Staffordshire brothers hoping to strike deal with Sir Richard Branson

Scott, Ritchie and James Sieradzki, from Cannock, are hoping to get £50,000 worth of backing from the businessman through Virgin Media Business's Pitch to Rich competition.

Their business idea, Reelo, is a free online movie streaming service, designed to give a better deal to film makers and advertisers.

They aim to banish pirate film websites and change the way that people watch adverts, making them a rewarding experience, rather than an annoyance.

Scott, aged 31, said: "Our platform would give users the ability to watch films for free.

"By watching a few adverts, users will be rewarded with tokens called stubs - which can be redeemed in order to view films free of charge.

"The more attention that you pay to the adverts, the more stubs you can get.

"The point of our idea is to stop film companies getting an unfair deal by pirate websites, and give customers what they want - legal, free films.

"If we got Sir Richard's backing, we would provide good quality films, without the hassle of pop-ups and viruses."

Ritchie is aged 28 and lives in Sherbrook Road, James is 25 and now lives in London.

Advertisers can set their own cost by offering as many stubs as they like. While film distributors get paid for every free movie that is watched.

Reelo need 500 votes to move on to the next stage of the Virgin competition and Scott is hoping they can reach that target before voting closes.

He said: "From Monday there will be a vote button on our website, all you have to do is click that button and enter your name, address and e-mail.

"After that there will be a verification e-mail with a link on, and as soon as you've clicked that - you've voted.

"It will only take 30 seconds out of your day, its that simple.

"Hopefully we can get enough votes to see it through - we've got our fingers crossed."

Voting opens Monday 18 May at 10am, and closes Wednesday 20 May at 5pm. To cast a vote visit reelo.tv.