A furniture hire tale
When you’ve been in the industry as long as we
have you will come across many tales of never to be forgotten, almost magical
events. But sadly not all of them have happy endings.
Now, you’ve probably wondered what goes into providing truly great furniture
hire, and the role it plays in making sure events are a success. If you
haven’t, I’d say it’s time you begun.
You see it doesn’t happen by chance. But there
are those who often chance their luck. This is a cautionary tale about those
who dare to do just that.
The following story happened not so long ago and
is a situation that perhaps you’ve been in yourself. For the story that you are
about to be told, took place as those involved prepared for one of the most
important events of the year.
Once upon a time there were
three successful event organisers. Their events had become so big that they now
attracted many people. The run up to the event in question began like any
other. All was going well, until the Wicked Boss arrived into the office and
demanded to know why they were wasting their time looking at stylish furniture.
"You need to go and just find the cheapest furniture – people will only be
sitting on it. And take care not to get caught out.”
Early the next morning, with ideas by the basket
full, they put on their red coats and set off.
On their search, they came
across a warehouse in a forest. So they went inside.
"My, what a big promises about customer service
you have,” one of them said. The furniture hire supplier rubbed his hands with
glee. "All the better to lure you in with,” came the reply. "My, what big prices
you have.” The supplier licked his lips. "All the better to make extra profit
with.” The organisers were a little hesitant, and rightly so. But there was
more. The longer they talked to him, the bigger his nose grew. Confused by what
was happening (and which fairy tale they were in), the organisers left to begin
making their plans – faced with three possible furniture hire suppliers to use.
Pretty soon, the furniture started arriving –
all except from one supplier. When some of the furniture failed to arrive, they
called. "We’ll huff and we’ll puff until they get delivered, if we have to,”
they said. Eventually it turned up.
As they were handed the paperwork from all three
suppliers, they compared the price they had paid with the quality of the
products in front of them. "These are too expensive!” they gasped. "These are
too cheap!” they said. "Ah… these are just right.”
Keen to see what the chairs looked like, they
took some from the first supplier into one of the rooms. "These chairs are the
wrong colour!” they exclaimed. So, they picked up the chairs from another
supplier and took them into second room. "These chairs look old and tired,”
they said. So, they turned to the last lot of chairs. "These are just right.”
Getting increasingly tired,
they turned their attention to the bar stools. "This stool is too
uncomfortable!” said one of them One of the others turned to the next bar
stool. "This stool is too uncomfortable, too!” she said. "But these ones are
just right.”
Okay, so this may be a tall
tale. In fact, for those of you who know your fairytales: it’s a little messed
up. But when it comes to organising furniture hire for your event, it’s
important to deal in fact, not make-believe. Making your own personal hire
story spectacular and ensuring you hire happily ever after requires specialist
knowledge and skills, and a dedicated team (sometimes seven of them – minus
Lazy and Dopey - other times more) who will do everything they can to deliver
the furniture you need, when and where it matters.
