Exclusive Ballooning History

2020

2020

  • January 2020 – Tall Steve takes second place at the 32nd Raduno International Epiphany Meet – Mondovi, Italy.
  • March 2020 – Exclusive Ballooning launch the “Wash Your Wings” pin badge campaign featuring Puddles and Splash. All proceeds from the campaign went directly to fund equipment for front line health workers in the UK, USA and Italy during the Coronavirus pandemic.
  • August 2020 – Simbaloo the Lion, Adelaide the Koala and Renishaw all took to the skies as part of the revised Bristol Fly Past in place of this years Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
  • September 2020 – Exclusive Ballooning launch the new FlySafe™ Hot Air Balloon Temperature Monitoring System.
  • September 2020 – In place of the annual SkySafari®, Exclusive Balloon Events developed the Drive In Night Glow concept at Longleat Estate. Each night, fifteen hundred spectators in four hundred vehicles were able to enjoy the show whilst complying with social distancing rules.
  • September 2020 – Exclusive Ballooning’s Ultramagic 210 G-ERMY is launched. This balloon will undertake secret projects and fly VIP guests and press at the Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta®
  • September 2020 – In conjunction with Aardman Animations and The Grand Appeal, G-EDAM the Wallace and Gromit Moon Rocket Special Shape Hot Air Balloon is launched from the Lloyd’s Amphitheatre in Bristol. This balloon will go on to raise much needed funds for The Grand Appeal over the coming years.
  • November 2020 – Exclusive Ballooning open the UK’s latest Hot Air Balloon Envelope Repair Station – The Balloon Hospital.
2019

2019

  • January 2019 – The Panther finishes 4th at the Mondovi Epiphany Balloon event in Italy.
  • January 2019 – During the Epiphany Balloon Festival in Italy, Andrew Holly becomes first pilot to take off from the tiny Piazza Maggiore in the old town Mondovi and land back in the same Piazza two hours later. The flight makes a lot of newspaper and social media headlines and the Mayor of Mondovi presents a framed lithograph from a local artist in recognition of the achievement.
  • May 2019 – Renishaw become principal sponsors of Balloons On The Beach as part of the Weston Air Festival, celebrated with G-RENI flying along the iconic beachfront at Weston Super Mare.
  • May 2019 – The second RICOH Imagine.Change. Special Shape Hot Air Balloon G-IMCH makes its debut with a flight from Berkeley Castle.
  • June 2019 – The Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta® 2019 takes flight from Battersea Park with forty six balloons filling the London skyline and raising a further £75,000 for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal taking the total raised in four years to £250,634.
  • June 2019 – Duma the Cheetah is launched as the newest member of the SkySafari® fleet.
  • June 2019 – Balloons On The Beach takes place at Weston Super Mare as part of the Weston Air Festival, with mass launches from the beach and tethered displays taking place.
  • July 2019 – Our Fly Every State Documentary is now shown worldwide on Norwegian Airways.
  • July 2019 – Simbaloo the Lion, Duma the Cheetah and Roger the Panther attend the European Balloon Festival in Igualada, Spain.
  • July 2019 – Out giant pirate ship special shape hot air balloon attends the Taiwan International Balloon Festival.
  • August 2019 – Exclusive Ballooning celebrate their twentieth anniversary.
  • August 2019 – The unveiling of G-XBXX – Featuring artwork of the iconic London skyline, this balloon was commissioned to celebrate Exclusive Ballooning’s twentieth anniversary.
  • September 2019 – To mark the anniversary of Edward Jenner’s balloon launch from the inner court of Berkeley Castle, Exclusive Ballooning recreated the launch 235 years to the date by inflating and taking off from the castle courtyard.
  • September 2019 – The annual Exclusive Cup, SkySafari® took place at Longleat Estate which saw over two hundred balloons make an appearance over the four days. Saturday saw one hundred and seventy two balloons launch in the morning, with eighty four balloons taking part in the signature night glow.
  • October 2019 – Exclusive Balloon Events are nominated in four categories at the National Outdoor Events Association Awards, for BalloonsOnTheBeach®, The Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta® and SkySafari® as well as an the overall best event organiser category.
  • November 2019 – SkySafari® wins the award for 2019 National Outdoor Events Association Best Outdoor Event.
2018

2018

  • January 2018 – Simbaloo finishes 4th at the Mondovi Epiphany balloon event, Italy
  • March 2018 – A new balloon is launched for international client L’Occitane with a tether at the Tower
    of London – the first time a commercial balloon has been to the prestigious site.
  • March 2018 – Ricoh starts its 7th year by taking center stage at the Cheltenham Festival
  • March 2018 – The Fly Every State DVD and Book are launched and are available for sale on Amazon
  • March 2018 – A new website is launched at balloon.tv
  • April 2018 – Andrew Holly’s Friendship Balloon project opens school in Ghana with support of Ultramagic
  • May 2018 – The Longleat Lion and RICOH special shapes attend the inaugural Midlands Air Festival which takes place at Ragley Hall.
  • June 2018 – Exclusive Ballooning and Renishaw return to National Star College to provide wheelchair accessible tethered rides to disabled students.
  • June 2018 – Tethering at Herne Hill Velodrome with a bespoke Cycling Revival balloon to help celebrate the 200th anniversary of the bike.
  • June 2018 – Tethering at the historic Magdalen College School with a bespoke balloon for the Oxford Festival of Arts.
  • June 2018 – Historic flight of the Longleat Lion hot air balloon from the foot of the Grand Pier on Weston-super-Mare beach
  • June 2018 – The first mass ascent of six hot air balloons from Weston-super-Mare Beach
  • June 2018 – Tall Steve attends the Mississippi Hot Air Balloon Fest in Canton, USA.
  • July 2018 – The Hunter Boot, a giant 120ft special shape wellington boot is announced and takes its maiden flight over the Forth Rail and Road Bridges in Edinburgh.
  • July 2018 – Keltbray hot air balloon flies over Lanarkshire.
  • July 2018 – Brand new balloon for Aberdeen Standard Investments is launched at the Scottish Open in Gullane.
  • July 2018 – New balloon for Aberdeen Standard Investments returns to Gullane for the Ladies Scottish Open.
  • July 2018 – Hunter Boot special shape tethers at the Polifonic music festival in Southern Italy.
  • July 2018 – Hunter Boot embarks on a European Tour, flying in Mondovi and Todi in Italy, Antwerp, S’Hertegenbosch, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Arnhem, Nijmegen and Alkmaar in Benelux.
  • July 2018 – Special shape Tall Steve and our famous Fly Every State balloon attend the Great Texas Balloon Race in Longview, Texas, USA.
  • August 2018 – Attend the 40th Bristol International Balloon Fiesta with five balloons; RICOH special shape, Fortnum & Mason, Renishaw and Longleat Lion.
  • August 2018 – RICOH attends the Northampton Balloon Festival.August 2018 – Special shape Penguin Tall Steve and RICOH attend the Oswestry Balloon Carnival.
  • September 2018 – The Hunter Tour continues with the balloon flying in Hamburg, Germany and Toldeo and Segovia in Spain.
  • September 2018 – RICOH attends Chatsworth Country Fair.
  • September 2018 – The Exclusive Cup Sky Safari smashes the UK record for a mass launch and becomes the largest hot air balloon event the UK has event seen. 169 different balloons took off in one morning mass launch, 23 special shapes were flying or tethering at the event, 70 balloons took part across three night glows and a total of 210 different balloons were seen flying or tethering throughout the whole event.
  • September 2018 – Special shape penguins Puddles and Splash attend the Adirondack Balloon Festival in New York.
  • September 2018 – RICOH attends the York Balloon Festival.
  • October 2018 – Exclusive Ballooning attend the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with seven special shape balloons: the penguins Puddles, Splash and Tall Steve, the Longleat Lion, the Longleat Koala, Wes the Wolf and the Hunter Boot. Aside from official passenger ride concession Rainbow Riders, British based Exclusive Ballooning is now the largest operator at the World’s largest ballooning event.
  • October 2018 – The Hunter Boot special shape embarks on an eight week tour of the United States. Stopping at multiple locations en route, the 120ft balloon makes history by tethering in front of the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, flying at the Salt Flats in Utah and tethering in front of the CN Tower in Toronto among others.
  • October 2018 – Puddles and Splash attend the Carolina Balloon Fest, North Carolina, USA.
  • October 2018 – Our penguin family; Puddles, Splash and Tall Steve attend the Skylight Balloon Festival in Texas, USA.
  • November 2018 – Andrew Holly delivers presentation to the London Region Balloon Club on the Balloon Regatta® and the Fly Every State world record.
  • November 2018 – Another new special shape animal is launched, this time a fabulous black panther named Roger with a maiden inflation at Longleat House
  • December 2018 – The now traditional annual wall calendar is launched sporting the new 2019 20th anniversary logo and pictures from twenty years at the top.
2017

2017

  • January 2017 – Special shape penguins Puddles and Splash attend the Epiphany Balloon Festival in Mondovi, Italy. Team Puddles have some great flights winning the whole event and taking home the 1st place trophy.
  • March 2017 – Exclusive Ballooning officially open their new head office in Breadstone, Gloucestershire. The building, a £700,000 purpose-built facility, includes an inflation bay for indoor balloon inspections
  • March 2017 – Another historic morning for Exclusive Ballooning as the English Heritage balloon takes prize winners, VIP’s and press up and down on tethered rides at Stonehenge giving unique views of the stones.
  • March 2017 – The Datum RPO balloon is at Cheltenham where the annual weather is perfect as usual April 2017 – Another Guinness
  • April 2017 – World Record as Exclusive Ballooning take 82 hot air balloons across the channel from England to France. Launching from Lydden Hill Race Circuit, the event was captured live on BBC.
  • April 2017 – Announcement is made that the 2017 Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta will launch from the runway of London City Airport in another complete unique first.
  • June 2017 – Christ Church College Oxford enlist Exclusive Ballooning to bring balloons to their overnight summer ball. Just one of a multitude of private tethers the company undertakes every year.
  • June 2017 – English Heritage starts another summer of activity with a weekend at Wrest Park.
  • July 2017 – Simbaloo the Longleat Lion is the star of the show at the European Balloon Fiesta, Igualada, Spain.
  • July 2017 – Our Fly Every State four part documentary is premiered at a local cinema.
  • July 2017 – The Aberdeen Asset Management balloon once again graces Dundonald links golf course for the Scottish Open golf.
  • August 2017 – And more golf… this time is the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Kingsbarns golf links course, Scotland.
  • August 2017 – Despite poor weather, Exclusive Ballooning gain maximum exposure for clients such as Longleat, Keltbray, Ricoh, Fortnum and Mason, Renishaw and Keltbray at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta.
  • August 2017 – The now legendary Ricoh imagine.change. Balloon sets off on a summer tour taking in Chatsworth Country Fair, Northampton Balloon Festival and is the first balloon to take off at the first Oswestry Balloon Fiesta.
  • August 2017 – Chief pilot and Exclusive Ballooning founder Andrew Holly proposes to American writer and girlfriend Jennifer Westfield during the Oswestry Balloon Festival whilst flying in Simbaloo the Longleat Lion.
  • September 2017 – Exclusive Ballooning play their part in a multi-million pound secret celebrity wedding. Held at Tintern Abbey, a bespoke scale model balloon was built and installed for the event and subsequent photoshoot.
  • September 2017 – The Exclusive Cup becomes the UK’s largest balloon fiesta with 119 balloons taking to the air.
  • September 2017 – Tall Steve is launched at Longleat. The surprise offspring of Puddles and Splash is 100ft ‘shifty’ looking penguin based on a racer balloon.
  • October 2017 – Tall Steve together with parents Puddles and Splash and Simbaloo the Lion visit Albuquerque for the nine day long festival.
2016

2016

  • January 2016 – Puddles and Splash visit Mondovi and take away the Gold medal through pilot Malcolm White
  • February 2016 – Exclusive Ballooning announce a record attempt to fly in every US state, something that has never been achieved before
  • February 2016 – As part of the Fly Every State project, the team become only the second to fly from the iconic Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo as well as the first to fly over the Meteor Crater, Arizona.
  • March 2016 – The Fly Every State team complete flying of all 48 lower US states in an astonishing 33 days.
  • March 2016 – The Fly Every State team then complete a drive to Alaska and fly here before flying to Hawaii to complete the challenge and stop the clock at 43 days, 3 hours and 11 minutes. The first team ever to do so and set a record which may never be broken
  • March 2016 – Back in the UK, a new special shape lion balloon is launched for Longleat to celebrate their 50th
  • April 2016 – Puddles, Splash and Simbaloo the Longleat lion launch the announcement of the Exclusive Cup moving to Longleat
  • April 2016 – Puddles and Splash are the first special shapes and Andrew Holly the first British pilot to fly in Madagascar as part of a tour which takes in the Tsingi National Park and one flight which lands so remotely that the team is retrieved by locals using canoes
  • May 2016 – A very special balloon is launched at Belsay Hall for English Heritage. The balloon is also serial number 0001 for the new British manufacturer Lindstrand Balloons
  • May 2016 – A second new balloon follows, also a Lindstrand, and this time for Balloon Regatta supporter Keltbray
  • June 2016 – Ricoh starts its summer tour with a visit again to the Royal Bath and West show
  • June 2016 – English Heritage starts a summer of visits to famous locations with a weekend of giving people tethered rides and spectacular views over Wrest Park, Bedforshire
  • June 2016 – June 19th sees the second annual Ricoh Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta take off from Burgess Park. The event, now sponsored by Ricoh, took balloons over London City Airport to landing spots in Dagenham and beyond. Forty seven balloons took off including the Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor Alderman the Lord Mountevans and the Lady Mayoress who were flying with chief pilot Andrew Holly
  • June 2016 – The total amount raised for the Balloon Regatta is announced as £46,500 making a total of £125,384 raised so far
  • June 2016 – The English Heritage balloon spends a weekend at Audley End House giving passenger rides
  • July 2016 – Puddles, Splash and Simbaloo all head back to Igualada, Spain for the European Balloon Festival
  • July 2016 – Aberdeen Asset Management balloon is once again at the Scottish Open in Inverness
  • July 2016 – Ricoh once again spends a weekend on the side of the runway at Manchester airport as part of the Aviation and Transport fair and then also spends a week supporting the Women’s British Open at Woburn golf club
  • July 2016 – Keltbray overflies the Ride London event, central London
  • August 2016 – The Bristol Balloon Fiesta takes place with Exclusive Ballooning as the largest operator
  • August 2016 – The English Heritage balloon ends a summer tour with another weekend at Wrest Park
  • August 2016 – Another new balloon for Exclusive Ballooning. This time a balloon for Hospital Records as part of a music festival
  • September 2016 – A major world first for Exclusive Ballooning as a balloon is allowed onto the hallowed ground at Stonehenge. The English Heritage balloon, piloted by Andrew Holly, tethered for pictures before launching and flying directly over the stones to land the other side of them promoting 30th anniversary becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • September 2016 – Exclusive Ballooning work with BBC Cbeebies to make a programme ‘Do you know?’ Explaining how a balloon works
  • September 2016 – The 15th September marks the first flight of the Exclusive Cup at Longleat. The festival branded #SkySafari saw 60 balloons flying from the front of the famous house
  • September 2016 – Longleat is lit up by our carefully choreographed night glow, the largest in the UK in 2016 with 30 balloons alongside the lake and 10,000 spectators watching
  • September 2016 – Exclusive Ballooning are hosted at The Mansion House by the Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor Lord Mountevans and present a cheque for £46,500
  • September 2016 – A suggestion by Exclusive Ballooning to TV’s Dom Joly whilst teaching him to fly comes to fruition as an inflatable billboard designed and built by Exclusive Ballooning is used in a hidden camera stunt. The clip makes it onto TV but also makes the Christmas Special of Trigger Happy TV watched by millions
  • October 2016 – Both Puddles and Splash return to Albuquerque along with Simbaloo the Lion. During the event, Puddles unveils a banner proposing to girlfriend Splash who unveils a banner saying Yes. This sparks rumours of the potential for a third baby penguin…
  • November 2016 – Team Fortnum compete for Great Britain at the FAI World Championships, Saga, Japan.
  • November 2016 – Exclusive Ballooning take off alongside Edinburgh Castle with a bannered balloon for Chinese pop star client Jackson Yi.
  • November 2016 – Another Scottish flight, this time taking off from Sea World in North Queensferry, the last flight over two bridges as the third new Queensferry Crossing is almost complete.
  • December 2016 – The Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta®, Balloon Regatta®, BalloonRegatta® and The Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta® are all granted registered trademarks to Exclusive Ballooning.
2015

2015

  • January 2015 – Chief pilot Andrew Holly flying for the first time in three months on his first day back after the October accident wins the coveted Torre Belvedere – Mondovi Clock Tower Trophy. The first pilot to win the trophy twice, he does so in Puddles the Penguin and then also finishes third overall for the event – the first time a special shape has been on the podium
  • January 2015 – Exclusive Ballooning take two balloons to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, the USA on behalf of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal. The Lord Mayor’s balloon is accompanied by the Aberdeen Asset Management balloon and both are photographed flying over the original London Bridge
  • January 2015 – Chief pilot Andrew Holly lands the Lord Mayor’s Appeal balloon on the original London Bridge
  • February 2015 – The Renishaw balloon celebrates its’ fourth year flying wheelchair-bound passengers for Exclusive Ballooning owned BallooningAccess.com The UK’s only wheelchair accessible certified balloon operator
  • February 2015 – Chief pilot Andrew Holly lands Puddles the Penguin in the tiny Piazza Chanoux, Aosta, Italy as part of the San Valentino balloon fiesta. It is the second time that Andrew has landed in the tiny Piazza in the town.
  • March 2015 – The weather is yet again perfect as the Ricoh imagine.change balloon begins a busy year tethering all week at the Cheltenham Gold Cup festival
  • March 2015 – Exclusive Ballooning in another first as they inflate the Fortnum & Mason balloon on the lawn of the Emirates Palace for Her Royal Highness Sheikha Bint Mohammed Bin Khalid al Nahyan as part of her ‘Tennis on the lawn’ event. Tennis stars Tim Henman, Pat Cash, Younes El Aynaoul, Peter McNamara, Henri Leconte, Jana Novotna, Mikael Pernfors and Marion Bartoli played showcase matches next to the balloon for the royal party whilst the balloon was tethered to Bentleys
  • April 2015 – Company Operations Manager Louise Jones marries long-term partner and Exclusive Ballooning in-house artist Tom Moore in a ceremony locally
  • April 2015 – Ricoh takes the limelight at the start gate for the 2015 London Marathon once again
  • May 2015 – Chief pilot Andrew Holly teaches TV star Dom Joly to fly in just nine days at their Italian base, Mondovi
  • May 2015 – Ricoh again visits the Royal Bath and West show
  • June 2015 – The 7th June 2015 sees the first Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta take to the skies over central London. Forty balloons launch from Shoreditch Park and pass over Tower bridge. The event raises £78,884 for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and trends on Twitter throughout the day
  • June 2015 – Chief pilot Andrew Holly and Operations manager Louise Jones hand over a cheque to Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor of London Sir Alan Yarrow for the money raised at the Balloon Regatta
  • July 2015 – Exclusive Ballooning take a decommissioned balloon to a school where it is cut up and used for various projects including backdrops for theatrical stage productions
  • July 2015 – The Aberdeen Asset Management balloon spends the week at Gullane golf course, Scotland for the Scottish Open golf covered on BBC2
  • July 2015 – Ricoh again spends the weekend on the tarmac at the Manchester Aviation Fair, Manchester airport
  • July 2015 – Exclusive Ballooning in yet another first as health and safety is satisfied to allow an inflation of a balloon on the esplanade of the Grimaldi Forum exhibition centre, Monaco as part of their 15th-anniversary celebrations
  • August 2015 – An historic flight as chief pilot Andrew Holly flies Lord Mayor Sir Alan Yarrow over central London in the Lord Mayor’s Appeal balloon
  • August 2015 – Built in complete secrecy, a second penguin, a female this time called Splash, is launched at Longleat House, Wiltshire.
  • August 2015 – Once again, Exclusive Ballooning is by far the largest operator at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta as Puddles and Splash make their public debut.
  • August 2015 – A second pirate ship, this one unbranded, makes a debut in the arena of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta
  • August 2015 – Yet another new balloon launches at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. This time it is a Kubicek Extreme racer in bespoke Fortnum & Mason colours
  • August 2015 – Team Gossard is rebranded to Team Fortnum
  • August 2015 – Two Fortnum balloons compete against each other in an inflation race for packed crowds at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta
  • August 2015 – The GB Ultimate Frisbee team join Exclusive Ballooning in the arena of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta where they set a new record in front of 100,000 people throwing a frisbee from one balloon to the other 100m apart
  • August 2015 – To finish a perfect week for Exclusive Ballooning, Puddles and Splash have their first in flight ‘kiss’ caught on film and the picture goes viral
  • August 2015 – Ricoh makes its annual pilgrimage to both the Northampton Balloon Fiesta and Chatsworth Country Fair
  • September 2015 – The Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor of London Sir Alan Yarrow hosts Exclusive Ballooning and their clients and VIP guests at a unique reception at The Mansion House to celebrate the success of the Balloon Regatta and officially announce the 2016 event
  • September 2015 – The Renishaw Exclusive Cup takes off with great success but will be the last one to take place in Gloucestershire as the event plans to move in 2016
  • October 2015 – Exclusive Ballooning steal the headlines in Albuquerque, USA when Puddles and Splash go missing in transit. Quick thinking, they make a fake appeal video which goes viral making TV stations across the city and also making front page news in the papers. This was repeated when the penguins were found a few days later
  • October 2015 – Puddles and Splash next visit Natchez, Mississippi
  • November 2015 – The first balloon to inflate at the first Dubai International Balloon Fiesta is the new Fortnum & Mason racer. Exclusive Ballooning also have their penguins and the giant Foamy Gnome in attendance at the week-long event.
  • November 2015 – Exclusive Ballooning pilots Andrew Holly and Mike Howard complete a flight over the Palm Dubai. Taking off from the SkyDive Dubai airstrip, the flight takes both balloons out to sea over the palm before climbing and flying between the skyscrapers to land in the desert.
  • December 2015 – Chief pilot Andrew Holly with team Fortnum finish 12th at the Olympic sanctioned World Air Games. This boosts world ranking to 17th, the highest ranked Brit in the world
2014

2014

  • January 2014 – Team Gossard win the first trophy of the year – the memorial trophy at the Epiphany Balloon Festival, Mondovi, Italy
  • February 2014 – An online competition is launched to design a new special shape balloon to celebrate the company’s fifteenth year. A penguin design is the winner
  • February 2014 – Another competition on Facebook to name the penguin is run and the winning name sees the penguin named Puddles
  • March 2014 – Ricoh’s imagine.change balloon is the only balloon at the 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup festival.
  • March 2014 – Puddles the penguin is delivered in Spain. The first picture from his test inflation gets 5000 likes on Facebook in the first 24 hours.
  • April 2014 – Gossard embarks on a UK social media tour.
  • April 2014 – The Ricoh balloon gets huge TV coverage at the start gate for the 2014 London Marathon
  • April 2014 – The William Hill Scottish Cup makes history becoming the first shape ever and only the second ever balloon to fly over the Forth Rail Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is accompanied by the Gossard balloon as part of it’s UK tour carrying a TV crew
  • April 2014 – The William Hill balloon flies over central Perth and also the Tay bridge and Dundee centre ahead of the Scottish Cup semi finals
  • April 2014 – Exclusive Ballooning feature live on ITV Good Morning flying the Stirling Ackroyd balloon over central London. It is timed to perfection flying over Tower Bridge during a live weather broadcast
  • April 2014 – The Ricoh imagine.change. Balloon embarks on a long distance flight taking off from.Bath at night time and flying along the M4 motorway towards London landing after dawn
  • May 2014 – Puddles the Penguin has his maiden flight in Gloucestershire landing appropriately at place called Puddleworth
  • May 2014 Ricoh’s imagine.change cube is tethered inside the Ricoh Arena, Coventry and also attends the Royal bath and West show· May 2014 Exclusive Ballooning fly the giant William Hill Scottish Cup special shape from Celtic park filming for Sky Sports, the first time a balloon has flown from here and the first special shape to fly across Glasgow City Centre· May 2014 Giant inflatable Pigby shapes accompany the England Cricket team for a corporate event on behalf of client Nat West
  • May 2014 – The William Hill Scottish cup continues its’ tour of Scotland with a visit to Scone Palace
  • June 2014 – Exclusive Ballooning become the first ballooning company to pass 40,000 fans on Facebook
  • June 2014 – A new balloon is launched for Datum-RPO
  • June 2014 – Another very successful Exclusive Cup with the first overseas winner – Mike Howard of Dubai. The event is sponsored by local firm Renishaw complete with a gala prize giving
  • June 2014 – Puddles the Penguin sees his first public outing at the Exclusive Cup
  • June 2014 – Team Exclusive with chief pilot Andrew Holly wins the Galena balloon event, Illinois, USA
  • July 2014 – A new balloon is launched for Bristol charity Above and Beyond with Exclusive Ballooning providing commercial support and sponsorship
  • July 2014 – The Ricoh balloon tethers all weekend alongside the runway at Manchester airport as part of the aviation and transport fair
  • July 2014 – The Renishaw balloon visits the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford.
  • July 2014 – Exclusive Ballooning tether a balloon on top of a multi storey car park for a private client
  • July 2014 – Ricoh imagine.change balloon spends a week alongside the players at the BBC2 covered British Open golf championship
  • July 2014 – Team Gossard finish as top British team at the 2014 World Championships, Rio Clara, Brazil
  • August 2014 – The largest special shape in the world is launched as Exclusive Ballooning fly a 39m wide 31m tall Galleon for Captain Morgan over the Skanderborg music festival, Denmark
  • August 2014 – ITV national news runs a four minute piece about Exclusive Ballooning· August 2014 – The Fortnum and Mason balloon is used for ITV’s Good Morning Britain live from the Bristol International Balloon Festival
  • August 2014 – Exclusive Ballooning for the tenth year running are the largest operator at the BristolBalloon festival· August 2014 – Puddles the Penguin makes his International debut at the nine day balloon festival in St Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada.
  • August 2014 – The Ricoh balloon embarks on visits to the Northampton balloon festival, Chatsworth Country Fair and the 2014 BBC Car Fest in support of Children in Need as well as undertaking a UK tour of major cities.
  • August 2014 – Team Gossard and chief pilot Andrew Holly make even more history, locally this time in Berkeley, UK as the only team ever to win three British National ballooning titles in a row following their first victory
  • September 2014 – The Renishaw balloon is tethered at the Tour of Britain cycle race
  • September 2014 – The worlds largest special shape comes to the UK. Exclusive Ballooning fly the Captain Morgan Galleon over Highgrove House, Gloucestershire on Prince Harry’s 30th Birthday along with a banner saying Happy Birthday Harry making national news.
  • September 2014 – The William Hill Scottish Cup becomes the first balloon to tether at the Falkirk Wheel, Scotland as part of the ongoing Scottish Tour
  • September 2014 – Team Gossard withdraws from the Grand Prix competition on safety grounds but ironically wins the first task with nil points as all other competitors achieved so many penalty points. The team did not even finish last for the whole event despite not flying
  • September 2014 – Exclusive Ballooning celebrate their fifteenth birthday with a fantastic night glow in Tavistock, Devon. All of the balloons at the event are Exclusive Ballooning contracts.
  • October 2014 – Puddles the Penguin makes his USA debut appearing centre stage at the Albuquerque International balloon fiesta, New Mexico, USA
  • October 2014 – Puddles continues his US tour arriving in Natchez Mississippi where along with chief pilot Andrew Holly finishes third overall – the first time a foreign pilot and the first time a special shape have finished on the podium at the longstanding event
  • October 2014 – Whilst in Natchez, USA, Puddles becomes the first balloon to be tethered at the famous antebellum home ‘Dunleith’ just as filming there finishes for Mick Jagger’s movie ‘Get on up’.
  • October 2014 – January 2015 – The Exclusive Ballooning office is forced to temporary close after all key members of staff are hurt in a serious road traffic accident. The office resumes with some staff at the beginning of the new year.
  • November 2014 – Pigby inflatable balloons are launched at various locations across the Country for Nat West, including RBS Headquarters in Edinburgh, offices in London and Academy Award winning produces Aardman Animations headquarters in Bristol.
  • November 2014 – The Company celebrates its 15th birthday with a gala dinner bringing together almost all of the staff who had worked in the office during that time together with many of the company pilots and crew.
  • December 2014 – Exclusive Ballooning continue to grow in popularity passing the 50,000 followers on Facebook mark. Twitter and Instagram following also continues to grow.
2013

2013

  • January 2013 Team Gossard win the highly sought after Trofeo Mondovi Piazza prize for the best drop at the clock tower during the Epiphany Ballooning championships, Italy
  • January 2013 An in house made video for Gossard goes viral on the internet with 5,000 views in the first 24 hours
  • February 2013 Exclusive Ballooning launch the FT125 anniversary balloon at Tower Bridge, London
  • February 2013 blimpX.com begin exhibition installations at the Excel arena, London
  • February 2013 blimpX.com and Exclusive Ballooning sponsor Bristol City Football Club’s Community
  • Trust by providing a whole series of inflatable products and marketing materials for match day.
  • February 2013 A special unique inflatable balloon is built complete with a special basket designed for the red carpet film premiere launch of ‘Oz’, Leicester Square, London complete with Hollywood stars Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and James Franco.
  • March 2013 Exclusive Ballooning become the first people in over 100 years to fly a balloon directly over Buckingham Palace for Financial Times
  • March 2013 FT125 visits Stockholm, Orebro and Gothenburg during a Swedish tour
  • March 2013 The FT125 balloon flies over the royal palace, central Stockholm – two palaces in two weeks.
  • April 2013 Exclusive Ballooning proudly launch the Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta. A charitable event for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal with multiple balloons flying over central London
  • April 2013 The Lord Mayor’s Appeal balloon is launched with an inflation at the Tower of London – the first balloon ever to visit this location.
  • April 2013 A new balloon for London property firm Stirling Ackroyd is launched.
  • April 2013 A new balloon is launched for Shell V Power at Battersea Power Station, London.
  • April 2013 The FT125 balloon is tethered at night at Brooklyn Bridge Park, NYC. The first balloon ever to do so.
  • May 2013 The world’s largest tablet device is launched for the Financial Times with a flight over New Jersey, USA
  • May 2013 Both the FT tablet special shape and also the FT125 tether at Rockerfeller Park, NYC, the first time that a balloon has ever been to the site.
  • May 2013 Ricoh visits both Cardiff Castle and the pitch of the Ricoh Arena during a staff incentive tour
  • May 2013 A campaign for Visit Britain is launched in Regents Street both a with Wallace and Gromit branded hot air balloon and inflatable balloon.
  • May 2013 Exclusive Ballooning sponsor the May fair at Burgess Park, London
  • May 2013 The FT125 balloon tethers on the beach at an exclusive party for invited FT guests as part of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
  • May 2013 The largest balloon the company has ever had built is launched for William Hill. The 140ft high Scottish Cup special shape is launched ahead of the final at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
  • June 2013 A bespoke made basket and burner is installed in the Piccadilly store of Fortnum and Mason ahead of their top secret hot air balloon launch
  • June 2013 The Fortnum and Mason balloon is launched at Tower Bridge with CEO Ewan Venters and TV star Stephen Fry. The balloon is made from bespoke dyed fabric.
  • June 2013 Gossard tours the UK visiting Sheffield, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham and Oxford.
  • June 2013 A new balloon is launched for Aberdeen Asset Management
  • June 2013 The Shell V Power balloon tours the UK from London ending at the British F1 Grand Prix, Silverstone
  • June 2013 A branded Hard Rock balloon arrives at the Hard Rock Calling music festival, Olympic Park, London
  • July 2013 Team Gossard finish second at the first ballooning GP of the year
  • July 2013 The Ultramagic Friendship balloon is launched at the European Balloon Festival, Spain. This is the balloon created from the winning marketing campaign put forward by chief pilot Andrew Holly at the Ultramagic Innovation Awards.
  • July 2013 Aberdeen Asset Management balloon attends the Scottish Open Golf championships, Castle Stuart, Inverness
  • July 2013 Gossard and Ricoh balloons attend the Tiverton balloon festival
  • July 2013 The Aberdeen Asset Management balloon has a photoshoot on the banks of Loch Ness
  • July 2013 Ricoh flies high at the Royal International Air Tattoo, Fairford.
  • July 2013 The Women’s British Open Golf at St Andrews, Scotland plays host to Ricoh which is tethered on the beach alongside the 18th green.
  • August 2013 Exclusive Ballooning have ten balloons at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
  • August 2013 The Fortnum and Mason balloon steals the show at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta Night Glow
  • August 2013 Exclusive Ballooning pilot Mark Warne marries his fiancee Laura – also Exclusive Ballooning ground crew – with a balloon at the ceremony
  • August 2013 – Team Gossard make history in Brissac, France by becoming the first team to retain the British National Championship after their first victory.
  • August 2013 – The Ricoh balloon is a prominent sight across the UK as it visits events including the Tiverton balloon festival, Chatsworth Country Fair, Northampton Balloon Festival and the Royal International Air tattoo, Fairford.
  • September 2013 – More history for Exclusive Ballooning. The first time a balloon has ever been permitted into Bryant Park, 42nd Street, New York City. The event for Taste of France presents huge challenges including propane movement restrictions in Manhattan, No vehicles allowed on site, no ropes lower than 2m off of the ground and the park (with the heaviest footfall per square metre in the world) must remain open at all times. The event is faultless.
  • October 2013 – Chief pilot Andrew Holly finishes with the bronze medal at the unique Queens Cup balloon long distance race flying from Bristol to London and then from Banbury to Norwich in a total of seventeen hours.
  • October 2013 – Team Gossard finish in silver medal position at the British Grand Prix series of events
  • November 2013 – Exclusive Ballooning arrange a gala dinner for almost 100 balloonists at London’s Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly for the presentation of the Queens Cup
  • November 2013 – The basket and burner from the Fortnum and Mason balloon go on display inside St Pancras station to coincide with the opening of their new store
  • December 2013 – Exclusive Ballooning reach 30,000 followers on Facebook
2012

2012

  • January 2012 Another podium finish for team Exclusive – this time at the Epiphany championship, Mondovi, Italy
  • February 2012 Richmond Park is the setting for the filming of a new Cadbury TV ad which utilises one of the company’s purple unbranded balloons with CGI graphics to turn it into an airship
  • April 2012 A new balloon for Broadgate Estates and Bskyb ‘The Cloud’ is launched in central London. Exchange Square is the smallest London location yet to house a balloon tethered to concrete blocks behind Liverpool Street Station
  • May 2012 The Broadgate balloon houses the smallest office in the world as it spends two weeks tethering on site as part of a successful social media campaign
  • May 2012 The first hot air balloon to visit the front of Stormont Castle, the London 2012 Olympic balloon inflates on the front lawn
  • May 2012 blimpX.com’s Blue Square inflatable walker is on the pitch at Wembley Stadium for the BS Premier playoff final
  • May 2012 ‘Exclusive two’ is launched – a second branded hot air balloon for Exclusive Ballooning together with @Xballooning Twitter branding
  • June 2012 Local firm CTS turn to Exclusive Ballooning for help with the marketing of their own balloon.
  • June 2012 The London 2012 hot air balloon continues its’ tour of the UK by visiting Stirling Castle
  • June 2012 Team Exclusive is rebranded Team Gossard
  • June 2012 Gossard extreme racer launched. The first of its’ type in the country, it sports huge digital artwork of model Elle LiberachiJune 2012 blimpX.com take a 40ft helium filled polar bear to the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio di Janeiro, Brazil for Greenpeace
  • ·July 2012 Gordon Ramsay and Gino Di Campo join the Bookpeople balloon at their annual conference, Surrey
  • July 2012 Team Gossard win the first two tasks and go on to win gold at the Monregalese Trophy, Italy
  • July 2012 The 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic balloon begins its’ UK Olympic tour in Nottingham
  • July 2012 New balloon launched for Renishaw launching from the pitch at Gloucester Rugby Club’s Kingsholm stadium live on ESPN TV carrying England rugby star Ben Morgan
  • August 2012 Team Gossard win silver at the Coupe D’Europe, France for the second time
  • August 2012 The 2012 London Olympic balloon arrives at the Guildhall, London
  • August 2012 Model Kate Waldron joins the Gossard balloon at an Olympic closing ceremony party, the NEC, Birmingham
  • August 2012 blimpX.com builds a perfect inflatable replica of the Gossard racing balloon for the MODA lingerie exhibition, NEC, Birmingham
  • September 2012 A giant special shape is launched for blue chip client Ricoh
  • September 2012 Ricoh attends the Womens’ British Open Golf championship which is covered live on BBC2
  • September 2012 Team Gossard and chief pilot Andrew Holly win the 2012 British National Championship
  • September 2012 newly crown British champions, Team Gossard take bronze at the pre-European ballooning championships, Poland
  • October 2012 Renishaw flies over 100 miles as part of the British long jump competition flying for eight hours
  • November 2012 Ricoh tethers at the ATP Tennis finals, O2 Arena, London
  • November 2012 Chief pilot Andrew Holly wins the Ultramagic international innovation award for marketing
  • December 2012 the company now has over 2000 Facebook fans
2011

2011

  • January 2011 Team Exclusive win Gold at the Italian Epiphany championship
  • January 2011 BalloonCalendar.com is relaunched with a new automated site
  • March 2011 @XBallooning is launched as official Twitter account
  • March 2011 Exclusive Ballooning launch in house inflatables company, blimpX.com with shaped bottles for Glenfarclas, inflatable walking media for the Sun newspaper and a flying helium cube for Blue Square. BlimpX.com website launched on the same day
  • March 2011 Comic relief sees the Avenue Q balloon flying over Bristol with Trekkie monster sporting a red nose
  • April 2011 Exclusive One and Blue Square are two of the balloons that fly the channel as part of  recognized Guinness World Record, 50 balloons in total. Blue Square has BBC TV on board and Exclusive Ballooning scoop the media coverage
  • May 2011 Sports minister Hugh Robertson joins Mike Gatting and the London 2012 balloon in Regents Park with the BBC
  • May 2011 Walking media for Blue Square is launched at the City of Manchester stadium for the Blue Square play off final.
  • May 2011 Exclusive Ballooning unveil a giant inflatable digitally printed football shirt 7m high for nPower at Wembley Stadium for the playoff finals
  • June 2011 Chief Pilot Andrew Holly and his team are invited to direct the 2011 Italian National ballooning championships. The event is hailed the best and most professional ever
  • June 2011 A new balloon for Sky Arts HD is launched at the Isle of Wight music festival and also plays host to Kate Moss’ hen night.
  • · June 2011 Exclusive Ballooning’s model balloon team assist the opening of Bristol’s new M Shed musuem
  • June 2011 Exclusive Ballooning exhibit at Salon Prive, London and help support the Rainbow Trust
  • June 2011 Another successful Exclusive Cup is won by Tony Jay in a hopper
  • June 2011 blimpX.com now offering exhibition installations with first installation of helium spheres in Olympia, London
  • July 2011 Team Exclusive wins the Ludlow ballooning grand prix
  • July 2011 The Sky Arts HD balloon stars at music festivals around the country including Lattitude and Skyfest
  • July 2011 A stunt for Japanese TV sees three balloons tied together with one releasing at height to film a beamwalk stunt before everyone parachutes to the ground.
  • August 2011 Exclusive Ballooning organises the 2011 British national hot air ballooning championships, Berkeley. The event website UKBalloon.com carries live target information, task sheet and result data together with the first official online notice board anywhere in the world. BBC radio carries live weather updates for pilots each day. Chief pilot Andrew Holly is the director and 29 tasks over the week are flown making it the most successful event in recent times.
  • August 2011 Blue Square becomes the first special shape to participate in the Bristol Balloon Fiesta night glow
  • August 2011 Exclusive Ballooning pilots finish first and second at the Bristol International Balloon fiesta
  • August 2011 Chief pilot Andrew Holly wins 2011 Ballooning Grand Prix series and qualifies for the 2012 World championships in USA
  • August 2011 The first balloon ever to visit the Tate Modern is the 2012 London Olympic balloon together with medal winning athletes David Roberts and Rebecca Adlington
  • August 2011 Exclusive Ballooning win the long distance prize at the Northern Ireland balloon festival and account for over 50% of all of the flights at the event
  • September 2011 Operates a staff rewards program for John Lewis
  • September 2011 Chief pilot Andrew Holly competes at Natchez and Houston balloon rallies, USA
  • September 2011 Tower Bridge sees a 50ft high inflatable Smurf to promote a new film
  • September 2011 Frankie and Benny’s choose blimpX.com to produce inflatable character and mascot ‘sketch’ to stand outside of their stores
  • December 2011 An unique company BallooningAccess.com is launched – the only licensed wheelchair accessible balloon flights company in the UK
2010

2010

  • February 2010 Chief pilot Andrew Holly becomes the first pilot to land in the tiny Piazza Chanoux inthe Italian town of Aosta
  • April 2010 Exclusive Ballooning celebrates its’ 50th balloon.
  • April 2010 Blue Square balloons feature on Channel 4’s ‘Morning Line’ ahead of the Grand National
  • April 2010 Blue Square balloon gets massive coverage on BBC at Canary Wharf during the London marathon
  • May 2010 The official England 2018 World Cup Bid balloon is launched at Wembley Stadium at the FA Cup Final
  • May 2010 Both Blue Square balloons also attend the FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium
  • May 2010 The England 2018 balloon appears at Plymouth Hoe on its’ tour of the UK
  • May 2010 Exclusive Ballooning are granted official supplier status to the England 2018 FIFA World Cup bid
  • June 2010 The England 2018 balloon visits the Eden Project, Cornwall. The first balloon to do so.
  • June 2010 The England 2018 balloon visits Chelsea FC along with MP Kate Hooey for ‘London United’ with ITV
  • June 2010 G-OOEY ‘Exclusive One’ is launched at the Exclusive Cup. Built in secret the balloon is fully branded with Exclusive Ballooning artwork.
  • June 2010 Chief Pilot Andrew Holly ‘accidentally’ wins the 2010 Exclusive Cup
  • July 2010 Exclusive Ballooning launch the official balloon of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games at Olympic Park with medal winners Tasha Danvers, Louis Smith and Tim Brabants
  • July 2010 Team Exclusive win silver at the Coupe d’Europe, France
  • August 2010 G-OOEY ‘Exclusive One’ launches from Gloucester Docks
  • August 2010 Exclusive Ballooning’s model balloon team opens new cycle paths in Bristol with the Lord Mayor in Queens Square
  • August 2010 England 2018 balloon performs a perfectly timed fly past of Bristol’s Ashton Gate stadium during the National Anthem at the England Under 21 football match
  • August 2010 Popstars Jedward help launch Rowntrees Random’s 140ft pink special shape gnome hot air balloon at Richmond Park and Tower Bridge, London
  • August 2010 Olympic medal winning athletes Sir Chris Hoy, Beth Tweddle, Jody Cundy, Ross Edgar and Ian Jones visit Piccadilly gardens, Manchester with Sky News for rides in the London 2012 balloon.
  • August 2010 Exclusive Ballooning launch first iPhone App – the iBalloon Log. A dedicated balloon pilots log book
  • August 2010 The England 2018 World cup bid balloon becomes the first balloon ever to visit Buckingham Palace
  • August 2010 Chief pilot Andrew Holly is elected chairman of the BBAC Competitions Club
  • September 2010 1000th Facebook fan joins Exclusive Ballooning’s page
  • September 2010 Blue Square becomes the first balloon to visit the Great North Run
  • September 2010 London 2012 Olympic balloon arrives at Cardiff Castle with swimmer Liz Jones
  • September 2010 Olympic stars Sarah Stevenson, Ben Swain, Megan Sylvester, Gamal Yafai and Warren Baister join the 2012 balloon in the centre of Sheffield
  • October 2010 Team Exclusive compete for Great Britain at the 2010 World balloon championships, Debrecen, Hungary.
  • October 2010 Team Exclusive win Gold at the Italian ballooning championships, Mondovi.
  • November 2010 Exclusive Ballooning launch their second iPhone App the iBalloonCalc. A dedicated load calculator for ballooning
  • December 2010 Corporate flying begins from the company’s new base in Mondovi, Italy.
  • December 2010 Exclusive Ballooning fly balloons locally on both Christmas and Boxing day.
2009

2009

  • March 2009 Two identical Betfair balloons are launched at the Cheltenham Gold Cup
  • March 2009 Blue Square balloon is launched at Newbury Racecourse
  • March 2009 Betfair tethers alongside the Thames for the Boat Race
  • ·April 2009 Blue Square special shape is launched at Tower Bridge for the London Marathon
  • April 2009 Exclusive Ballooning celebrate ten years at the top with a ballooning grand prix which is won by Jim Howard
  • June 2009 Exclusive pilots Andrew and Neil compete for GB at the World Air Games in Italy
  • June 2009 Andrew makes a piece of history locally in the Italian ballooning capital Mondovi, by landing one of the Sloggi racing balloons in the tiny Piazza Maggiore on a hot July evening. The pictures make front page news locally as nobody else had done this before.
  • June 2009 Blue Square special shape is used in an MTV video for the Barmy Army promoting the Ashes
  • June 2009 ExclusiveCup.com is launched with real time results updates for the forthcoming competition
  • July 2009 The Exclusive Cup is a great success once again with Nic Bates winning his first ever competition
  • July 2009 Exclusive Ballooning first company ever to solve all health and safety issues and gain permission to tether on the steps of the fairytale castle, Disneyland Paris.
  • August 2009 British team at the European championships consists of four pilots, three are Exclusive pilots Andrew Holly, Neil Gabriel and Richard Parry. Richard finishes third and the team win the team competition for Britain for the first time
  • September 2009 Disney balloon is used for a stunt in the biggest prime time German TV show SAT 1’s ‘Nur die Liebe zahlt’.
  • September 2009 Exclusive team comprising Mike Howard, Richard Parry and Andrew Holly win the UK Ballooning Grand Prix team prize. Exclusive pilot Neil Gabriel wins the event.
  • October 2009 Exclusive Ballooning now authorized Flytec dealer
  • October 2009 Exclusive Ballooning navigate Disney Pixars’ UP special shape UNDER Tower Bridge gaining tens of millions of pounds worth of international media coverage.
  • November 2009 Just five months after Andrew Holly makes the first ever landing in Piazza Maggiore, Mondovi, Italy, he does it again. This time in the AMO Blink Balloon as part of an Italian tour. Again, the pictures make front page news locally.
  • November 2009 Branded model balloons now available manufactured in-house.
  • November 2009 Plymouths’ 2018 World Cup Bid is boosted with a balloon tethered at Wembley Stadium
  • December 2009 Exclusive Ballooning launch an official Facebook page which attracts 500 fans in it’s first week.
2008

2008

  • January 2008 Exclusive Ballooning is now the largest aerial marketing firm in Europe and most probably the world operating in 34 countries over 5 continents.
  • May 2008 BalloonCalendar.com is now the leading events page for ballooning in the world with over 220 events listed covering over 30 countries and every continent.
  • May 2008 Managing Director Andrew Holly is awarded the Freedom of the City of London for services to ballooning
  • May 2008 Deanna Oppenheimer, Barclays CEO, launches their new balloon in Piccadilly Gardens,
  • Manchester.
  • June 2008 Exclusive Ballooning organise the largest ballooning competition the UK has ever seen with 54 balloons flying from Sudeley Castle in the Cotswolds. The second largest ballooning event in the calendar, this was the first year of the event which even drew some of the world’s best pilots from as far afield as Dubai and the USA.
  • June 2008 The Gordon Ramsay balloon project is launched to promote his new book and the F Word TV show
  • July 2008 The Blink balloon is tethered on the steps of the Colosseum with the BBC there to film it making International press.
  • July 2008 Team Sloggi’s last outing as a competition team results in a bronze medal at the Pre World Air Games, Italy
  • July 2008 Team Exclusive / Team Sloggi top 350 trophies in total with International gold medals in Croatia, Italy, Belgium, Hungary and South Africa to name a few
  • July 2008 G-CFIK ‘Avenue Q’ is delivered. Built to promote Andrew Holly’s favourite west end / Broadway show the balloon carries digital artwork of Trekkie Monster and is due to tether in both Trafalgar Square and Central Park, New York as well as compete at the World Championships in Austria in September 2008
  • July 2008 Team Exclusive are rebranded to Team Q
  • August 2008 Exclusive Ballooning has 13 clients or 10% of all of the balloons at the 30th anniversary
  • Bristol International Balloon Fiesta and 15% of all the balloons at the Northampton Balloon Fiesta.
  • Exclusive Ballooning’s Avenue Q is the last balloon ever to fly at the Northampton Balloon Fiesta
  • August 2008 Exclusive Ballooning win first and second at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta Long Distance competition
  • August 2008 All three podium places at the Pre-European and British national championships in France are taken by Exclusive Ballooning pilots. Neil Gabriel is the champion with Andrew Holly and Richard Parry in second and third respectively.
  • September 2008 Exclusive pilots Andrew Holly and Mike Howard compete at the World championships in Austria, Mike finishes fifth!
  • September 2008 Kingspan balloon is launched for corporate hospitality campaign
  • October 2008 Andrew Holly makes front pages in USA by winning the famous Mississippi Barge drop competition, Natchez.
2007

2007

  • 2007 Exclusive Ballooning acquires The Aerial Display Company. Founded in 1987, the company is famous for balloons such as the Michelin and FT projects and also was responsible for the first balloon over Mount Everest.
  • 2007 BalloonTrailers.com is launched selling bespoke balloon trailers specific to competition flying
  • 2007 BalloonCalendar.com is launched as an internet base for worldwide ballooning events both festivals and competitions
  • 2007 Exclusive Ballooning moves further into Asia and also Mexico bringing the total to 34 countries over 5 continents, all in house operation, no sub-contracting
  • 2007 Working with one of our clients helping to raise money for charity using hot air balloons passes the £3m mark
  • 2007 returns over £1m worth of media from a paraglider stunt at 10,000 feet. The stunt made BBC News 24 and also the online news world home page for 34 hours gaining 46,000,000 page impressions.
2006

2006

  • April 2006 the Go-Ballooning.co.uk brand and business is sold for a substantial sum to another UK balloon ride operator in order to concentrate on Exclusive Ballooning’s expanding global aerial marketing business
  • 2006 The second and third Sloggi balloons are launched the second being a new version of the first and using the same crown ring in order to retain the balloon’s well known registration of G-REAR. The third, a smaller 60,000 cubic feet balloon G-IRLZ becomes the main competition balloon for Andrew Holly and Team Sloggi
  • 2006 G-IRLZ, Sloggi 3, has it’s maiden flight in Krosno, Poland.
  • 2006 Exclusive Ballooning return £900,000 of media coverage to a client from a two day project with the first balloon in Taiwan, tethered at the bottom of the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101. Request a DVD here
  • 2006 Team Sloggi finish runners up in the World Ballooning Grand Prix which involved a weeks intense flying in each of the USA, Luxembourg and Japan. Team mate Johnny Petrehn winds the World Championships at the even in Japan
2005

2005

  • 2005 Geographical area now extends to South Africa and the USA and further into Asia
  • August 2005 two giant digitally printed passenger carrying Triumph International balloons are launched complete with potentially the most expensive artwork bill in ballooning history.
  • 2005 Exclusive Ballooning undertake probably the largest scale hot air balloon stunt ever performed – USA Fox TV’s programme ‘Richard Branson’s Rebel Billionaire’. The hour long show had 8 contestants walk between two balloons at 10,000 feet and then, after the balloons had separated in mid flight, Richard and two contestants, one of whom was Sara Blakely (ITV American Inventor and CEO of Spanx and Assets) then climbed to the top of the balloon for afternoon tea.
  • 2005 ITV Guinness world records TV program film a stunt with our stunt man walking between two balloons blindfolded and without a parachute at 23,000 feet. This also makes the 2006 Guinness book of world records.
2004

2004

  • April 2004 The first Sloggi Balloon is delivered and has it’s first inflation at the London Marathon.
  • May 2004 Sloggi’s maiden flight takes place in Krosno, Poland.
  • May 2004 Team Exclusive are rebranded Team Sloggi and begin competing around the world
  • 2004 The aerial marketing operation now extends out of Europe with client balloons in the far east as well as further new countries in Europe
2003

2003

  • 2003 Go-Ballooning.co.uk now the largest passenger rides company in the UK with over 100 launch sites and a network of over 30 balloons flying daily. Geographical coverage now extends from the south coast to York in house operation and a separate network covering the north of England, Scotland and the Kent areas.
  • 2003 Exclusive Ballooning now operating balloons in several European countries including the first UK advertising balloon to visit the Ukraine.
2002

2002

  • 2002 Exclusive Ballooning work with ENAC in Rome to establish the first officially recognised passenger rides company based in Tuscany, Italy.
  • 2002 Exclusive Ballooning now operating balloons for clients in Italy and France
  • 2002 Charity fund raising with balloons passes the £1m mark
  • 2002 Go-Ballooning.co.uk now covering around 50 launch sites and extends to the south east and north to Worcester
2001

2001

  • 2001 Exclusive Ballooning acquires local balloon ride company Airborne Balloon Flights
  • 2001 Further new balloons including a project for The Prince’s Trust helping raise awareness and money for the cause
  • 2001 Exclusive Ballooning surpasses their initial five year business plan.
  • 2001 Australian institution AMP become Exclusive Ballooning’s first major overseas client.
  • 2001 Exclusive Ballooning brand is now solely associated with Aerial Marketing whilst Go Ballooning.co.uk continues to grow as a major rides company
  • 2001 Swansea based Balloons over Wales is acquired
  • 2001 Shropshire based Blown Away (UK) Limited is taken over
2000

2000

  • 2000 Exclusive Ballooning launches Go-Ballooning.co.uk the passenger rides section of the business. Exclusive Ballooning continues to fly passengers exclusively in small balloons.
  • 2000 Exclusive Ballooning wins its first award from Shell Live-wire for start-up businesses in the west of the UK.
  • 2000 Andrew Holly wins the Bristol Evening Post young businessman of the year award
  • 2000 Go-Ballooning.co.uk now has around 20 launch sites covering the entire south-west area.
  • 2000 Uphill Motor Company, Mazda and Fowlers Motorcycles move their balloon contracts to Exclusive Ballooning based on track record.
  • 2000 Exclusive Ballooning wins several major contracts including the operation of an existing balloon
  • for Somerfield together with a new balloon for the same client.
1999

1999

  • 1999 Exclusive Ballooning is established and based in Severn Beach near Bristol. Founded by Andrew Holly, the company is started with the help of a loan from the Prince’s Trust.
  • 1999 The company’s USP is utilising small rides balloons giving a very personal service flying only four passengers at any time.