Small business owners from around Britain are gearing up to face panels of high-profile business experts in a huge and highly competitive pitching competition that will span the next six months; culminating in one of them being crowned Britain’s Best New Business.
With regional heats in Bristol, Birmingham, London, Liverpool and Edinburgh, The Pitch 2010 will give hundreds of hopeful entrants the opportunity to present their business to a panel of investors and successful big name entrepreneurs.
With a package of business support services worth £50,000 up for grabs, the competition, organised by BusinessZone.co.uk, is set to be fierce in all regions. The application window closes on 15 June, so time is running out for entrants to get their entry in.
This year’s star studded group of judges includes entrepreneur and star of The Secret Millionaire Carl Hopkins. He’s looking forward to supporting the entrepreneurs he meets through the competition.
“I’ll be looking for a belief in themselves and their ideas,” says Hopkins. “Also for an understanding of how to bring that idea to life, an understanding of the market they are entering, the needs of their prospective customers and the possible pit falls that lie ahead; as well as the possible up sides.”
The Pitch 2010 is as much about helping entrepreneurs make useful contacts and offering them support and advice to help grow their business as it is about pitching.
“I would definitely recommend entering The Pitch 2010,” says last year’s winner, Anthony Lau, founder of Cyclehoop. “Winning last year’s competition gave my business a massive boost. The experience I gained and the people I met along the way have been invaluable.”
Lau and the other 2009 entrants had the chance to pitch to a number of influential business figures, including former TV Dragon Doug Richard. “Doug Richard told me he now expects a lot from me,” he says. “Just a little pressure from an ex-dragon!”
Richard, who is once again involved with The Pitch, is relishing the chance to work with a new batch of hopeful entrants. “I love working with entrepreneurs,” he says. “They are visionary, hard-working, insightful, innovative, hopeful and imaginative.
“They create wealth for themselves, employment for their associates, solutions for their customers. The Pitch lets me meet hundreds of them. What’s not to love about that?”
Yell, the directories business, is supporting The Pitch for the second year running. Helen Stevenson, Yell’s chief marketing officer in the UK will again be a part of the judging process. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and last year’s finalists were a great litmus test of the entrepreneurial spirit of the nation. It was exciting and inspirational to hear their proposals – the competition is a great showcase for the brilliant ideas that people have for starting up small businesses.”
Entrepreneurs interested in entering should visit the competition website at: http://www.thebusinessfactory.co.uk/pitch-2010
Notes to editors
The Pitch is Britain’s biggest pitching competition. Now in its third year, The Pitch 2010 will be visiting another five British cities the year, searching for the best entrepreneurial talent and asking our crack team of high profile business experts to scrutinise business concepts and presentation skills, searching for the best of the best.
Over the coming months, the competition, organised by BusinessZone.co.uk, will be visiting Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and London in a series of regional heats, uncovering some of Britain’s best new businesses. The winners of the regional heats will progress into a national final, held in London in November, competing for the title of ‘Britain’s Best New Business’ as well as £50,000 worth of business support prizes.
For more information, visit http://www.thebusinessfactory.co.uk/pitch-2010. The deadline for applications to the regional heats is 15 June 2010.
The Pitch is an initiative by Sift Media, in association with Yell.
Sift Media is a leading business-to-business publisher specialising in online professional communities and face-to-face business events.
With a range of services including websites, email publications, industry awards and exhibitions, Sift Media delivers original, branded content to over half a million professionals every month, across finance, accounting, HR and training, IT, marketing, customer management and knowledge management.
About Yell
Yell is a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets in the UK, US, Spain and Latin America through printed, online and telephone-based media. Yell’s principal brands include: in the UK, Yellow Pages, Yell.com and 118 24 7; in the US, Yellowbook and Yellowbook.com; and in Spain, Paginas Amarillas and PaginasAmarillas.es. All these brands are trademarks.
www.yellgroup.com
For more information, please contact:
Matt Henkes, commercial editor, Sift Media
mhenkes@sift.com
+44 (0) 117 915 8654
Distributed on behalf of YELL by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Denovan
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com
For many small businesses, the focus of the last 18-months has been on cutting expenditure. A stark warning has been issued by DMC Software – cut back on spending on an effective CRM system and your company is at high risk of losing out against competitors. The leading business software specialists argue that CRM systems offer huge opportunities for small businesses coming out of the recession.
In order to maintain excellent levels of customer service, DMC Software Solutions, leading Sage Business Partner, has invested heavily in recruitment for its professional services team and the wider business.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is rapidly growing in popularity as businesses strive to differentiate themselves through enhanced customer service in an increasingly competitive market place. However, many businesses share a common misconception that CRM is just a sales tool, say CRM specialists DMC Software Solutions.