Rob on Top of the World!
- 28th July 2010

After Spain were crowned winners of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, Rob Norton who owns a local graphic design company, has been announced as the winner of the Business Week World Cup Prediction Competition - sponsored by First Hull Trains.

David Townend, Sales and Marketing Manager, First Hull Trains with competition winner, Rob Norton, looking through Rob's impressive results on board a First Hull Trains Service

Rob, a director at Hull-based White Box Studios, won the competition, receiving a prize kindly donated by First Hull Trains of a First Class Weekend for two in London.

The competition involved choosing which teams would go through from each group and then predicting the winner of every knock out game, up to the final.

And despite England's poor showing in South Africa, Rob's 'Barnstonworth United' team held on to score 190 points, 30 more than his nearest rival in the league table of over 30 competitors.

The competition was held as a joint celebration of both the World Cup and the Humber Business Week 2010, as part of a promotion which also saw a World Cup wall-chart produced to promote Business Week across the Hull and Humber area.

David Townend, sales and marketing manager at First Hull Trains, said: "We were keen to become involved in Business Week, a brand which celebrates the best of business in the area, something that First Hull Trains is very proud to be a part of.

"Therefore, we were delighted to be able to sponsor the World Cup Competition and provide a prize for the winner was an excellent way of doing so. I'd like to congratulate Rob on winning the competition, and on behalf of First Hull Trains, I hope that he enjoys the First Class Weekend in London."

Rob Norton celebrating as he heads for London

Rob said: "It's not often I win something so it was really nice to have found out that I finished first in the competition. I made my predictions quite a while before the World Cup started and actually forgot about it, until I checked the website a couple of days before the final and saw I was top.

"When I first heard about the competition I wasn't aware about the prize, so to have won one is a bonus. I had forecast that the final would be between Holland and Spain, but with Holland winning. I also predicted England to go out quite early. I was telling some of my colleagues who also entered that England wouldn't do too well, so maybe the reason I've won is that everyone was being too optimistic about England winning!

"I'd have liked England to have won the World Cup, but the fact I've won the prediction competition is a good consolation and the prize makes up for it."

Kate Carroll, corporate services manager at the Humber Economic Partnership, who organised both Business Week and the competition, said: "The competition was an excellent way of celebrating both the World Cup and Business Week and I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Rob on winning the prize of a weekend in London on behalf of First Hull Trains.

"The competition added an extra spice to the World Cup for those who entered, more so than the traditional office sweepstake, and it also allowed us to get the message out about Business Week, which helped us on our way to welcoming 15,000 people to our events in 2010."