I opened a balloon design shop after being made redundant

It was after being made redundant from her HR role in lockdown that Alison Garnham did a favour for a friend – making her a balloon unicorn for her daughter’s birthday party.

That good deed was the trigger for a complete career pivot, and Ms Garnham’s balloon artistry has led to her winning Designer of the Year at an international competition for her trade in the Netherlands.

Her designs were so popular that she has ended up opening her own shop in Ossett, West Yorkshire, and is regularly commissioned for parties and events.

She said: “It’s never too late to try something new – this certainly wasn’t planned.”

She added: “Just doing a little good deed, I trying to put a smile on somebody’s face in lockdown.

“It was meant to be her first ever birthday party, she was five, so I just thought ‘I’ll do her a unicorn balloon’.”

She said the reaction of people to the design was such that within four weeks she was “building a business page and a logo”.

Ms Garnham said she had started off small but things quickly got bigger with more and more people wanting her balloon creations for weddings, birthday parties and baby showers.

“I did all the training courses – I’ve done every course going!”

She also joined the National Association of Balloon Artists and Suppliers (NABAS) industry body.

“You get coaching on business as well as coaching on design techniques on balloons.”

Trying to reduce the amount of work she was doing from home, Ms Garnham opened the shop earlier this year.

She believes the popularity of balloon artistry has grown in recent years as people realise how versatile it can be.

“I think balloons have always been popular, but the word is getting out.”

She said it is a flexible and sustainable art form and more event organisers are opting for balloon art for table centrepieces, entrance arches and stage decor.

Ms Garnham said they have to the advantage of being very easy to remove.

“We actually do Christmas decor and Christmas balloon trees so they go up and then at the end of Christmas it’s three minutes to pop them in the recycle bin.”

The variety of colours and finishes available are also a selling point, from metallic to silk.

“They are lovely to work with and they are great for weddings because the colours are very much muted to match florals, and you can add in fake or fresh flowers.”

Ms Garnham decided this year she would enter the international balloon design competition Nozzle Up.

It takes place in the Netherlands every other year and is organised by a major balloon manufacturer.

“We had to put in three pieces of work prior to attending a three-day balloon convention; a table centre, a twisted design and a large piece of decor.”

For her entries she was awarded Designer of the Year and a voucher for €250, with her Father Christmas sitting in a car, created for a motor dealership, commended by judges.

“I just completely improvised that. In total we used 1,200 to 1,300 balloons to create him.”

Denise van Dooren, one of the judges for the competition, said they had chosen to honour Ms Garnham for her “amazing work”.

She said Ms Garnham’s work had been “well-balanced, so elegant” and had showed a wide “diversity of styles and techniques”.