-What’s in a name?

The birth of T L Marquee Hire

The Millennium

The year is 1999. Everybody is concerned about the ‘Millennium bug’ ruining computers. PayPal has been called one of the worst business ideas of the year. The Euro currency has recently been introduced, and DVD players are just starting to phase out VHS tapes. Here at Rathvilly Farm, our founders Tim & Louise Byrne are running a successful smallholding business supplying free-range eggs. Suffice to say, quite a lot has happened in the last 20 years or so. We caught up with Louise at her home in Milton Malsor for a coffee recently to reminisce. We talked about the beginnings of what has now become one of the leading marquee hire specialists in the Midlands.

Louise and her husband Tim bought Rathvilly Farm as a plot of land in 1992. Later, they built a house and ventured into the chicken farming business in the mid-1990s. While business was good, the entrepreneurial couple were always on the lookout for something new to try their hand at. With their daughter Jess’s 18th birthday fast approaching in 2001, the family were considering different ideas on how best to mark the occasion. It seems Jess had her sights set on something rather more glamorous than the village hall. What she really wanted was a marquee on her parents’ land. The family booked a couple of Northampton marquee hire meetings with a view to hiring, when, in true Tim and Louise fashion, the business cogs started turning.

The First Marquee

They immediately began researching the purchase of a used marquee for the big event, and had the idea of starting a Northampton marquee hire business aimed at local clients. It was a ‘suck it and see’ approach (Louise’s words!). Tim and Louise’s philosophy has always been: if you’re going to do something, do it properly. To make sure everything was just right (again, Louise’s words), they decided only a brand new marquee would fit the bill. Jess’s birthday party was due to take place in October 2001. The marquee was ordered well in advance – in fact, a whole year beforehand. Upon arrival, Louise recalls, the marquee was laid out on their lawn like a giant jigsaw puzzle with no instructions.

Prior to the big birthday, Tim and Louise had secured their first two bookings in 2000. Their very first paid event was held at Whittlebury Hall in Northampton. While the event itself went without a hitch, the setup was, well, interesting. With no suitable transport at the time and no paid staff, the Byrne family were mobilised as the crew. A vehicle was borrowed from the farm next door, with Tim, Louise and their son Joe all working to set up in the courtyard at Whittlebury. Louise recalls:

“The courtyard was in full view of all the hotel and spa guests. They all watched the unpacking and erection with interest.”

With the pressure on, there were more than a few ‘debates’, with Joe shouting over to his “Mum” before Tim interjected to insist he call her Louise – to appear more professional.

Market leaders

The setup lasted all day. For those interested, the same job undertaken by the experienced team today would take just two to three hours. The first full business year got off to a rocky start, with foot-and-mouth disease hitting in February 2001. Given the rural location of many events, bookings were scarce. By the time the 18th birthday came around in October, however, the crisis was nearing an end. In 2002, a marketing strategy was put in place, with advertisements appearing in the Yellow Pages, the local village magazine and the Chronicle & Echo. Louise recalls that she and Tim initially tried to come up with a catchy company name beginning with the letter ‘A’, to appear first in the Yellow Pages listings, before eventually abandoning the idea.

And so, T&L Marquee Hire was born. As the internet became more prominent, T&L’s first website was launched in the mid-2000s, eventually replacing paid advertising. By the time their son Joe joined the business full-time after graduating in 2004, T&L had become the preferred supplier to numerous high-profile country estates and well-known annual events. With the foundations of the family business firmly established, Joe stepped in to help lead the team into the next chapter. TL were now supplying marquees to events such as the Althorp Food Festival, Shambala and Bestival, as well as working with household-name corporate clients such as NEXT and Joules. All the while, the original T&L continued to take a keen interest, of course.