If the secret of business success is spotting a niche in the market, then Ian Samuel, who has just exchanged the urban sprawl of Staines, Middlesex, for the bucolic delights of rural Slovenia, could be on to a good thing: bouncy castles.

Not just bouncy castles, mind. The barn at his newly acquired run-down mill also contains a bouncy slide and soft play equipment. Not to mention two pool and table-football tables, an air-hockey table and a container full of play equipment.

Together, they form the basis of what Ian, 35, a former electrician, and his wife, Louise, 32, hope will be a new life in part of the former Yugoslavia dubbed the “Surrey of the Balkans” by its growing band of enthusiasts. Their venture, Slovenia for Families, is aimed both at Britons looking for family holidays and at local people keen for new experiences for their kids.

“They don’t have anything like bouncy castles here,” says Louise, striding with a proprietary air through the long grass of what one day soon will be their own mini theme park. Here, in one of the derelict outbuildings, they plan to set up a cafe; the neighbouring block will be transformed into holiday cottages. The couple are also plotting a crazy-golf course – another local first.

“People with children want somewhere they can have a nice time and the kids will be happy,” she says. “Not everybody wants to be a lobster on the Costa del Sol fighting for a sunbed each morning.”

It was chance that brought the Samuels to Prekmurje, a region of rolling hills and vineyards in the northeast of the country close to the point where Austria, Hungary and Croatia meet. After his sister and mother died, Ian was keen to start a new life abroad.

Louise’s father had been impressed by the country — which escaped Yugoslavia relatively unscathed after nine days of Serb military occupation — during a visit with his choir, so last September, with sons Dylan, now 4, and Lennon, 20 months, in tow, the couple set off on a tour. Prekmurje was their last stop, but they knew it was the place for them.

Convinced there was money to be made in the fledgling leisure market, the Samuels spent thousands of pounds buying up their bouncy castle and other equipment on eBay and at bankruptcy sales. Far more still has gone on their property empire. Besides the mill, which cost them £75,000, the couple also picked up three properties in nearby villages for £18,000, £40,000 and £47,000, and spent £90,000 on a five-bed house in Murska Sobota, the local capital, to be their main home.

Basic refurbishment of their properties will take at least another £60,000, although full development of the mill could set them back more than £600,000. The first guests from Britain are due this month, and after giving the bouncy slide its first public outing recently, they got their first booking, from a local spa.

“Slovenia, tourist-wise, is going to be big,” says Ian, apparently unfazed by the enormity of their gamble. “I call it the Sleeping Beauty.”

The Samuels are not the only Brits to fall in love with Prekmurje. Derek Smith, 57, a textile consultant from Leeds, first came to Murska Sobota more than a decade ago because of its giant clothes-making plant. After marrying a Slovenian, he moved into property, initially sourcing houses for friends, and now selling through his website, Slovenia Cottages.

Although it is still possible to pick up a small house for £25,000, making it habitable could cost another £15,000 or so. Bigger, more luxurious homes with large gardens and vineyards go for anything up to £150,000. Cheap Ryanair flights to Graz airport, about an hour away across the Austrian border, add to the attraction.

“Of the 132 people who have come to visit, only two didn’t buy,” says Smith, relaxing over a beer in Na Kujkli, a bar in Murska Sobota, now decorated with pictures of his native Yorkshire, that has become a meeting point for the burgeoning British community. “Make that 133 –— I sold another one this morning.”

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