For years fans of The Apprentice have wondered what it is Lord Sugar saw in his winning business wannabes, all of whom seemed about as useful as a kettle made of ice.
In fact though Sugar’s gotten very lucky with a lot of the winning candidates many of whom, rather shockingly, are not only competent but actually excel in business.
Don’t believe us? Well don’t take our word for it the good folk over at Digital Spy have done their best digital spying to work out what happened to most of the winning candidates.
Here’s a few you may remember…
Tim Campbell (2005)
BBCTim was there from the very beginning, winning the first series and joining Amstrad to become the project director of its health and beauty division.
After two years working with Lord Sugar he left the company and set up Bright Ideas Trust a group that helps young people from disadvantaged backgrounds get started in business.
That’s not all however he was Boris Johnson’s ambassador for apprenticeships and was given an MBE for services to enterprise culture.
Lee McQueen (2008)
BBCWhile Lee missed his calling as a professional pterodactyl impressionist he’s managed to forge quite a career for himself, even if he did lie on his CV.
Lee worked as a business development director at Amscreen for two years before leaving to pursue public speaking.
He went onto found a sales recruitment business called Raw Talent Academy and was named Young Business Person of the Year in 2015 at the Oxfordshire Business Awards.
Stella English (2010)
BBCFamously Stella and Lord Sugar had a pretty dreadful working relationship. She complained that she was nothing but a ‘glorified PA’ and resigned from he post in October 2011.
She later tried to sue Sugar for constructive dismissal but the judge dismissed her complaint joking that she had moaned about a reasonable job because she expected a more glamorous lifestyle.
Since then Stella started a crowdfunding TV channel called Crowdbox TV and has plans for a website called crowdkix.com, but neither really took off.
Tom Pellereau (2011)
BBCTom was the first apprentice who didn’t actually get a job instead he got some investment capital. While that may sound a bit shit Tom’s managed to do very well for himself.
His award-winning nail file, ‘Stylfile’ is actually available in shops, not some random catalogue or QVC, so he has to be successful! He’s also apparently helped to invent a new kind of baby bottle.
Joseph Valante (2015)
BBCJoseph won The Apprentice last year so hasn’t really had chance to do much yet, but things seem to be going well for him. His business ImpraGas has had record breaking sales in the months since he won.
He also plans on setting up the largest network of gas boiler installers in the country.
