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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I book?

I'm not sure what to order, I have never organised a party before, can you assist?

Why do I need to pay a deposit?

What are the rules on deliveries and collections to a particular site?

What happens if I break or lose some of your equipment?

Do I have to check everything that is delivered to make sure my order is correct?

I want something that is not in your catalogue, can you help?

How long is the hire for?

I would like to pick up my order from you, will it fit in my car?

I am having a big party at home where I will be preparing a lot of the food myself. What are the obvious pitfalls?

I am preparing a lot of hot food and I need to keep it warm during service, any ideas?

I'm confused about how many people will fit around a table, should I have round or oblong tables and what table cloths do I need?

I need to serve coffee and tea to a lot of people at the same time. How can I do this?

One of my guests has spilt red wine on your linen tablecloths, should I put it through my washing machine?

A; - Telephone our office on 01209 212794 and we will take your order over the telephone, and confirm total cost. Alternatively fill in the hire enquiry form and post or fax it to us. Or use internet facilities if available at our website address www.abbottseventhire.co.uk and email order with your details.

A; - At Abbotts Event Hire we have the expertise to assist you in designing, planning and the set up of your event, we would be pleased to help you with your choice and quantities of equipment.

A; - We ask for a deposit for every hire unless you have a credit account with us. The deposit can be in a cheque format, debit or credit card. If you use a cheque, we do not bank it, it is simply held until our equipment is returned to us, and then we return it to you. If there are any shortages or breakages we can take the replacement charges out of your deposit payment. The minimum deposit is £50.00 for small orders, but we do charge more of a deposit if your order is larger (proportional to the total hire cost).

A; - Our delivery is to your door at ground floor level, however we will deliver to your specific requirements with in reason but we reserve the right to charge more. Once are goods have been signed for the signatory/hirer is responsible for the security of items until we collect them. Please remember that when deliveries are made to marquees the area may not be secure. Make sure you have adequate insurance.
Our equipment is supplied in protective boxes. We ask that once the equipment has been used, it is replaced in the boxes ready for our collection. If our driver returns to collect the equipment and finds that it has not been packed, we reserve the right to charge extra for his time.

A; - We strongly recommend that you take out your own insurance against breakages and losses especially if you are hiring a large quantity of equipment. We will be able to give you an amount to insure against. We have replacement costs for all our equipment, so if any item is broken or lost, we would ask you to pay the replacement cost. It is possible that an item has been misplaced which turns up after our driver has collected. It is your responsibility to return any such item to our warehouse, if you require us to return to collect such an item we will have to make an extra charge.

A; - Before signing for a delivery we ask that you check the items against the delivery note, the driver will go through it with you. Once you have signed you are responsible for these items. Your order will have been checked and double checked at our warehouse before we leave so mistakes are rare but can happen. If we find a shortage we will collect the missing item from our warehouse and return immediately. However once you have checked and signed our delivery note if a shortage then appears, we can no longer accept this as a valid claim.

A; - We are constantly updating are product portfolio and introducing new lines. Please ask us, if we haven't got what you are looking for, we may be able to source it from one of our suppliers.

A; - The standard hire is a 72 hour period which is our minimum rate (e.g. pick up one day, use the next, return the following day) or a full weekend (e.g. pick up Friday, return Monday). In the case of Bank Holidays return on Tuesday.
The second rate is for 5 Days and then weekly (7 Days). Additional days are available on request. We will also consider long term hire periods, please ask.

A; - Please telephone us and we will advise you as to whether it will fit safely in your vehicle. Most orders of crockery and glassware will fit in a boot quite easily, but other items such as furniture and cooking appliances will require a van.

A; - The most important thing to remember when preparing lots of food is to have sufficient refrigerated storage. Your domestic fridge in your kitchen is fine for your normal day to day requirements, but will struggle to cope with large quantities of freshly prepared food. Our fridges are commercially graded refrigeration with larger capacities and are ideal for this.

A; - Firstly, do you have enough oven space to cook the food? If no, then we have a couple of options either a small table top electric oven, or a larger propane gas cooking range which will give you not only an additional oven but also 6 high power cooking rings.
Once you have prepared your food you will need to keep it hot until served. We have available a table top heated servery unit suitable for casserole dishes, and keeping joints of meat hot ready for carving. Chafing Dishes are very useful for keeping casseroles, curries, vegetables, meat and rice dishes hot. We also have electric Bain Maries, which are suited to keeping liquid dishes hot. Lastly we have mobile heated Trolleys for storage of large quantities of hot prepared food.

A; - 2ft 6" x 2ft 6" square tables are suitable for 4 people with a buffet style menu or for a drinks party. They will require a 54" x 54" Tablecloth.
4ft 6" x 2ft 6" oblong tables are suitable for 4 people with a dining menu or used to make banquet table layouts. They will require 70" x 90" Tablecloth.
6ft x 2ft 6" oblong tables are suitable for 6 people with a dining menu or used to make banquet table layouts. They will require 70" x 108" Tablecloth.
Oblong tables are suitable for setting up buffet table runs.
5ft diameter round tables are suitable for 8 people sitting comfortably. These tables are excellent for large parties, weddings etc. They will require 88" diameter Tablecloth.
6ft diameter round tables are suitable for 10 people sitting comfortably. These tables are excellent for large parties, weddings etc. They will require 104" diameter Tablecloth.
This is a brief résumé of what each type of table is suitable for together with tablecloth sizing. However please feel free to call and we will be glad to assist you in your planning.

A; - We have various types of beverage equipment. Coffee peculators are excellent for preparing and storing of freshly ground coffee. Alternatively we have Filter Coffee machines with easy to use coffee jugs. If you prefer to serve instant tea and coffee we have various size water boilers in electric or gas. When large quantities of hot beverages are required to be served at the same time we have thermos type Airpots and beverage servers.

A; - There is no need. Our laundry process will remove red wine stains. However we request that you do not pack wet or damp linen back in our laundry bags. Just hang it up to dry. When damp linen is packed in laundry bags it very quickly produces mould deposits, which is impossible to remove and will result in the cloth being unusable. We will charge replacement costs for linen returned in an unusable state.