes from word of mouth<br />
or agents; however, we have grown<br />
so much over the years and want to<br />
continue to grow so are now looking<br />
at potential publication partners.<br />
How would you describe your<br />
‘style’ or unique selling point?<br />
We are adaptable for both small and<br />
large events both on- and off-site.