PRESS RELEASE
February 23rd 2011 – Businesszone.co.uk’sThe Pitch, the UK’s biggest and longest running business pitching competition, has opened the 2011 application process with a twist this year that’s sure to provoke furious competition across all the Home Nations.
For the first time, The Pitch is going to be holding its preliminary heats in each of the Home Nations, with the national champions going on to compete in a grand final for a £50,000 prize package, and the title of the UK’s Best New Business.
The Pitch Home Nations, in association with marketing solutions business Yell, will see national heats held in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast and London over the summer. Entrepreneurs will be invited to come and pitch their business idea to a panel of expert judges, in front of a live audience.
Each event will comprise a live half-day conference and networking event, aiming to provide support and guidance to local business owners and entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs can find out more about the competition and submit their entry by visiting www.ThePitch2011.com
The Pitch has grown every year since its inception in 2008, and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs make invaluable business contacts, gain access to expert advice and supplied free business insight to hundreds of thousands of small business owners across Britain, holding live events in a score of major UK cities.
This is a great opportunity for start-up business owners and entrepreneurs to gain presentation experience and feedback, while getting expert advice on their business strategy, but that’s not all, the content of the live events is designed to be practically applicable to common key issues of running a business, and the publicity associated with the competition has given many former entrants a much-needed boost.
The winner of The Pitch 2010 Ben Atkinson-Willes, founder of Active-Minds and inventor of a series of products designed to help people in dementia care stay mentally active, says:
“Being involved with The Pitch 2010 was a great, if slightly nerve-wracking, experience from start to finish. It was brilliant to meet experts like Doug Richard and Julie Meyer and get first hand advice from them. The publicity it generated for my business was phenomenal and the contacts I’ve made have proved incredibly useful. I would recommend getting involved in the 2011 competition to any entrepreneur.”
Notes to editors
The dates for The Pitch Home Nations 2011 heats are:
England – London
Date: 9 June
Wales – Cardiff
Date: 12 July
Scotland – Edinburgh
Date: 18 August
Northern Ireland – Belfast
Date: 21 September
Venues to be announced.
Follow The Pitch and BusinessZone on Twitter:
@the_pitch
@businesszone
The Pitch is an initiative by Sift Media, in association with Yell .
About Sift Media
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 small business, finance, accounting, HR and training, IT, marketing, customer management and knowledge management.
About BusinessZone.co.uk
BusinessZone.co.uk is Sift Media’s online publication for entrepreneurs providing free, practical and no-nonsense advice on how to start and grow a successful business.
About Yell
Yell offers quality business leads and marketing solutions to small and medium sized enterprises in the UK, US, Spain and some countries in Latin America through an integrated portfolio of simple-to-use, cost effective advertising. Our products are available through printed, online, telephone and mobile based media. Yell’s principal brands include: in the United Kingdom – Yellow Pages, Yell.com and 118 24 7; in the United States – Yellowbook and Yellowbook.com; and in Spain – PaginasAmarillas and PaginasAmarillas.es.
http://www.yellgroup.com
Yell Press Office
Demelza Fryer-Saxby
0118 3582977
demelza.fryer-saxby[at]yellgroup[dot]com
Twitter: @YellPressOffice
Facebook: www.facebook.com/yell
For more information, please contact:
Rita Andrews, Head of Events, Sift Media
Rita.andrews[at]siftmedia[dot]co.uk
Distributed on behalf of Yell by NeonDrum news distribution service (http://www.neondrum.com)
