You may well have seen the name Chelsea Hire before, and know that they are marquee hire specialists, but you may not be aware of how the name came to be. 

Colin and Margaret Newman used to set up the scouts marquees every year in Hardingstone way back when their kids were young, and with this experience, they initially started the business in 1992, naming it after the Cub Leaders daughter, Chelsea!

They purchased 3 marquees, 70 of everything to fill them, stuck a small advert in the Yellow Pages and hoped for the best!

Things really did take off and within 5 years they had outgrown 2 premises, increasing their stock to 40 marquees and the 70 of everything has now become 3,000! They now employ 9 full time people and up to 20 members of staff in the summer.  They provide the largest marquees in Northampton and erect the biggest number of marquees in Northamptonshire!

Chris Newman joined the family business from University in 1997, swiftly followed by his brother Glenn, in 2001, although their roles within the company are very different.

Glenn’s role was to develop the ‘laundry’ side of the business and has gained contracts with many Hotels, Restaurants, Stately Homes to launder their ‘flat’ items, such as bedlinen, napkins and towels.  Chances are that the napkin you use in a Restaurant in town will have been laundered by Chelsea Hire!

Chris, on the other hand, is responsible for the events side of the business.  Chris says ‘we pay a great deal of attention to detail.  We keep in touch with new trends in order to keep ahead of the game. For instance, there is a trend at the moment to drape rooms inside a venue, which achieves the elegance of a marquee but without the price.  We are passionate about the service we provide.’

‘Sometimes it gets heavy going.  Once we had 38 marquees to erect in one week – that was tough, but we managed it!’

There have been some funny incidents along the way – Chris was once chased by a Rotweiler and ended up jumping into a field of sheep to get away!

Colin and Margaret should be very proud of what they have achieved – a thriving business, a great reputation and 2 wonderful sons with vision and valour.