Lord Sugar looking for next Apprentice, as applications open for new series

Lord Sugar wants YOU to be his next Apprentice.

Applications are now open for the return of the reality TV show – in which aspiring entrepreneurs hope to clinch investment of up to £250,000 and the opportunity to go into a 50:50 business with Alan Sugar.

Resuming for its fourteenth series, the show has a history of showcasing some of the UK’s most impressive entrepreneurs at the very beginning of their journey.

Winner of The Apprentice in 2015, and named a Young Gun in 2017, Joseph Valente’s boiler installation business ImpraGas already turns over more than £2m annually.

No longer involved with Lord Sugar, Valente says ImpraGas, which currently operates across ten counties with over 28 staff, will be expanding nationally in the next three years.

Launching his own mentoring academy early this year, Valente released his own book in November 2017 – documenting his life to date.

Another Apprentice winner and Young Gun is series 10’s Mark Wright. Claiming to be the most successful candidate in the show’s history – his digital marketing agency Climb Online now turns over more than £4m a year.

Read more: The Apprentice winners: Then and now

Highly disputing Wright’s claim is winner of series 8 Ricky Martin, whose science and tech recruitment firm Hyper Recruitment Solutions recently celebrated its fifth birthday.

Talking exclusively to Startups, Martin said his “multi-million pound business” has been profitable since year one, with double digit growth year-on-year, and already has a headcount of 40 employees with an additional 150 consultants.

Proof that winning isn’t everything, at least as far as the show itself is concerned, Lauren Riley’s The Link App was recently named one of the best apps in Britain.

While Vana Koutsomitis and Anisa Topan have both launched businesses on the back of their appearance on the BBC show.

The last series of The Apprentice had an unprecedented final result, as Lord Sugar opted to hire both finalists – 35-year-old sweet firm owner Sarah Lynn and 26-year-old James White who runs an IT recruitment company.

“Deciding on a winner was the most difficult decision I have had to make in all 13 series of The Apprentice to date,” said Lord Sugar in a statement.

“James and Sarah were extremely impressive and their proposed business plans were very different but equally strong.”

“I genuinely couldn’t decide between them, so after deliberating long and hard, I decided to stump up £500,000 and invest in them both.”

Recently singing a deal that has renewed the reality TV show for another three series, the show is now expected to run until at least series 16 – which should be broadcast in late 2020.

Interested in applying for the next series of The Apprentice? Click here to register to apply.