Jobs boost as adventurer Per Lindstrand to build balloons in Oswestry again

The entrepreneur left the hot air ballooning industry in 2003 to concentrate on gas-filled balloon technology, fabric structures and other lighter than air vehicles.

But Mr Lindstrand, best known for his round-the-world adventures with Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson, announced earlier this year he was returning to making hot air balloons from his factory in Oswestry.

Mr Lindstrand sold his interests in hot air balloon manufacturing to Cameron Balloons 12 years ago and created a separate company called Lindstrand Technologies, which currently employs 38 people.

Bristol-based Cameron Balloons retained the Lindstrand name, but closed its base on Maesbury Road Industrial Estate in April with the loss of 19 jobs.

Mr Lindstrand said there had been global interest in his announcement that he was to return to the manufacture of hot air balloons through his new company Lindstrand Balloons, which is also based on the Maesbury Road Industrial Estate, and revealed the new business was progressing quickly.

He said: "There has been lots of interest from around the world.

"We will be selling commercial balloons again and expect to be delivering them by mid-October."

Mr Lindstrand said as the new balloon business grows he would be taking on up to 20 new staff.

He said: "I expect to get up to about that figure quite quickly."

The news that Per Lindstrand is back in the hot air balloon manufacturing industry will be spelt out loud and clear at a renowned ballooning festival in France.

A team from his Oswestry factory has travelled to France to take part in the Lorraine Mondial Air Ballons Festival.

The team will launch a huge hot air balloon with Mr Lindstrand's image on it alongside the words "He's Back".

The festival runs until August 2 and hundreds of balloons are expected to take part.

The entrepreneur said he was pleased his new project would be keeping hot air ballooning manufacturing in Oswestry, estimating that since he came to the town in 1978 his businesses' export worth has totalled about £140 million.

He said: "We have the best people here and the best quality here.

"I remember when I came to Oswestry, it was a lot different than what it is now.

"I came to Oswestry at a time when the area was depressed, it was what was known as an Assisted Area because of it was depressed and there was high unemployment.

"John Biffen was MP at the time and he made sure his own constituency had Assisted Area status so it could get support from the government.

"I went to the Department of Industry and I asked where can I have a factory and I came here.

"Oswestry was very depressed town at that time. Park Hall army camp had gone, the railway repair works had closed down and there was high unemployment.

"It gradually changed and now I think this town is a boom town.

"There are all sorts of nice restaurants, and good shops, and you can get what you need in Oswestry.

"It is a good place to have a business.

"We are doing well. We have taken on eight staff this year for Lindstrand Technologies and will be taking on more staff with the balloon business."

Mr Lindstrand was the first man to fly a hot air balloon across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and to the edge of space. His 1988 world altitude record flight to 20,000 metres lasted for 16 years.

He continues to push the boundaries, with Lindstrand Technologies providing the parachutes for the successful landing of the Beagle 2 probe on Mars.

He joked at the time of the landing in January: "There will always be a piece of Shropshire on Mars."