Ten Alps was founded for £1 in 1999 by a team led by Alex Connock and Bob Geldof.
Ten Alps has had strong growth since listing on AiM in 2001, with turnover rising from under £2m to around £80m.
We now have 520 staff with five offices in London, plus Manchester, Macclesfield, Belfast, Edinburgh, Fareham and Gateshead. Our output spans clients from the BBC and UK government to 60,000 customers around the UK and beyond.
During that period, we’ve made twenty acquisitions : in factual TV, online content production and contract publishing. Two equity fundings have been achieved since 2001 – in 2006 and 2009.
1999
Ten Alps is founded by Alex Connock, Bob Geldof and Des Shaw. Alex buys Planet 24 Radio for £1, on the day that Carlton TV acquires Bob's previous TV company Planet 24 for a reported £15m. Ten Alps is Planet, misspelled, backwards. Ten Alps moves into a small office on an industrial estate in London Docklands.
2000
Produces TV and radio, including the multi-Sony Award-nominated Sunday Service programme for BBC Radio 5 Live, the Arthur Smith lectures for BBC Radio 2 and “Loves Like a Dog”.
2001
Reverse takeover of AiM-listed Osprey Communications Plc. In the process c. £2.9m cash is raised, after costs, in an equity placing at 23p.
Ten Alps moves into a small office above a betting shop in Battersea, South London.
The two Osprey companies within the group are rebranded as Ten Alps RMA and Ten Alps MTD.
Buys events production companies Dr Party and Pacesetter Associates and starts the Know Comment media management agency.
2002
Buys TV production company Brook Lapping, one of the best-known documentary producers in the world.
2003
A consortium led by Brook Lapping wins a major government tender to produce a Teachers TV channel.
2004
Buys TV production company 3BM TV.
Buys TV documentary production company Blakeway Productions.
Teachers TV goes into production, with a total budget of £60m over four years.
2005
Teachers TV is launched.
For the first time, the company reaches 30 TV and radio projects simultaneously in production.
Ten Alps buys the slate of Rock Hammer Productions and starts Ten Alps Midlands.
2006
Ten Alps acquires documentary production company Hart Davies, formerly Hart Ryan.
Ten Alps acquires specialist publishing company McMillan-Scott for up to £12.25m. McMillan Scott has a 30-year history of producing specialist media through three offices in London, Manchester and Macclesfield.
To fund the acquisition, Ten Alps undertakes its first equity placing since 2001, at 65p.
Ten Alps rebrands McMillan-Scott as Ten Alps Publishing, and buys Camerons Publishing in Gateshead.
Beta launch of Public TV, Ten Alps' first video internet site.
2007
Ten Alps employs over 500 staff, now managing over 400 specialist publications, 30 TV programmes, 20 radio shows and 40 annual events.
Ten Alps grows, creates an operating board including experienced media executives Fiona Stourton (ex-BBC) and Nigel Dacre (ex-ITN), and appoints investment banker Tim Hoare to the Plc board.
Rollout of 12 new internet TV channels.
Buys 3 more companies, Atalink, DBDA & Mongoose Media.
Kent TV launched, the first fully county council funded broadband TV services launched Sept 2007. Operated by Ten Alps on behalf of Kent County Council, Kent TV production staff are based at studios in Maidstone.
2008
Teachers TV contract renewed to a date between 2013 – 2015
Buys Sovereign and MMA.
Launches Ten Alps Digital Film Delivery unit – creating high quality, low cost on line and corporate video production.
Appoints ex Granada executive Sarah Murch to run Blakeway North and former BBC executive Selina Mehta as Head of Development.
Launched Vets.TV
Buys 21st Century Media
Breaks £80m revenue level for the first time
Buys Films of Record
Merges northern units to create two brands - Ten Alps Publishing and Ten Alps Events.
2009
Buys Belfast factual TV production company Below the Radar
Placing to raise £3m
Launches Link2 portal – online aggregator of Ten Alps-published content.
Launches Ten Alps Asia in Singapore
Merges five units - RMA, Live, Publishing (South), Digital and Mongoose - into one new business unit within Communication division, with two new brands: Ten Alps Media and Ten Alps Creative.
Merges Ten Alps MTD and Twentyfirstcentury Media to create Ten Alps Vision, in Edinburgh and Newcastle.
