Ace Party is pretty hard to miss as you travel down the Bristol Road South, partly because it’s bright façade is out of keeping with many of the businesses neighbouring it, partly because it’s the only party supplies shop in the immediate vicinity, and partly because when I visited, they had a giant inflatable England footballer guarding the door(not a bad advertisement given that Euro 2012 has just begun). Rather than being a cheap gimmick, this inflatable player was demonstrating just one of the many party services supplied by Ace Party. They don’t just limit themselves to the usual balloons, hats, and napkins, but instead really do service any children’s birthday party request, hiring out giant inflatables, bouncy castles, and doing more specialist party items such as giant balloons. The one occasion I’ve had to buy something from Ace Party it was a helium balloon(with a unicorn on it, for those so enthralled in this narrative that they must know all the details) which came in at £7, which I initially felt was quite steep. However, two weeks later when the unicorn was still casually gliding around the room rather than being slumped in a corner, I figured it was money well spent.