Source BMX brothers win Queens Award for Enterprise 2018.
Launched in 2003, Marc and Richard Moore turned their lifelong passion for BMX into a thriving business to claim two world records. Source BMX has gone from being a tiny little shop on the high street in Bexhill-on-Sea to the world's largest BMX store and the biggest underground skatepark on the planet - under the seafront in Hastings!
A major contributor to the local economy, Source BMX now employs some 40 people with sales of over £2.5m a year, winning them a coveted Queen’s Award earlier this year. As well as building a hugely successful BMX business, Rich and Marc opened the Source Park on the site of a former Turkish bath in the heart of Hastings.
The world’s biggest underground skate park
Hastings has a long history and global reputation in the BMX world. This relatively small town has produced some of the top riders in the world. The Source Park attracts tens of thousands of visitors through the doors each year and has had a major impact on the local area since opening in 2016, creating a vibrant community and supporting the town’s young people into employment related to their passion. But their journey hasn’t always been plain sailing…
Victorian baths had been derelict for 20 years
Transforming the old Victorian baths underneath the promenade required serious infrastructure investment by the owners Foreshore Trust and Source BMX. It was quite simply a massive undertaking. To help the brothers to achieve this enormous feat, Locate East Sussex assisted Source BMX to access funding for its growth and development through East Sussex County Council. A combination of grant and loans to make the ambitious £1.47m project come to fruition, combining Source’s £250,000 and The Foreshore Trust’s funding with funds from East Sussex County Council and Hastings Borough Council.
Locate East Sussex (and its parent company Let’s Do Business Group) has, for a number of years, been advocates of Source BMX. From helping them with financing for stock acquisition to assisting with cash flow development in the absence of High Street bank loans, they have supported the business to scale up.
The park now hosts some of the world’s best BMX and skateboard events, such as The Battle of Hastings, drawing worldwide attention, corporate sponsorship and famous names in the BMX world to Hastings.
For their efforts, in 2017 they won Historic England and The Telegraph Award for Best Rescue of a Historic Building and the Historic England Angel Award.
On winning the Queen’s Award Rich Moore commented: “It is a huge honour to receive the most prestigious business award in the country and very gratifying to be recognised by the Queen. It is a great reflection of all of the hard work from our team in growing the business over the past 15 years and we intend to go from strength to strength.”
Marc Moore added: “All our staff should be really proud of this award. It amazes us every day what a small team working in the same direction can achieve.”
Philip Johnson of Locate East Sussex commented:
“They are disruptive, innovative and export around the world and are contributing significantly to the current buzz around Hastings and East Sussex.”
The Source was recently subject of a film, The Source Park Documentary, that was released on Amazon Prime and Vimeo on Demand in January 2018.
Source BMX has just announced that it has secured funding for its international expansion and growing its market reach.
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