1) How did you hear about working for Hotel Bell Tent?
George: I actually used to deliver them sandwiches! My contract was running out, and Tiff (our Co-Founder) offered me a job in the field.
Kirsty: On a Google search, I was looking for summer work putting up marquees or something similar, as I was teaching snowboarding in the winters in Canada
2) What were the reasons you decided you first wanted to put yourself forward?
Sonya: At the time I was studying for my MSc, so in serious need of funds. I was also really attracted by the idea of working at festivals, during the summer, and thought Hotel Bell Tent looked like a fun and vibrant company to work with.
Kirsty: It was the perfect solution to wanting to go away all winter and working outdoors all summer.
3) How has HBT changed since you were crew members and in what way?
Kirsty: When I started we used to only do 1 or 2 jobs over a weekend with about 20 – 30 tents at each event, we did a corporate job for LUSH for 100 tents and that was a massive job for the company! Now we do 3 to 4 events each weekend, with up to 800 structures up at one time and over 500 of them being just at one event.
Sonya: In a lot of ways, Hotel Bell Tent is the same: the company still cares about the people who work for it, and still prides itself on being fair and transparent to guests, while offering the best customer service in the industry. However, it is a more structured organisation now, with clear delineation of responsibility. It is big on retaining knowledge, and almost all freelance and permanent members of staff worked from ‘the bottom up’.
4) Did you factor in the possibility of progressing with the company in the early stages of working for us?
George: I didn’t actually – too busy putting up tents!
Kirsty: It wasn’t in my thought process exactly, but I knew I wanted to come back the following year as I had found a way to facilitate travelling and snowboarding during the winter and got to do a really fun job all summer!
5) What are your favourite aspects of working with Hotel Bell Tent, and why?
Sonya: Luckily, I like being busy and multitasking. No two days working in events are the same, and I’m always learning and putting my skills to use in different ways. The Hotel Bell Tent office team and crew members are also wonderful.
George: Being in a field (for obvious reasons) and being in a good crew of people – you make some excellent friends in a very short time.
6) What have been your favourite jobs so far?
Sonya: It’s really hard to say – small and intimate festivals are lovely to be at, but from a professional point of view the big, production-heavy events are very satisfying. I’ve seen so many beautiful places across the country that I would never have normally gone to.
Kirsty: I really enjoyed working at Festival Number 6 as it's our biggest and most challenging job by far; setting up over 500 tents with a massive crew. It was also a really amazing festival in stunning surroundings.
