Balloon Brothers feeling far from deflated (From The Advertiser Series)

Balloon Brothers feeling far from deflated

8:20am Thursday 16th July 2009 in Business

A NORTH-EAST party firm is seeing business boom as people look to keep spirits high during the economic downturn.

Xtreme Entertainment UK (XE UK) has seen corporate event bookings double in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, while fancy dress sales have rocketed.

The firm, based in Horden, County Durham, is owned by Keith Stirman and Dominic Cassidy, who swapped careers in contact centres for setting up their own business in 2005.

And as well as running XE UK, through their alter egos Magic Jack and Wacky D, they also become the Balloon Brothers at corporate events across the region.

Mr Stirman said he believes the dramatic upturn in business is due to a need to celebrate and have fun as the credit crunch continues.

“People ask me how business is going at the moment and, unlike many owner managers, I can say it’s going very well indeed,” he said.

“With so much bad news and doom and gloom circulating on a daily basis, people are making more of an effort to boost morale and find reasons to celebrate.

“Our bookings for corporate events are 100 per cent up on last year and sales of fancy dress costumes have surged.”

The business has received support from the Fastest 50 programme run by Be Enterprising, County Durham’s Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.