Barbara Hughes, who runs Boozeberries with her husband, won over three expert judges in Belfast’s Grand Opera House. The event, organised in association with print and digital services company Yell, was the last regional heat in The Pitch 2011’s search for Britain’s best small businesses.
The couple’s product is a liqueur naturally enhanced with the infusion of wild fragrant berries, and is already stocked in several branches of Tesco Northern Ireland.
Boozeberries and four other small businesses were judged by Karen Darby, a serial entrepreneur; Carl Hopkins, marketing expert and star of Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire and Will McKee, entrepreneur, investor and one of Ireland’s leading board directors.
A confident pitch combined with a product that has secured genuine interest in both the UK and USA markets secured Hughes, who has a background in the food and retail industry, a place in the grand final of The Pitch 2011 at London’s legendary Pacha night club on 18 November. The overall champion will receive £50,000 worth of business support.
Dan Martin, BusinessZone.co.uk editor and The Pitch founder, says: “The Pitch 2011 has been on the road since June tracking down the UK’s best small businesses and our Northern Irish contenders certainly didn’t disappoint. All five demonstrated exactly the sort of commitment and passion needed to get the economy back on track. Unfortunately however, there could only be one winner.
“Barbara Hughes won over the judges with a business that already has an impressive brand and is stocked by the UK’s biggest supermarket. We look forward to seeing how she compares to our champions from England, Wales and Scotland.”
The other finalists in The Pitch 2011 Northern Ireland were:
- Anthony Kieran, Media Lightbox (an online file storage and management for businesses)
- Conor James Moran, Mobile Report (a web and mobile application used to generate reports for field based operatives)
- Maria McGee, Marble Hill (natural skin care solutions for everyday skin problems)
- Jason Paul, Floe (a device that downdrains and removes stagnant water from houses, holiday homes, caravans and motorhomes)
Northern Ireland was the last heat in the regional search for finalists. The event also included presentations from business experts including millionaire entrepreneur Lara Morgan, chief executive of Invest Northern Ireland Alastair Hamilton and David Malone, Belfast divisional telesales manager for Yell.
Winners from England, Wales and Scotland have already been selected. Cara Sayer, creator of SnoozeShade will represent England, Helen McAvoy and Naomi Kibble, co-founder of Rocktails will represent Wales, whilst Ross Dickinson, creator of Kibosh, will represent Scotland. A fifth wildcard contestant will also be selected from all the runners up by a public vote on http://www.thepitch2011.com during October.
Tickets for the final are now on sale for £20 at http://www.thepitch2011.com/the-pitch-final.
Business Matters are a proud supporter of the The Pitch 2011
