in London Small businesses are more likely to suffer from Brexit than bigger ones and need to put pressure on politicians to ensure they are protected in the run-up to Britain leaving the European Union, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson has said.
At an event in London to announce the launch of Voom Pitch, a competition for Irish and British start-ups with a €1.2 million prize fund, Sir Richard said future job growth in Europe would come primarily from small and medium-sized businesses.
“We need to make sure small businesses are not excluded from markets as they were before the European Union came into being and that trade doesn’t become bureaucratic and expensive. If we can ensure that then small businesses will continue to flourish” he said.
The businessman was speaking as details of the Voom competition were announced. The contest will see entrepreneurs pitching their business to Sir Richwith a view to sharing a prize fund worth more than €1.2 million.
With the Dublin-based not-for-profit social enterprise FoodCloud having come close to taking the top prize in the Voom Pitch competition last year, the hunt is on again to find the most innovative company in Britain and Ireland.
Disruptive
Voom Pitch is a merit-based programme intended to uncover the most innovative, disruptive and original business concepts out there. Established in 2011 as ‘Pitch to Rich’, it consists of a ‘start-up’ category for early stage companies and a ‘grow category’ for business that are already recording revenues but are looking to grow further.
The 2016 competition, which was open to Irish SMEs for the first time, attracted thousands of entries, including almost 200 from Ireland. FoodCloud, a start-up which has developed a platform that helps businesses redistribute surplus food to charities, went on to nab second place, winning €25,000, mentoring and brand support, and a business broadband package.
The overall winner last year was Bio-Bean, a London-based clean technology company that turns used coffee grounds into green biofuels, and MacRebur, a Scottish firm which has developed a way to produce road asphalt out of waste plastic.
Asked about the perfect pitch, Sir Richard said it should be short and simple.
“I’m famously dyslexic and so at Virgin, if we’re doing an advert, it’s a case of, if Richard can understand it, it’s going to work. Simple, clear cut messages are always key,” he said.
Voom bus
For this year’s competition, a Voom bus will be making pit stops at venues across Britain and Ireland, offering start-ups a chance to win a regional prize of £5,000 (€5,918), a two-week radio campaign promoting their business, and one of ten chances to meet and receive advice from Sir Richard. Experts will also be on hand to provide help on how to launch and scale a business.
The Voom tour bus will be at TechConnect Live, which takes place at the RDS in Dublin on May 31st. It will also be stopping in Belfast and cities across Britain.
A shortlist of six finalists from across Ireland and Britain will eventually be selected to pitch their business idea to a panel of experts that includes Sir Richard in London later this year.
