Action Petz makes it to grand final of Virgin’s prize contest
ACTION Petz, which is aiming to create a UK-wide franchise of indoor and outdoor dog parks, has made it through to the final of Voom 2018 – the Virgin Media Business pitching competition in which entrepreneurs can win a share of £1m in prizes.
The Newport-based firm, set up and run by Shelley Redding, has attracted hundreds of votes from members of the public.
And today she will pitching live to Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, founder of Innocent drinks Richard Reed, serial entrepreneur and TV presenter Sophie Morgan, founder and CEO of Tropic Skincare Susie Ma and Virgin Media Business’ MD Peter Kelly for a share of money that will support her expansion.
Ms Redding founded Action Petz in 2014 after her dog was stolen while out on a walk. This inspired her to create a fun and safe environment for dogs to play, train and socialise with other dogs off the lead.
Action Petz now has two centres in south Wales, in Bridgend and Newport, and if successful will be able to relaunch a Cardiff centre.
She secured Action Petz’s place in the grand final after first attracting public votes before going on to survive a grilling from industry experts at the semi-finals.
Over 200,000 votes were cast by the public to shortlist the 80 businesses that made it to the gruelling semi-final in Manchester.
There, they had to pitch their ideas and were grilled by panels of judges who assessed their ideas and business plans before whittling them down to just six finalists who will now face Sir Richard Branson and the Voom judges.
Sir Richard said: “We have great team of judges who will help scrutinise business plans and pitches before deciding who will win Voom 2018.
“The judges know all about the challenges of starting a business – and have the insight needed to spot a great idea and turn it into a business.”