The Pitch 2010: Prizes revealed and entry deadlines extended

As if you needed it, there's a new reason to love BusinessZone.co.uk's UK small business competition, The Pitch 2010.

As well as giving you the opportunity to pitch to well-known entrepreneurs, investors and business experts, get your name and brand seen by thousands and receive top-class business advice, we are today unveiling a raft of prizes in a package that will make up a collection of business services worth £50,000.

So far the package, which will continue growing throughout the competition, includes top-class business mentoring, PR training, three months of free first-class rail travel and £5,000 worth of advertising with competition sponsors Yell.

Also included in the prize bonanza is a top-spec market analysis service from Trends Research, virtual office space and a full-on website consultancy from web-community specialists Sift Groups. Standby for more prize announcements in the near future.

Additionally, owing to a massive late surge in competition entries, The Pitch 2010 has decided to extend its entry deadline for four of the regional heats.

Entries for next week's South West heat in Bristol have now closed, though applicants for all four other regional heats now have a little longer to finalise their entry forms.

A late surge on Monday and Tuesday this week prompted the decision from The Pitch 2010 management team to extend the remaining deadlines in order to give more people the chance to get involved.

The new deadlines are as follows:
South West - Closed
North England – 25 June
Scotland – 25 June
South East – 01 July
Midlands – 23 July

Karen Darby, founder of Simply Switch and Call Britannia and a judge at The Pitch 2009, has been added to the line-up of judges for the Scotland heat of the competition, which will also include a day conference involving advice and insight from leading UK entrepreneurs and business experts. Visit the special Pitch Scotland 2010 homepage for more details and to secure your free ticket.

"I'm extremely excited to be taking part in The Pitch Scotland this year," said Darby. "Entrepreneurs need all the support they can get at the moment, and I'm relishing the chance to go Edinburgh, meet new people, hear what they have to say and share what I've learned in my time in business.

"I'm also really looking forward to seeing the standard of entrants in The Pitch competition," she added. "Last year's contest was fierce, and I'm hoping we can better that this year."

With the level and standard of entries that have flooded The Pitch 2010 office in the last few days, it's looking very likely that she will get her wish. Visit The Pitch website today to download your entry form.