the who's
and where's

An entrepreneur from the very start Al Gosling's first business venture included selling board shorts out of the back of his old battered red Renault 5 while studying for his exams! (About the Founder)

In 1995, aged 24, Al set up Extreme Entertainment (then called Extreme International) with the goal of establishing the world’s leading Extreme Sports TV Company. Running on a shoestring budget, from an office in a converted barn more akin to a mountain hut or surf-shack than the headquarters of a fast growing media company, Al rapidly agreed a number of deals with producers and broadcasters to sell and distribute extreme and action sports television programmes all over the world. The journey had begun...

In April 1998 Al believed there was an opportunity to take the programming library that had been built and create the world's first TV channel dedicated to extreme sports. The goal was to launch a 24/7 Extreme Sports Channel, the TV channel broadcasting action sports worldwide, via satellite to an under-served audience.

A logo was needed so Nick Paterson Jones, Nipper, Al and Jack the dog, spent some time in a basement studio creating, designing and refining the brand and logo. After a few days they emerged from the smoke-filled studio with the next challenge - to find funding. They spent months talking to lots of people who mainly just said it was a mad idea and would never happen. Undeterred by the non-believers Al eventually bumped into a large US Cable company called UPC who were in the middle of launching a bunch of new TV channels. They saw the opportunity with Extreme and following some good ol’ negotiations, the Channel started broadcasting from Amsterdam on 1st May 1999 to about 400,000 viewers.

Working with a number of the best production companies who covered the culture, the events, the fashion, the music, the lifestyle and of course the sports: skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, BMX, Moto-X, etc, the Extreme Sports Channel was up and running. The channel's coverage grew very rapidly and today it is now broadcasting to more than 38 million homes across 60 countries in 12 languages, including SKY in the UK, Canal Satellite in France and Canal Plus in Scandinavia. www.extreme.com

growing
extreme

In 2002, with the channel up and running, Al and Adam Oliver (who had joined Extreme from ITV) saw the chance to start selling extreme sports clothing and equipment online. With a great retail team onboard, extremepie.com was launched. Today extremepie.com is Europe's leading online and mail-order surf, skate and snow shop. Having just undergone a complete makeover, extremepie.com sells more than 80 top brands including Fenchurch, DC, Quiksilver, Animal, Vans, O’Neill and Roxy, direct to customers all over Europe.
The same year, Extreme Publishing was established as a joint initiative with Andy Rice from Sports Business and Clive Ripley, founder of On Board and ASM. Boardsports Source magazine was launched – an extreme sports trade magazine, which now has a circulation of 15,000 and is published in 3 languages. boardsportsource.com 

Tarifa, Southern Spain, is well known for its epic wind conditions, perfect for kite and windsurfing. However, one day in 2002 there was virtually no wind, so with little else to do Al and his mate Tim Day, were hanging out at the "Spin Out" bar on the beach, shooting the breeze and nursing killer hangovers. While chilling in the Spanish sun and discussing life, they decided there was a gap in the beverage market for a range of drinks satisfying different lifestyle occasions.

In January 2003, Extreme Drinks launched with a completely natural range of ‘functional’ drinks, which are now sold in 18 countries including across Europe, UAE, South America, UK and the USA. extremedrinks.com

In August 2004, we bought Legends, a high street surf shop chain of 22 shops, which had run into some trouble. We realised the need for an expert to run the business, so brought in a guy called Steve Hazell, who had been part of the team that built Snow+Rock.

2005 was a very busy year with the launch of our first Ex Stores and the re-branding of the old Legends stores. We announced our plan to launch Europe’s first youth focused mobile phone network Extreme Mob, an MVNO in partnership with Vodafone. Extreme Entertainment was merged with Media action sports to create SMT a new B2B Sports TV distribution and sports marketing company. Not stopping there, in order to get as close to the action as possible, Ex Medics was launched, offering a cutting-edge medical emergency service for hardcore events.

today

2006 has been a nuts year, kicking off with the launch of Extreme Cred, our revolutionary pre pay card biz which works like your pre pay Mobile phone top up card but you use it like a credit card. As it’s not a credit card you don’t have to be over 18 or have a bank account to get one, so literally anyone from the age of 13 can have one! The best bit is you get all the benefits of a normal credit card, like withdrawing your cash at any cash machine, buying stuff online, and ordering your concert tickets over the phone, etc, in addition to being able to top it up online, at any Post Office, or at any shop…anywhere you see the yellow PayPoint sign. extremecred.com.

This was closely followed by our announcement that we’re going to build a 3.5million sq ft Ex Park in Dubai – not bad hey? exparks.com

Moving into the second half of the year just got that little bit crazier!! In October 2006, we launched viledge.com the first ‘Real Time Live’ site on the planet, which offers access to the lifestyle and social networks associated with extreme sports. In November 2006, we fancied launching three more online businesses, Extreme Element; our version of ‘Red Letter Days’ offering extreme sports courses and experiences exelement.co.uk , Ex Decko; our large format picture and graphic biz exdecko.com , and Extreme Mayhem; our off-the-wall biz geared to promoting and developing the UK Paintball industry as well as helping you book a skirmish online. extrememayhem.co.uk

Not content enough with all of that in November, we went and launched Extreme Hotels, opening the First Extreme Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. 130 bedrooms, all including an extra length king size bed, walk in shower, wireless Internet access and a Flat screen LCD TV. The hotel features include a 5-storey climbing wall on the side of the building, ‘Bose’ sound room, gourmet burger bar, pool deck that overlooks Table Mountain, and a swimming pool that changes colour as well as underwater music… so bloody cool!! extreme-hotels.com

In December 2006 we launched Ex Travel, our one-stop shop for all your travel needs with that Extreme ingredient. Specialising in the supply of travel products to the consumer direct, offering an extensive range from Ski & Snowboard, Surf, City Breaks, Hotel Only, Car Hire, Ferry, Travel Insurance… and the rest. We offer a ‘Best Price Promise’ along with flexibility and choice to you the customer, catering for the mass market as well as committing time and resource to dedicated tailor made products. extravel.com

tomorrow

We’ve already got our new clothing label ‘Ex Raw State’ coming to you in 2007. The line will include an extensive fashion range; encompassing everything from Long coats to Board shorts, a technical range; covering everything from Safari jackets to Snowboarding salopettes, and an accessories range; incorporating everything from Rucksacks and Travel bags to Scarves and Hats. Even footwear is on the agenda!

Ex Time is also very close, bringing you edgy watches to cater for your extreme sports lifestyle, covering both up-to-date fashionable watches as well as those technical watches for you nutters who love to get stuck into the sports as we do. Additionally, Ex Books will be on the shelves very soon, with our series of ‘how to’ books… starting with Surfing, Snowboarding, Biking and Skateboarding editions.

We’re also working very hard to bring, Ex Eyez, Ex Tronics and Ex Cafés to the world, as well as a host of new Ex Stores back to the streets. Plus, watch this space for new Extreme Hotels popping up around some of the world’s finest extreme sport destinations and major cities. 2007… its gonna be big!!

winner

BT Business, in association with Growing Business magazine held a competition to uncover 20 incredible entrepreneurs who are pushing boundaries in the use of technology, carving out a place in an ever-changing world and taking a stranglehold on their market.
Over 250 companies entered. The judges sought highly sustainable businesses capable of significant growth, a desire to be different and an awareness of changing needs in society. The Judges remarked that Extreme is: “An exciting and successful company that is only going to get bigger.”

Al was snapped by world famous photographer Perou who has taken among the most memorable shots of modern-day icons such as David Beckham and U2. The results are impressive and were on display to the public in an exhibition at an exclusive London gallery.


www.btbroadbandoffice.com/entrepreneur