A 20-year-old from Monmouth has successfully turned passion into profit by building a skateboard business that has broken into the United States.

Mark Schwanethal left school in 2008 with no GCSEs and after two years of soul-searching opted to follow his dream of starting a skateboard business.

He taught himself graphic design on his home computer and at just 18 set up Gangstar Skateboards as a means of selling his own designer clothing line.

Mark, of Cornpoppy Avenue in Rockfield, has been skateboarding since he was five years old and scraped together £5,000 in order to start the venture.

A neighbour who was a retail purchaser recommended that Mark used Alibaba.com, a website for small businesses, to find suppliers that could manufacture his designs in bulk and to a high quality.

He started to drum up interest by touring local skate parks and now sells through established skate shops including Freestyle in Newport.

Mark works from his family home and now employs four people that he grew up with on his estate.

His business is now gaining traction in the US following an agreement from US rap star Kenny Dangerous to endorse his brand by wearing his gear to gigs and acting as his US distributor.

"It's all going great," said Mark. "I'm really looking forward to the future."