Our Story

What is Firebox.com?

Wouldn't life be a little dull without a few weird and wonderful things to play with along the way? After all, getting old is inevitable, but growing up is optional.

That's why Firebox scours the world, looking for the very latest gadgets, toys, games and other cool stuff. We search high and low for things with a twist. Products that are inspirational, quirky, bizarre and downright fun.

We're very selective though - so only the most original, most exciting products get picked.

From Las Vegas to Los Alamos, Tokyo to Tashkent, we scour the world looking for the 'next big thing', then make it available through our award-winning website and mail order catalog.

You'll find products at Firebox long before they make it to the mass market. It is our mission to always be first with the latest hot stuff.

How did all this happen?

Firebox.com began life in early 1998 as hotbox.co.uk, an internet retailer founded by university friends Michael Smith and Tom Boardman. Operating out of Cardiff, the company saw rapid initial growth due to the huge success of Michael and Tom's (since much-imitated) invention, the Shot Glass Chess Set. In the Summer of 1999 the company moved to London and relaunched as Firebox.com. In 2002 the company opened its first combined Head Office and Distribution Centre located in South London.

Initially a "pure-play" Internet only business, Firebox has successfully moved into the Mail Order, Corporate and Wholesale/Trade sectors:

Website - The Firebox.com website attracted over 8m visits in 2007 and served over 47m page impressions
(source: Google Analytics);
Email Newsletter - sent fortnightly to over 600,000 recipients;
Catalogue - Published several times a year with an annual circulation exceeding 7m copies
Corporate - Firebox has provided corporates such as Yahoo, Oracle, Five, Siemens and Abbey National with innovative solutions for incentives and promotions
Wholesale - Firebox provides a range of branded products to retailers looking to expand their range with our exciting and exclusive product lines.

...and along the way we have grown rapidly from the initial partnership of the two founders to a core team of over 40 staff. In 2007 the business turned over £11.4m and has been profitable since 2002.

In fact, our growth has been so spectacular that in late 2004 Firebox was listed by the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 as the 13th fastest growing privately owned business in the UK.

Firebox on TV

A BBC film crew tracked the early days of the Firebox.com's history in a documentary broadcast in July, 2000. Click here to watch!

Firebox on the Internet

BBC News: "Dotcoms Bounce Back" - click here
Real Business: "The Perfect Dotcom" - click here
Revolution Magazine: "Firebox signs equity deal with Channel 5" - click here
Revolution Magazine: "Firebox makes high street debut" - click here
7 Steps to Setting Up Your Own Business - click here
BBC News: "E-tailers get their just e-wards" - click here

Anything else to bear in mind?

Firebox.com is committed to maintaining excellent customer service alongside a high quality and enjoyable shopping experience. If you have any questions, suggestions, or problems (or just want to see what our team all looked like as kids) then please check out our contact us page. For more information on ordering, head for our help page.