University of Northampton

In 2023 the country was hit by the RAAC concrete scandal, meaning 1000's of Universities, Colleges, Schools and institutions were forced to address the issue head on. This resulted in some of them closing for a long period of time to undertake essential remedial work. Among them was The Royal Derngate Theatre in Northampton.

The timing could not have been worse, particularly for the University of Northampton. The University have traditionally held their graduation event at Northampton's landmark theatre for over a decade - it's become a tradition. So when the worst happened, and the event was thrown into chaos, it was time for two more local leaders to ride to the rescue! Enter a world class premiership rugby team and the county's leading marquee company!

The class of 2020 at Northampton University were no strangers to bad luck, having started their further education journey during the COVID-19 emergency. With this in mind, the University, the Northampton Saints and T&L figured the students were more than deserving of a proper celebration.

All parties immediately got to work planning the short notice event to be held at the home of the Saints, the Cinch stadium. We supplied a 20m x 55m premium structure, complete with ABS walling, premium glass doors and a flat white interior roof and wall lining.  Lighting was provided via crystal chandeliers and heated by 6 thermostatically controlled oil fired heaters, all finished off with an anthracite carpet.

What followed was an event that everybody was incredibly proud to have been a part of. So much so that the University repeated the same format in 2024.

Following the event, we received the following testimonial from the University who also shared a touching email from one of their graduate's.

" To all at Northampton Saints and T&L Marquee Hire,

I wanted to pass on our heartfelt thanks to you for helping make last week the most enormous success and so enjoyable for our graduates.  Given where we were less than two months ago, I am not sure any of us could have anticipated being able to deliver such a successful event. But with the hard work, flexibility and support of you, we were able to exceed expectations.

I am still very tired (as I am sure you are!) so I'm not as eloquent as I might be in expressing our thanks.  So, I thought I would pass on the words of one of our graduates from last week, which really illustrates the impact of us all working together as a single team to deliver for this deserving group of graduates, who have experienced significant disruption during their studies.

I just wanted to email to congratulate the whole team on a fantastic graduation ceremony. I was very anxious as we left our hotel later than I wanted to on Friday morning (17th November) and due to traffic looked like I wouldn't make the timings set out for gowning etc. However, from the moment I arrived at the car park I was immediately reassured by all the attendants to not panic, everything would be fine. The lady directing us into the car park was so cheery with a bright smile, the lovely gentlemen directing us along the walk to the stadium and marquee and the lovely gentleman who told me to hop on the golf buggy so he could get me there quickly started to ease my anxiety. The gowning team were exceptional, cheery bright smiles, calming talk, constantly telling me not to panic as there was plenty of time. I was gowned so efficiently and calmly that by the time I was seated my anxiety had melted away and all I had to worry about was not falling over on the stage! The lovely gentleman ensuring the gowns looked perfect for our walk across the stage and the myriad of congratulations felt so genuine and heart-warming it was hard to feel anxious and nervous and the smile on my face was easy to achieve.

Thank you so much for making what started as a stressful morning into a fantastic experience.

Please could you pass my heartfelt thanks along to every agency/company involved in the very efficient, smooth and calming running of the morning.

With immense gratitude,

Please do pass this graduates email on to the team at the Saints and T&L, along with our thanks to them for giving our graduates the best possible day and being a pleasure for us to work alongside."