Two Sussex firms have combined to take advantage of the boom in BMX bicycles.

PH-media from Brighton was commissioned by BMX bicycle importer Seventies to consult, design and build a site to sell tickets and provide news to UK and European BMX fans about its series of Backyard Jam events.

Although the last of the Backyard Jam events took place in 1997, the name remains well-known in BMX circles and Hastings-based Seventies has decided to relaunch them.

Events organiser Chris Holman said: "BMX disappeared underground for a long time after the Eighties craze was over.

"But the rise of ESPN's street sports programmes over the past few years has raised the profile of the sport.

"It's a big business, making big money, and has become more of a life style for young people and not just hardcore riders. That's why the time is right to relaunch the Jams."

PH-media director Steve Penfold said: "We had already done some work for Seventies, designing the seventies.co.uk web site, which focuses on the product side of the business.

"The backyardjam.com web site was a natural extension of this."

The site had taken a team of designers, content producers and programmers three months to complete.

He said: "The clever bit is it can be completely self-administered. The staff at Seventies can update the information on the site themselves as new events are scheduled.

"It doesn't take any technical knowledge. In fact, since we completed the site we haven't touched it."

The site format could be tailored for any business organising events and PH-media would be marketing it as a white label tool.

Mr Holman said: "The new site is going well. The web traffic statistics have shown visitors keep returning to the news page once they've checked the site out."

www.ph-media.com
www.seventies.co.uk
www.backyardjam.com