Graeme McDowell lends his support for surfing brothers in Pitch To Rich
By Eleanor McGillie
TWO brothers from the North Coast of Northern Ireland got a boost this week from golfing legend Graeme McDowell in their bid to win the #Voom: Pitch To Rich competition being run by Virgin Media Business.
Graeme McDowell has taken to his Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts to voice his support for The Skunkworks Surfboard Company which has beaten off stiff competition from 897 businesses across the UK to qualify for the semi-finals in the competition.
Ricky Martin, 35 and his brother Chris, 31, are hoping to secure a share of the £1million accelerator fund to grow The Skunkworks Surfboard Company which will revolutionize the way surfboards are made, create jobs and change the way surf schools operate across the world.
The brothers are currently in third position but with a little social media support from US Open winner, Graeme McDowell, the surfing duo are hoping he will influence people to vote for them.
On his social media accounts, Graeme McDowell wrote: “Please help vote for some school buddies of mine with #VOOM Pitch to Rich 2015 for their eco surfboard start up business” – a message which he shared the voting link with his 672,598 Twitter followers, his 133,000 Facebook followers and 49,700 Instagram followers.
Ricky said: “We are currently in third position. Graeme McDowell is such a legend because we are getting so close now to pitching directly to Richard Branson. This is such a cool thing for him to do. We are the only Northern Ireland business in this competition.
“The experience so far has been amazing. We think we are in with a good chance but we very much need the support of the public. We want to pitch our groundbreaking solution which will eliminate the wear and tear of foamies which is currently the biggest cost to surfing schools across the world.”
The two brothers developed the concept because Ricky owns Alive Surf School in Portrush and mending foamies after every season is a costly headache both financially and time wise for surf schools around the world.
He said: “We knew there had to be a better design so we have built a prototype which will impact on the how surf schools across the world operate. We have come up with a product which is 100 per cent recyclable for an industry which is expected to be worth $13.2billion by 2017.”
Winners in each of the three categories will be chosen by Richard Branson along with a prestigious team of judges in a live final on June 26 including Jon Oringer: founder and CEO of Shutterstock; Jo Malone MBE – the creator of the globally renowned ‘Jo Malone London’; David Gandy, a model and investor and Justine Roberts – founder of Mumsnet.
To vote for Ricky and Chris click http://www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk/pitch-to-rich/new-things/the-skunkworks-surfboard-company/
Voting ends at 10am on June 16.
ENDS:
Notes To Editor:
- The Skunkworks Surf Company was established in October 2013 by two brothers – Ricky and Chris Martin to design and manufacture the ‘next generation’ surfboards. The Skunkworks Surf Board company is based in Coleraine. The company strives to make the most robust, high performance surfboards and stand up paddle boards in the world.
- For further information contact Eleanor McGillie of MGMPR Ltd on 028 3756 9569028 3756 9569 | 07709805379 | Brand Journalism UK | Sport PR | Brand Journalism Experts | Brand Journalism Northern Ireland | PR Northern Ireland | Public Relations UK
