Peppers Marquees given the Royal Warrant

Peppers Marquees, of Snaith near Goole, is the latest company to join more than 170 suppliers of goods and services who are entitled to display the distinctive Prince of Wales’s emblem of three feathers on stationery, vehicles and promotional material. Warrants are also granted by HM the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Stuart Pepper, the third generation managing director of the company, said: “We are honoured and delighted to have been granted a Royal Warrant as the supplier of marquees to the Prince of Wales, at Royal residences including Clarence House, Highgrove, Dumfries House and Balmoral.”

Royal Warrants are initially granted for five years and currently there are a total of 850 companies holding warrants covering a wide cross-section of British trade and industry. They range from fishmongers and dry cleaners and from agricultural machinery to computer software.

The business was established almost a century ago, supplying canvas marquees, principally to local agricultural shows and fetes. Today, marquees are more robust aluminium structures available in many shapes, with spans of 50 metres and internal heights of 17 metres, and can be erected in challenging locations.

In addition to providing structures for functions hosted by the Royal Family, the company supplies marquees to a wide range of clients in the UK, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia.

The company’s marquees have been used on the roof of Selfridges store in London’s Oxford Street, at the former Waterloo Eurostar terminal which was transformed into a multi-level party venue, a chateau on the Cote d’Azur, a mountain side in the Swiss Alps and many stately homes including Chatsworth House.

Earlier this year, Peppers supplied a 1,200 square metre transparent marquee for the launch of an international fashion label’s new designs at London Fashion Week.

Summer is traditionally the busiest time of the year for the company when the number of employees rises to 120 with permanent staff being supplemented by agency employees.

In recent years the UK has accounted for some 70 per cent of Peppers overall business annually with the balance derived from overseas contracts. Those proportions look set to change over the next few years since Peppers sees the prospect of a growth in business from overseas markets, especially from emerging economies.

The company’s forte has been, and continues to be, providing structures to the ‘high- end’ and bespoke private event market. It plans to build on its established reputation in those areas.