The Apprentice is back for a nineteenth series, with another set of hopefuls fighting it out for a £250k investment from Lord Sugar.
The question is whether a more toned Lord Sugar will be sitting alongside his trusted advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE, given last year’s winner was Leeds fitness entrepreneur, Rachel Woolford.
READ MORE – The Apprentice winner makes Leeds investment
This year’s tasks start in Austria and later in the series, the wannabe apprentices will make a virtual pop star and a banking app for kids.
Lord Sugar’s advice for the candidates: “Just be shrewd. Just be clever. And just be smart. It’s not rocket science.”
So let’s find out a bit more about them…
Representing Middlesbrough is Hair Transplant Consultant Carlo Brancati.
“My business plan is to develop a user-friendly online platform that connects patients with the most reputable hair transplant clinics worldwide. The platform will solve the challenge of navigating a crowded market, where many clinics claim to be the best, by providing a trusted, easy-to-use resource for comparing clinics, accessing expert advice, and making well-informed decisions about hair restoration,” he said.
And why he deserves the cash:
“With a master’s degree in psychology, sales experience, and self-acquired digital marketing skills, I’ve worked 15-hour days over the past several years to master the tools of modern entrepreneurship. Simply put, no one works harder than me!”
Yes, “self-acquired digital marketing skills.”
Emma Rothwell, now based in Essex (like a good proportion of candidates), is a “proud northerner” who originates from Lancashire. She owns an online gift store.
Her end game:
“To evolve my already successful business to the next level. To create an online platform where anyone can upload their designs onto gifts and earn passive income. Creating a community of creators and consumers. To empower people who struggle with or can’t work a 9-5 to earn an income on their own terms.”
Jonny Heaver’s done the journey in reverse, originally from Kent and now based in Liverpool, Heaver owns a tutoring company. And once again, the goal is online.
“My business plan is to scale my business by expanding into targeted locations across the country and appointing regional directors with local knowledge to oversee them. Many large tutoring companies are based in London and grow online, which results in an impersonal service with tutors who have no local knowledge. As a business whose only asset is people, Lord Sugar’s investment would be used for targeted marketing and training.”
Across the Pennines and we have Keir Shave, the owner of a Leeds-based telemarketing company – a business set up “in just 3 working days” after a previous employer went bust overnight.
The company now employs 40 staff in the city.
“My business plan is a complementary business to my main outsourced Sales/Telemarketing business. An online tool that is designed to help sales staff at all levels throughout their sales conversations. The tool is designed to provide little but constant support in the form of a “chat-bot” where the user can input their issue and the tool responds with ideas/tips around the sales objection.”
Series 19 of The Apprentice airs on BBC 1 on January 30th at 9pm.
