# Corporate Marquees: What to Ask Before You Book
A corporate marquee event is a different brief from a private wedding. The guests may not know each other. The client — your employer or your client — is scrutinising the logistics in a way that a wedding couple does not. There is no grace period on the day: the AV works, the catering runs to time, the structure is what was agreed, or you hear about it.
This checklist is written for event planners and PAs commissioning a marquee. It covers the questions that matter — the ones that make a corporate event run well and protect you if something does not go to plan.
Insurance and liability
Does the marquee company carry public liability insurance?
This is non-negotiable. Any professional marquee company will carry public liability insurance; the question is the level of cover. For corporate events, £5 million is a standard minimum, and some corporate venues or clients will require £10 million. Ask for the certificate and check the limit.
Does the insurance cover the structure and the contents?
Public liability covers injury or damage to third parties. Equipment insurance covers the marquee company's own kit. Neither automatically covers client equipment, client stock, or the personal property of guests. If you are placing valuable AV equipment or branded assets inside the structure, your own event insurance policy should cover those.
Who is liable if the structure fails?
A reputable marquee company will carry engineering sign-off on their structures and will be transparent about the wind and load ratings of the equipment they are using. Ask. If the answer is vague, that is useful information.
Power specification
What is the power load for the event, and how is it supplied?
Corporate events frequently have higher power demands than weddings — heavy AV, production lighting, catering equipment, potentially multiple branded installations. The power specification needs to be confirmed early, based on a written load list from every supplier drawing power inside the structure.
Who is responsible for the power distribution inside the structure?
Your marquee company should supply and manage the distribution boards and cable runs inside the structure. AV and catering suppliers connect to those circuits. Confirm this arrangement explicitly — in complex corporate setups, it is easy for the accountability to fall into a gap between suppliers.
Is there a backup plan for power failure?
For a corporate event with a live audience and a schedule, a generator failure during a keynote speech is a significant problem. Ask whether redundancy is available — a second generator on standby, or a switchover arrangement with the building's mains supply.
Accessibility
Is the structure and site accessible for guests with mobility requirements?
A marquee on grass presents specific accessibility challenges: the transition from hard ground to flooring, the entrance threshold, and the floor surface itself. Ask what the marquee company provides as standard and what adaptations are available — ramped entrances, hard paths across grass, flooring that is stable underfoot for wheelchair users.
Are the toilets and welfare facilities accessible?
If you are providing welfare facilities rather than using a building's existing provision, confirm that accessible toilets are available and positioned sensibly relative to the structure.
Is the car park or arrival area accessible?
For a corporate event, arrival and car parking are part of the guest experience. Hard standing or temporary surfacing for a grass car park may be required. Confirm with the venue and the marquee company.
Branding and AV
Can the structure accommodate branded graphics and production elements?
A corporate marquee frequently needs to carry brand graphics — hanging banners, stage backdrops, LED walls. The rigging points available within a clear-span structure are different from those in a traditional pole marquee, and the load-bearing capacity of the frame is finite. Share your production brief with the marquee company before confirming the structure type.
Has the AV supplier been briefed on the structural dimensions?
Ceiling height, rig point positions, and the cable management arrangements within the structure are all things the AV company needs to know. The marquee company should provide these details; the AV company should confirm their equipment specification against them. This conversation should happen at the planning stage, not on build day.
Weather contingency
What is the plan if the weather is severe on the event day?
A marquee is a weatherproof structure. The practical considerations in bad weather are: the ground outside the structure (guests arriving across wet grass, car parking on soft ground), heating capacity, and the entrance arrangement. A well-planned corporate event has a written contingency for each of these.
What wind speeds is the structure rated for?
This is worth knowing. Temporary structures are engineered to defined load standards. For corporate events with a large number of guests, knowing the structural rating — and that your event is within it — is reasonable due diligence.
Timeline and build access
When can the marquee company access the site, and how long does the build take?
Corporate venues — hotels, campuses, sports grounds — frequently have constraints on when suppliers can access the site. The marquee build needs to happen before any other supplier begins dressing the interior. Confirm the access window with the venue and share it with the marquee company at the outset.
When does the breakdown need to be complete?
Venues have business to return to. A conference centre wants its car park back; a hotel wants its grounds clear for the next event. The breakdown window is as important as the build window, and it is worth confirming before anything is signed.
What is the site reinstatement standard?
Corporate venues and corporate clients have expectations about the condition of the site after the event. Confirm with the marquee company what their reinstatement standard is — and whether any groundwork or lawn repair is their responsibility or yours.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should a corporate marquee be booked?
For events in peak season (May to September), three to six months is a realistic minimum for a well-specified corporate event. Events with complex production requirements, large guest counts, or constrained venue access benefit from a longer lead time. The marquee company will tell you honestly at the enquiry stage whether the timeline is achievable.
Can a marquee be erected on a car park or other hard standing?
Yes. Clear-span structures can be erected on hard standing using ballast weights rather than ground anchors. This is common for urban corporate events on car parks, plazas, and rooftop terraces (subject to structural load assessment). The marquee company should confirm the ballasting approach for any non-grass site.
What documentation should I ask a marquee company to provide?
For a corporate event, the following are reasonable to request: public liability insurance certificate, equipment insurance details, proof of structural engineering sign-off for the specific structure type, and a written risk assessment for the event. A professional company will produce all of these without hesitation.
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