The Apprentice 2024 - Lord Sugar, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE reveal all about the candidates and their top tips for business success (2025)

Published: 23 January 2024

The Apprentice 2024 - Lord Sugar, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE reveal all about the candidates and their top tips for business success (1)

The Apprentice is back, fronted by business tycoon Lord Sugar alongside his trusted advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE.

The series returns with 18 candidates and brand-new tasks, where we’ll see the hopeful business candidates battle it out for the opportunity of a lifetime for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment and mentorship.

Watch The Apprentice on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Thursday 1 February

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Lord Sugar

The Apprentice 2024 - Lord Sugar, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE reveal all about the candidates and their top tips for business success (2)

You’re back for series 18, how excited are you for the audience to see this series?

Well, I'm very pleased with this series because the quality of the candidates that we have attracted this year is superb, I have to say. This year, we've got a lot to work with.

What do you think has changed?

This year, we had more business focused tasks early in the audition process so that my team and the production company could filter out and find serious potential businesspeople.

What makes you keep coming back to the show?

Well, I love it. I love doing it. If I didn't like doing it, I wouldn't do it. I can assure you I've got plenty of other things to do in my life, but I do enjoy it. And what I enjoy about it is that it's growing acorns to oak trees. It's finding a person and starting all over again and doing exactly what I did back in the '60s.

Do you have an idea of how long you want to do the show given the 20th anniversary is around the corner?

Well, obviously we're going to do that. No question. But bear in mind, it's not my call, it's the BBC's call. They're the ones that will decide whether the programme has got longevity beyond 20 series. I have a contract to do series 19, I don't have a contract to do series 20 yet, but I'm pretty damn sure that I'll ask them to do it and we'll do it. But it's really up to them. It's up to their scheduling and all that type of thing.

Me personally, I love it. I love doing it. I know Karren loves doing it. Tim loves doing it. And bear in mind that we've got people coming along now who 20 years ago weren't even born. Or we've got people coming along now who were five years or six years old when they first started watching The Apprentice through their mums and dads. And now they're coming on the show. So, it's great. It's fantastic. And it's a great BBC programme.

How important are Baroness Brady and Tim Campbell to you in this process?

Unbelievable. Karren is brilliant. Tim is brilliant. They've got it. They're the ones that tell me what's going on when they're out in the field with the candidates. I get emails, maybe 10 emails a day, as they're going on. "Fred's just fallen over. Fred's just dropped all the ice cream. Harry's just screwed up in front of the buyer." I get it all. That's how I get my information to actually question the candidates in the boardroom. They're brilliant because they've done it for so long, right? They're experts. They know what to look for and they know what to tell me and they know when to shut the candidates up and to steer them in the right direction.

They are very important to me when it comes to deciding who I’m going to fire and hire. I mean, you could say the show is all Lord Sugar, it's not. It's Lord Sugar, Karren and Tim. It’s definitely down to them also as much as me. I can't get all my questions out to the candidates without them telling me what went on in the task.

A large percentage of your audience is the much sought after 16-24 age bracket, why do you think you are attracting that age range when people might expect them to be focussed on dating shows or streamers?

First of all, what you need to understand is, and I don't wish to be disrespectful to any other host of business programmes, but I have done everything. I've literally done everything. When I'm questioning the candidates, I question them from a position of absolute experience of knowing every single facet of starting a business from scratch right the way up to becoming a multi-billion-pound turnover business. I think what happens is the interrogation or the questioning, put it that way, of the candidates, is what attracts the youngsters. If I’m walking down the street, it is that age group of people who come up to me to ask for a signature or a photograph or something like that.

Despite all that you still haven’t personally won a Bafta for what you’ve done for business!

We have won Baftas, of course, the programme's won. And then I came up with the idea of the Junior Apprentice, right? And guess what? That also won. I think Bafta should give me a special award for 20 years of business. Simon Cowell got a special award for 10 years in music. Why can't I have a special award for 20 years of business? I've got all the other gongs for everything else, the only one that I haven't got is a Bafta.

When you go into a new series, what is it that you are looking for in a business partner, and has that changed over the years?

No. When you're confronted initially with 18 new people, you don't know them, all I've received is 18 CVs. Detailed CVs, not just a single page, but a thick document of about 15 pages. I read that carefully and, it's not until we kick off and as the weeks go by that I start to get a feeling for individuals. There have been many times in the early stages of process, Karren, Tim, Claude or Nick Hewer have said, "that bloke's good or this girl's great, this one's good”, and all that. And then suddenly, throughout the course of the process, the others start to climb, and you change your mind as it's going through. The most frequently asked question to me is, do you know who's going to win as soon as you see the whole lot? The answer is absolutely not. I don't know who's going to win until we really get through to the end of the series.

You really do study the candidates before you meet them?

I do. I've looked at them carefully and I make notes on their CVs, they are all marked up. It's 15 pages. For example, I would highlight page 15 and things that they've written in their CVs. I will highlight it and then I can go straight to that page in the boardroom, what they're claiming, I've got their tactics, I've got their regrets, I've got their best efforts, their worst efforts, what angers them, what their hobbies are, who their role models are. I know them before they walk through the door. There’s no pulling the wool over my eyes, I know them before we even meet.

How important are first impressions because the candidates tend to make quite bold statements at the beginning?

Yes, important. But I don't blame them for saying these things. It's when we get down to the nitty gritty, when I'm really talking to them, when I'm asking them questions and looking at their answers, that's when I'm forming an opinion of the individuals.

When it comes to the boardroom, how do you find the balance between entertaining but also being authentic?

Well, I think it is important that it is entertaining as well. And that's one of the reasons why we've got these young people following us. I explain to people business mistakes and good bits of business and the youngsters pick up on it. They love it, but they also love it when I give some people a bit of stick or when I make some jokes about their mistakes and all that stuff. There’s a fine balance of keeping it entertaining but also taking the business seriously.

Your one liners though are legendary!

I do have a good sense of humour! I think I get it from my mum. She had a very dry sense of humour.

What are you looking for from the candidates in those tense boardroom moments?

I'm looking for character, I'm looking for brain power. And this is the most important thing, do they get it? A lot of the candidates in the early stages simply don't get it. And that's why I let them go. Do you get it? It's as simple as that. All the shouting and screaming amongst each other, I have to shut them up. Just be quiet. They just start screaming. It's not good. I'm always telling them, "One at a time. I'll let you all speak. I'll let everybody speak. No need to shout and scream over each other." I'm just looking for do they get it? Simple as that.

This series sees tasks around electric cars, vegan cheese and virtual escape rooms. Is it important to you that tasks reflect the changing markets?

They're keeping me up to date also over the years, all this bloody virtual reality and all that type of thing. Of course, I'm a technical person, so I've been in the electronics industry and software industry all of my life. It’s not too bad. I'm able to keep up with it. Don't forget, 30 years ago I introduced computers for games playing. I know all about that.

With the country facing economic turmoil, does that impact the type of business you’re interested in?

I've been in business for 60 years nearly, and I've gone through valleys and mountains of recessions, booms and busts and all that stuff. And to be honest with you, I’ve just kept my head down and got on with my business. I'm focused on my business and that's what we do and that's what we do with the winners of The Apprentice. I don't let myself get dragged into, "Oh, I'm not going to do that now because there's a recession out there or the cost-of-living crisis." No, sorry, I can't do that.

How much of success is based on taking risks outside of your comfort zone? Or is it about detailed preparation?

All success is about risk. Risk, reward. Yes, calculated risks. Sensible gambles, sensible risks. Entrepreneurs stand out because they're prepared to make bold moves when other people are scared. I always tell people don't get involved in something that you have no experience in. That's my ethos. I only deal in areas that I do have experience in. I wouldn't go off and try and start an airline tomorrow. I wouldn't go off and start a mobile phone company. I'll stick to what I know. And that's why I say to the candidates, when the tasks come up, don't dive in because you want to be a project manager. Do you know anything about this? Is it synergistic to your business or to your knowledge? If it's not, stay away.

Baroness Karren Brady

The Apprentice 2024 - Lord Sugar, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE reveal all about the candidates and their top tips for business success (3)

The Apprentice is back for its 18th series and still going strong, why do you think it’s still so popular after all these years?

It's been going such a long time, lots of shows that are much loved become less loved as the series goes on, but this tends to build more and more momentum, so we're really pleased about that.

I think it's a number of things. Firstly, it's authentic. Alan is one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, and he lives for business, and does a lot in business that's very well respected. There's no one like him. I think he brings a level of authenticity that is not about fame or anything, it is genuinely about helping people start-up businesses. I think because it's so authentic, people love that. The second thing is, it's a format that's easy to understand. He sets the task, they go out, they do it, there's a winner, and on the losing team, someone gets fired. It is a formula that people are used to.

People love business in this country. They love seeing how people do business, how people react to difficult situations, their thought process. It's one of those ones where you're either hiding behind the sofa, or with your head in your hands, or like me rolling your eyes, or you're genuinely rooting them on because they've done something great. I think that people like to see the journey the candidates go through. They start big, bold, brash, impossible types, to becoming quite likeable, learning a lot, toning down, fitting in, doing good stuff. I think they quite like that.

And then I think the most important thing in some respects is the prize. If you have an ambition to set up your own business, it's the best prize you can get. You not only get a quarter of a million pounds to start it up, but the most important thing you get is a partnership and mentorship from one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. And they've seen genuine success from previous winners who've gone on to run these huge companies, employing hundreds of people, changing their life, becoming millionaires. It works. It's a tough process, and I think people like that it's tough and varied. They like to see the mistakes, but also the successes candidates have, and they like to see a winner go on and do particularly well. I think that's the formula for success.

The show is hugely popular with the 16-34 age range, why do you think that is?

I think young people want to get ahead. I think we are a great country of entrepreneurs and freethinkers. I think at that age you have the aspiration to run your own business, be an entrepreneur, be successful, earn money, do great things, do something different, show what you can do. I think they like to watch it because they like to learn something, they like to be inspired, they like to see how it's done, they like to see how it's not done. I get so many young people come up to me and say they watch it religiously. And if you think about how long it's been going, if you started watching it at 16, you're now in your thirties, so you've sort of grown up with it.

What can you tease about this year’s candidates?

I think it's probably the most highly qualified set of candidates we've ever had. Pharmacist, dentist, some already successful business owners. I think from that point of view, the standard is really very high, but with high standard and high achievers comes high ego! They think they're really, really, really, really good. And like most entrepreneurs and highly successful people, they often think they're the best in the room, and working as a team can prove very challenging for some people. Entrepreneurs are used to being in charge, making the decision, doing things quickly, the way they want, how they want, when they want. And suddenly when you're surrounded by ten other people, it becomes a lot more difficult to do that. All of them think they should be the boss, all of them think they should have the final say. It just becomes more and more difficult. It’s a high level of candidates this year.

What do you think candidates need to do to stand out?

Well, I think what they shouldn't do is hide. Alan doesn't like anybody to hide, and it always amazes me. I would want to be project manager for every task, because it's an opportunity to show what you can do, and you want to be able to show what you can do to secure the investment. If you hide at the back of the room with no opinions and just go with the flow, if you can't value your own opinions, why should anybody else? I think hiding is not a great place to be. He always spots the one who's hiding in the background, stuck in the kitchen, filling the bags with stuff, and he's not keen on that.

But I think what you should do is you should put people in their strengths. Don't play a political game, play a straight game. Be really clear about what you want. What often happens is, in some of these tasks, it all goes wrong in the brainstorm. They have an opportunity in the brainstorm to pick their target market, pick their brand ethos, for whatever task it is, pick their pricing structure and everything else. If project manager doesn't leave everybody clear on who's doing what, where they're going, what their ultimate goal is, they end up going in different directions, and the results can be devastating, it can often end up in a loss. I think being really clear, being very communicative, talking to everybody, getting people's opinions, but being able to make a decision.

I mean, far too often in this series we saw project managers come up with a very clear idea, and then get swayed and taken off their course, get persuaded into changing their mind, changing their course, changing their idea, and then it gets filtered out. And in life, if you try and please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody. You have to be really clear about what ideas you'll take on board and which ones you won't, that prevents a lot of time-wasting.

You and Tim are Lord Sugar's eyes and ears on the show. At the beginning of a series does he tell you what he's looking for?

He doesn't, no. At the beginning, it starts with the fact that everybody has a business plan, even though we haven't seen them, a business plan or a business idea that's backable. That’s the first premise. Alan has got very many diverse businesses, so he's not looking for anything particular. I'm sure he didn't think he'd be in the sweet business or the Botox business or the plumbing business or many other businesses. He’s not looking for anything specific.

Like most investors, you're looking at the person. You're looking at, what kind of person can you work with? Who's investible? Who has values and purpose that you believe in? Who has integrity and can get on with a team? It starts with the fact that everyone has a backable business. And through the tasks, what he's testing is, if I give you the money, can you market a business? Can you get on with people? Can you present? Can you innovate? Can you solve problems? Can you sell? Can you negotiate? Can you do marketing? Every task is set to test that, at the end of it, they've learned something or know something or done something that says that, if they get the money, they can actually run their business.

How important are first impressions to you and also to Lord Sugar because the candidates often make bold statements at the start?

I think if that was the case, a few of them would not have won over the years, because some of them come in with the most outlandish statements, and even they realise it's a ridiculous claim to make, and they turn it around. But the show attracts the kind of person that is not shy, who really does genuinely believe in themselves. And that's part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. You spot an idea or a gap in the market no-one else has, and you have the ability to back yourself to go after your aim. I mean, every great innovation, every great business, every idea started from a simple belief that it could be done. You do need to have self-belief. And some of them do take it a bit far! I think there's the first one, the doctor, who says he's got all the three B's, brains, beauty, and business sense. And Alan added “bullshit”, you do squint a bit and think, "Really?" But we don't hold it against them!

This series there are tasks involving electric cars, vegan cheese and a virtual escape room. Do you think that's important to reflect changing markets?

Yeah. I think it's really important to the audience, which is predominantly 16 to 34, that they are thinking about businesses they might go into, and businesses that they know of and understand. The show has evolved. I mean, some of these ideas, virtual escape rooms, were not in existence when this show started. I don't know how popular vegan cheese was when this started. Formula E certainly hadn't started. It’s important to evolve the businesses in the way people are thinking about, and the areas that people are thinking about starting up businesses.

You keep a close eye on them during tasks, what are you looking out for?

Well, first thing I always say to them, "I'm not here, so I can't help you, I can't advise you, I can't prompt you, you can't ask me any questions. I'm literally not here." I say, "Alan doesn't want to know if I can do this task. He wants to know if you can do this task." And my job and Tim's job is really very simple. It's to keep them honest in the boardroom. For them to take accountability of the decisions they help make, and if they say, "It wasn't my decision," our job is to say, "Well, actually it was your decision," or, "You're right, it wasn't your decision." And also, to tell Alan who's excelled, who's let the team down, who's been difficult to work with, who's been good to work with, who's turned it around, who's taken it off the rails. Our job is really simple. We just have a lot of notes, and we share them as we go, and just keep them honest in the boardroom, so he gets a genuine understanding of what happened because obviously he doesn't see the tasks. He won't see the tasks until the show's finished. He relies on us to tell him who did what, who's accountable for what, the good and the bad.

You say you don't get involved, but do the candidates try and ask for your help anyway?

We're really very, very clear that we're not there, and we're not part and parcel of the task, and we shouldn't be involved. There'll be times where I'll step in, but only because there's an issue that needs to be dealt with there and then, otherwise I try very hard not to.

Does it surprise you how brutal the candidates can be with each other in the boardroom?

No! Because trust me, when they all turn up to the first boardroom, all of them want to win. They want nothing more than to win. They want to change their life, they want to be successful, they want to be that entrepreneur that's running their own business, in charge of their own life, on their way to being a millionaire, being successful. They are as ruthless as they feel they need to be.

Do you like that they are feisty in the boardroom and show character?

Well, look, like anything in life, if you don't stand up for yourself, no-one will stand up for you. And if you're looking to get a partnership with one of the world's most successful people and a quarter of a million pounds, you've got to stand by your opinions, and you've got to be able to articulate why you shouldn't be fired and what you've done that contributed to the success rather than the failure. It is important that you stand up for yourself, but it's also important to watch your tone. None of us like to have a tone that is disrespectful, or particularly disrespectful to your colleagues. It's okay to stand up for yourself, but we wouldn't tolerate bullying or disrespect in the boardroom.

The boardroom is tense, but do you have fun at all?

We don't have a laugh, no. It's very serious. It's just like any other boardroom meeting you would have. If you're there, you're there for a purpose, you talk about the issues that you have. There's no time to have fun.

We go in, the first part, Boardroom one, as we call it, is who did what on the task, who won, and who lost. And then the winning team go off and have their treat, and the losing team go to the cafe to discuss what went wrong. Then they come back in, and at that second part, the project manager brings two people back, and then in the final part, someone's fired. There’s not big gaps between everything, and it rolls into one, and we're all very, very focused on what's happening and why it's happened and what the issues are.

And it's for Alan to go through what he thinks went wrong, and for them to explain what part they had in it.

Is it hard to find the balance between entertainment and authenticity?

I think the entertainment comes through the task, and then it gets more serious, right to the final most serious bit when you get the finger, and you're fired. It starts fun, and the pressure builds up right to the end.

For women in business what would your key advice be?

Confidence is absolutely key, and trusting your abilities is very important. I think confidence is not about what you have or haven't got in life, it's about knowing one thing, that you back yourself to turn things around when things aren't going your way. I would say lifelong learning is important, to stay up to date with trends, to be well read, whether that's through formal or informal education, online courses, always looking at ways to improve your skills and your knowledge.

I think it's also important to build your support network and system, mentors, advisors, networking with like-minded individuals. To develop resilience. Before success, you'll get temporary defeat, sometimes total failure, and it's what you do when that happens. As I said, every business starts with an idea it can be done. And on that path to success, there's ups and downs, and those setbacks and challenges build resilience, show that you've got a backbone, and you can use it and put one foot in front of the other.

I think you have to embrace risk. You never really know how good you are until you try something, so you have to step out your comfort zone. You have to try new things, you have to be a good communicator, and you've got to have clear goals.

You mentioned risk there. Do you think that's what stands entrepreneurs apart, that they are willing to take that risk, where other people might shrink back and stay in their comfort zone?

Part and parcel of being a success is taking a risk. No-one has a guarantee to be successful, but that's about being ambitious. And being ambitious is not a God-given right of a select few. It's a God-given right of everybody to want to be your best version of yourself, live your best life, take as many risks, and try and do what you want, not to be held back. As I say, ambition is not a gift reserved only for a few. It's a birthright of everyone. Anyone can be ambitious for themselves. And ambitious people won't settle other than anything than what they want. And having the resilience to go for it and taking the risk to go for it is important.

When it comes to ambition, for you, you've achieved so much. Is there anything that you are still ambitious about?

No, I don't harper after anything. I had one ambition in my life, for my whole career, and that was to be independent. I'd been at boarding school until I was 18, and when you go to boarding school, you eat what you're told, you wear what you're told, get up when you're told, go to bed when you're told, spend your whole life doing what you're told. And by 18, I'd had enough. I wanted control over my life. I wanted to say what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it and how I wanted to do it. I realised that I wanted to be independent, but I knew that true independence really only comes if you have your own money, and then you can make your own choices.

And for me, I realised that even before you work for yourself, you almost always work for someone else. I went off and got my career started, with the idea of having my own money, so I could have more control over my life. And that ambition of being independent has been fulfilled. I can say no to anything I want. And when you're building a career, you have to say yes to everybody who asks you, your boss, your colleagues, your family, everybody. And you say yes, but what you really want to say is no. And to get to the point in your life when you can say no, because you don't want to do it, and you don't have to say yes, has been my ambition that's been fulfilled.

And now I do the things I love. I do the House of Lords, I campaign for equality and to end domestic violence, all of those issues that are close to me or important to me, those I can spend my time on.

The country's going through economic turmoil, but is this a time when entrepreneurs can thrive?

Yes. Look, successful businesses start when there's good economic times and when there's bad economic times. It's all about having an idea, spotting a gap in the market for a product or a service, that somebody that's different and better, about looking at a business that you think you can turn around. So, lots of economic downsides and upsides create opportunities. You just have to spot what they are. But it's never been easier in some regards to set up a business, because if you and I had an idea for a business now, in two hours we could have a website selling that business. Whereas years ago, you'd have to have a physical presence, a physical product, whereas now you can have a dabble, you can try things, you can do things on the side, you can see if they work for you, leave the security of your job. But it all starts with an unwavering belief that you can do it.

And lots of people have an idea for a business, but they don't have the gumption or determination to turn that idea into reality. So, an entrepreneur is a mindset. It's a mindset, you can do it. You know there will be setbacks. You don't listen to the well-meaning people that say, "That's a bit risky, don't do that." You back yourself, you believe in yourself, you have an idea, and you're willing to work extremely hard to see it to fruition. Armed with all of those things, if you wait for the ideal economic climate, you'll never do anything. So, my advice is just to risk it, take it, do it. Because I read this thing in the paper that said the definition of Hell is that on your last day on Earth, the person you could have will meet the person you are. And that to me felt like you could live a whole life of missed opportunities, of never going for it, of holding back, of not really knowing what you can do and how you can do it, what you can achieve, what you can't achieve, not finding something you love.

My advice is, don't wait for the right economic climate. Just go for it.

Tim Campbell MBE

The Apprentice 2024 - Lord Sugar, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE reveal all about the candidates and their top tips for business success (4)

How are you feeling to be back with another batch of candidates?

Unbelievable. I know everyone's going to say it, but I truly believe we've got an amazing group of people who have really come forward. We've got existing business owners doing multimillions, we've got people who have come from all different spheres. I'm really, really excited about the caliber of candidates we've pulled together for this one.

What makes you keep coming back to the show?

You know what? I'm really fortunate that I'm really part of the fabric of the show. The reality is that I understand from an integrity perspective how robust the process is, how much Lord Sugar gives of himself to the actual process and also the transformational impact of the end of the process on individual lives, not just the winner. When you look over the 18 series, you see that everybody who’s got through to the last stages of the process have gone on to do some great stuff. It really sings to the robustness of the process. Listen, in my day job, I wish I could have an Apprentice show because you could try before you buy, put them out on task and see who actually works.

Why do you think it’s a show that’s stood the test of time?

Thanks to Lord Sugar and to the BBC for continuing to support enterprise and put it at the heart of some of their work and from a British perspective, we as a nation of shopkeepers, it should be something that we are really celebrating. There's loads of reality TV out there, but the latest figures are showing that particularly amongst young people, The Apprentice has still got that captivating element, which I think is positive because we talk down to lots of people in the UK, and young people particularly tuning into business shows, about creating entrepreneurial opportunities. And that was at Lord Sugar's heart when he got involved in The Apprentice. And I'm just really fortunate to be back to be part of it with Baroness Brady and Lord Sugar.

The show can't function without Lord Sugar at the helm. Do you have an idea of how long he wants to carry on?

Lord Sugar will do it as long as he wants to. From the very beginning when he used to travel around the country with Gordon Brown promoting enterprise across the UK, he's always had at the heart of it, an awareness of how much business has changed his life and his family's life. He’s always wanted to make sure that everybody, whoever that is open to, has the opportunity to do so. I don't see him ever losing it because this isn't a job for him. This is a mission, this is a vocation, this is something that he's incredibly passionate about.

Firstly, I am hopeful he is able to for many years to come because one, he's bloody good at it. Secondly, we get some amazing stories of young people and older people who come through the process and go and do fantastic businesses. I think for the UK, as we talk about some of our soft power, everyone talks about the American Dream, but I think what The Apprentice captures is a bit of the British dream in terms of you can come in with an idea, get support from an amazing entrepreneur who's been incredibly successful, and then in front of the nation's eyes you actually grow, build something and then go off to start their own company.

Do you think it’s important to Lord Sugar that the show has always been open to everyone from all walks of life?

Listen, you're constantly bombarded in the news about culture wars or different discussions. You've got to remember; The Apprentice was doing diversity before it was cool to do so. It was always about an equal number of men versus women who had different socioeconomic classes from the very beginning. You had an entrepreneur who was willing to give back to the next generation about what they wanted to do. The whole thing about mentoring, sponsorship, Lord Sugar has been doing this from 2004, so this is not new. I think to the question about why has the show lasted so long, is because before things were cool, Lord Sugar, and the BBC obviously, have always had to create a level playing field to see when you remove all of the artificial elements of people, who's going to do well based on hard work, effort and determination.

What's Lord Sugar like to work with?

I'm biased, I've got so much time for him! I'm once again in that unique position where not only did I go through on one side of the table in terms of vying to be his apprentice and then work for him for two years in his business as he taught me a huge amount about business, but then go off and do my own stuff and then come back on the other side of the table now. I've seen him from a lot of different angles. As a businessman, hugely successful, incredibly diligent, and very generous in terms of what he's done around supporting other individuals.

And when you think about what he's done for telecommunications, electronics in the UK, great, great testimony, which has been well written about. I think what doesn't get talked about is the philanthropic side of what he does. He’s a huge supporter of charities, the Hackney Empire where he grew up in East London, he's a supporter of that, dedicated to his mum and dad. He could be chilling on a beach anywhere in the world, but he still gets a huge buzz of investing in the next generation and supporting them with his wise words about how they should go off and create their own businesses.

For me, I've got a huge amount of respect for him. He's not somebody you cross. Don't get on the wrong side of him, as many of our candidates often find out when they're coming with their bravado! It soon gets checked very, very quickly as you'll see in the first episode. But then I think the thing that you always walk away with having dealt with Lord Sugar is that he's firm but fair. He'll tell you exactly what he thinks. He's not going to beat around the bush, but when you reflect on what he does, you always think, actually, that was a fair decision.

What's the best bit of advice, or something you've learned from him over the years?

The best piece of advice he gave me after winning the first series, he took me into a meeting and he said, "Tim, well done, congratulations. We're going to go off and do some really great stuff. But I'm going to tell you this, don't chase the cameras. Don't do stuff for celebrity's sake because if you do really well in business, the cameras will always follow you." And I think that's very wise words for not just our candidates, but for general in this new social media world.

You’ll see in the first episode he talked about when we started, we didn't have TikTok or all these lovely social media platforms. I think that advice is very much more important now today when there is so much attention around people.

And then the second thing he said, “always hire yourself a good lawyer and a good accountant because you'll need them to make sure you stay in the right side”. From that perspective, once again, it seems to the testament of the man. He's funny, but he's always talking about pragmatic, real world advice that he has learned himself and he wants to pass onto the next generation.

Are you surprised that he's never personally won a Bafta for what he's done?

I think it's great that Lord Sugar doesn't do this for accolades. That's not his agenda. His agenda is to inspire the next generation, to go out and start their businesses. First and foremost, I don't think he's in it for accolades. That's not his driving force, which seems to the authenticity of him, and the show and that catalyst is really important.

The show has received Baftas. He’s very much of the ilk that he feels that this is a team effort, although he's the leading figure and rightly so given what he's done and all of his achievements, he also very clearly understands that there is a team, an amazing team that has taken us over not only the 18 series, you got to remember, through COVID, through all the restrictions around that, through ups and downs in terms of recession and everything else, The Apprentice has still carried on promoting business and the positive stuff around the UK. The final thing is that we are now being rewarded with more people applying, which is brilliant because if it didn't work, people would vote with their feet. There are people watching. People would vote with their remote controls with so many other channels.

You've got to remember, when I came on the show, there probably was only five. I'm quite old! But the reality is that more people are watching and actually the recognition and reward is coming from there. Should he get a Bafta for his efforts and his one-liners and the fact that he supported it for so long, a hundred percent he should because he works so tirelessly behind the scenes making sure it is authentic and it's real and believable. Most importantly, he gets business partners who are returning his money. He likes that as well!

The country is going through economic turmoil at the moment, but do you think entrepreneurs who make bold moves during these times could reap the rewards?

A hundred percent. We recognise that it is difficult for some people. We are in a cost-of-living crisis. There is a squeeze on lots of people's budgets and everything around living on a day-to-day life. But actually, one thing that Lord Sugar was always really, really passionate about and he taught me personally is that change brings about opportunity. And when you have the economic changes that we're seeing now, actually, for savvy individuals, they should be looking, “okay, so what can I do when everybody's going left to go right?” And that's what he's done in terms of his career. He's been a testament of that. I think this is an opportune moment with the television show to be able to show to people regardless of the economic conditions, you just have to have the right lens on to see the opportunities when it presents itself. And what we need to do is normalise business without the buzzwords around it so that more people can get involved in what we feel is the greatest game in the world.

When it comes to success within business, do you think it is down to the willingness to take risks or is it about detailed preparation?

I think it's a combination. The comic book caricature will have you feel that every entrepreneur just gets a eureka moment, runs against the tide, walking barefoot through the snow, over the obstacles and eventually makes it over the thing. But the reality is that most entrepreneurs are really good about managing risk and taking calculated risks based on the information that they have.

Lord Sugar is a great example. He's a diligent researcher. He will go into the nth degree around any opportunity, and we see that on The Apprentice. He knows every single person's CV, he's gone through it with red markers, marking all the different points in there to understand exactly who's presenting themselves to him. And one of his great skills is finding where things don't quite match up. That research and that diligence in the process is one of his great success criteria for why he's been able to create things going forward. I think what we have to get away from is believing that there is a one size fits all for what makes a successful businessperson.

What you see through the characters we have in the 18 candidates who come through in this series particularly, is that it's such a broad mix of individuals coming from so many different areas. Although luck would have it, the only year we find a pie man, we find two of them, right? You know what I mean? You couldn't make it up. Like buses really.

We've gone really broad in terms of opportunities and for people to come forward. And I think the mix of different approaches is what makes people more successful. You’ve got to go with your gut and feel it in your stomach around, does that make sense to me? And I'm going to take the risk. But you've also got to supplement that with due diligence and research and knowledge that helps you to be more successful. Lord Sugar often says when you go into business, know your onions. Don't try and become a brain surgeon if you've only ever studied English literature at school, that might not be the best thing to go forward, so know your onions and that's a good start.

People might be surprised he writes notes on all their CVs, is he really in the thick of it from the beginning?

Listen, people do not understand or may not be able to comprehend how much time is put in by everybody in the process to produce an hour of content for a couple of weeks while the show is on. When you think about not just him, but the researchers, the production team, the cameramen, the soundmen, the lighting crew, everybody who has come onto this production are experts at what they do. It's amazing to be a part of because you get to understand in order to make something as incredible as The Apprentice and is such a trusted brand as The Apprentice now, the amount of back work that has to happen to shore up what you see in the front of it.

Lord Sugar leads the way from that perspective. I think within any team you have to have what we call the tone from the top. He sets a very, very, very high tone in that he doesn't want people to come half - hearted or half- baked into any scenario because he won't do that, when he could quite easily do what you said, get an aide just to mark up some nice pretty bits. But no, he is putting in the time and effort and he knows those CVs, and he takes them aback, whether it's knowing their football team or understanding if they've won a championship or have done something beforehand. He pulls out these things and they think, “oh my gosh”. And I think that's where they get the respect because for somebody like Lord Sugar to put that amount of time, they then also have to put the time in to make sure they're doing their best.

When you go into a new series, does Lord Sugar give you a steer on what he's particularly looking for or is he very open?

No, the good thing with Lord Sugar, when you fly at his altitude, you don't worry about some of those minutiae. He's very confident in the team around him and the process that the people he gets in front of him are going to be credible individuals. So, he doesn't have to think, “You know what? Actually, this year I want a tech business, or this year I want something in healthcare, or this year I want something in whatever discipline or industry sector”. He just knows, as an entrepreneur, he's looking for an opportunity to make a return. In a way, the process is very simple. He has resources and capital that he's going to invest, that he wants to seek a return from. In the middle of that journey, he's going to need somebody with a great idea, an amazing work ethic and a personality and ethics and values that align with him, because as an investor that's what you're looking for.

How important are first impressions?

I think first impressions always make an important mark for people. My mum always told me, “polish your shoes and iron your shirt because you never know what people are going to be thinking about you”. From a psychology background, that is fact. That's part of human nature.

For The Apprentices, whether it's the multi-coloured outfits that they wear or the fact that they've got their hair and makeup done, as you see from some of our candidates, not very shy about saying how great they think they look. But what we all realise from this process and Baroness Brady talks about this really, really passionately, is that the process is great about allowing people to grow over time.

Whatever you think on day one of somebody, we've given up now trying to work out who's going to get through the process, because essentially the task and the opportunities they get to experience through the process help them to grow and different people grow at different rates and then bring different traits through to the fore. We can be really comfortable. We can just trust the process.

What do you think it takes for a candidate to stand out?

I think the important thing is to be honest, to be really hardworking, to not come with any preconceived ideas about how you're going to make the process work for you. Don't try to compete with your candidates in a derogatory way. Because what you have to remember, the beauty of this process is that on one hand you're being incredibly selfish, you want to win. The only reason you come into it is that you want to beat your other your candidates, but the candidates are integral to you winning. If you don't work and align yourself to those candidates and bring them along on the journey, work in teams, understand their strengths and weaknesses as well as your own, you're not going to get very far. It’s a multitude of things that make a great, great candidate through our process, but the fact that the thing that we're most looking for is who's going to respect the process.

The candidates are split into men and women, is there a difference in how the men and women approach tasks and work together?

Do you know what? I don't think so. I think what you have is that some cohorts come together and they're very chatty and they want to be the best friends and they want to love each other, both male and female. Some come in and they are, “I'm the best thing since sliced bread”. The beauty of the show for us is unlike Married at First Sight, for example, we can't orchestrate which teams are going to work best together. This is not a dating show. This is about every single year going through the applications and finding the best business ideas and candidates that are going to potentially be Lord Sugar's next business partner. Because you've got to remember, we'd look pretty silly if we put people who are going to be contentious or contrarian for contrarian's sake, who then had no credible businesses behind them.

And this cohort I clearly believe is the best business cohort that we’ve ever had. I feel we've negatively received unwarranted, in my opinion, criticism, “there's no credible people. Where do they find these people?” Blah, blah. Well, one, I'd like you to put in your application and come along and have a go if that's what you really believe.

Do you think you might inspire young boys to go into business too?

The aspirational element of The Apprentice is not lost on any of us, and we hold that responsibility in high regard for all of us on the show. I don't think of myself in any way, shape, or form. I want to do a good job and find the next great candidate. And if there's somebody who watches it and says, "Do you know what? I see those three on the television and I want to go and try this. Or I could do..." Even if they say, “I see those people and say I'm going to do better than them”, I love all of that, right? I'm really focused on us making sure that we represent UK business as a positive thing. I think the candidates that we get, and we have on this year are doing that. And you should look at the history of the show. You've got Dr. Leah, you've got Ricky Martin, you've got Tom, the inventor, you've got right back from the beginning, me and Saira, right at the beginning. All of these people have been influenced and impacted by a show that Lord Sugar thought up in his head and then was being part of and have gone on to do great things. We've created employment, we've created investment in the UK, we've created new ideas, and hopefully we've inspired some people to think, give it a go.

When you're watching the tasks, what is it that you're looking for and taking notes on?

I think the thing for me, and Karren is that we have the role of feeding back to Lord Sugar the bits that are real for him. knowing him and him trusting us to give him the feedback, which is relevant for him, we're not looking for how nice their suits are or what shoes they're wearing today, whether they're red bottomed or not. We don't really care about any of that. None of that's important. What we're actually looking for is are these people potential investible people for Lord Sugar?

Because their business ideas aside, when you invest in somebody, you're investing into a person. You're investing into the personal relationship. Are these people investible individuals that Lord Sugar would get on with and are they holding themselves to the values that Lord Sugar respects? Are they honest? Do they have integrity? Do they go above and beyond? Or are they sitting around making excuses, complaining how tired they are? Those are the kind of things that the candidates forget when they get used to the cameras.

Those are the bits Baroness Brady and I are writing in our little notes, taking back to Lord Sugar and saying, "Well, actually, we saw this." The other thing that's most important is that the candidates are very good at presenting the best side of themselves, shall we say. They will put a lovely polish on everything. And sometimes you need Baroness Brady to turn around and say, "Hold on a second. That wasn't what we saw. Because no matter how much you dress it up, that was terrible." So that is also what we're looking for when we're having time.

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The Apprentice 2024 - Lord Sugar, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE reveal all about the candidates and their top tips for business success (2025)

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