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Teddy bear roars to victory as wildcard entry in The Pitch 2011 business contest
Teddy bear roars to victory as wildcard entry in The Pitch 2011 business contest
The creators of an innovative cuddly toy which helps children improve their behaviour have been selected by the public as the final contestants in a competition with £50,000 worth of business support up for grabs.
Reading,
Berkshire,
United Kingdom
(prbd.net)
07/11/2011
November 7th 2011 - Gill Ellis and Nicola Morgan, co-founders of Behaviour Stop and inventors of the Good Choice Teddy, were picked as the wildcard for the final of The Pitch 2011, organised by BusinessZone.co.uk in association with print and digital services company Yell.
The Good Choice Teddy uses a traffic-light system and different coloured t-shirts to help children improve their behaviour. If the child refuses to improve, a red t-shirt is placed on the teddy which encourages them to think about the benefits of being well behaved.
Behaviour Stop also offers other products and services aimed at promoting positive relationships among teachers, parents and children.
The business was one of 16 competing for the most public votes. All the companies were runners-up in the regional heats of the competition which took place during the summer in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
After almost 2,000 online votes were cast including some from as far afield as Australia and Argentina, the Welsh finalists and qualified teachers were the most popular.
Gill Ellis and Nicola Morgan will now pitch in front of a live audience at The Pitch 2011 grand final in London on 18 November alongside the winners of the English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish heats. They will be judged by experts including serial entrepreneur Karen Darby and The Secret Millionaire star Carl Hopkins.
The overall champion will win a package of business products and services worth £50,000. The event is also the official closing party for Global Entrepreneurship Week UK.
Dan Martin, editor of BusinessZone.co.uk and founder of The Pitch, says: “All of our wildcard contenders should be thoroughly proud of themselves as they did very well to reach the regional heats stage.
“However, there can only be one winner and Gill and Nicola did a great job at promoting their cause through social media. They have a great business so we look forward to seeing how they compete during the final on 18 November.
“The evening looks set to be one of the most exciting small business events of the year as it’s rare you get to see entrepreneurs pitching on a nightclub dancefloor! Given that it’s also the closing celebrations for Global Entrepreneurship Week UK, I urge business owners to secure their ticket immediately!”
During the grand final at London’s legendary Pacha nightclub, the public will have another chance to have their saying by watching the live pitches and selecting who should win the People’s Choice Award, sponsored by XLN Telecom.
Other sponsors of the grand final are Business Environment, Powwownow, Crunch and Realex Payments.
Tickets to the events cost £20 including a free drink and can be purchased at http://www.thepitch2011.com/the-pitch-final
The other finalists in the final are:
• England: Cara Sayer, Snoozeshade (a product to help children sleep while in a pushchair)
• Wales: Helen McAvoy, Rocktails (pre-packaged frozen cocktails)
• Scotland: Ross Dickinson, Kibosh (provides a temporary fix to burst water pipes)
• Northern Ireland: Barbara Hughes, Boozeberries (premium liqueur infused with wild berries)
Editor's Notes
Videos of the finalists pitching during the regional heats are available for embedding on websites. Journalists are welcome to attend the grand final of The Pitch 2011. For more information contact Meg Pope on meg.pope[at]siftmedia[dot]co.uk or 0117 915 9615.
Full details about The Pitch 2011 are at www.thepitch2011.com.
The Pitch 2011 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 (www.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 (www.yellgroup.com)
Yell Group is a leading provider of print and digital services within the emerging local eMarketplace for consumers and SMEs across its operations in the UK, US, Spain and some countries in Latin America.
Building on its strong presence in the local market through its current digital and print portfolio, Yell is developing a broad range of digital services tailored to the converging needs of SMEs and consumers.
These address both the SME need to grow, transact and be efficient in the digital world, and the consumers’ need to connect locally to the goods and services they want, in a way which saves them time and money, and moves their lives forward.
In the year ended 31 March 2011, Yell Group had 1.3 million SME customers.
Twitter:
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@BusinessZone
@YellPressOffice
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