CAPITAL IDEAS
KARREN BRADY TELLS US HOW THIS YEAR’S CANDIDATES ARE BEING THROWN IN AT THE DEEP END… THE APPRENTICE | BBC1 WEDNESDAY
What do a quality controller, a sponsorship consultant and the owner of a nut milk brand have in common? Well, apart from all having jobs that we don’t actually fully understand, they’re all among the 16 candidates vying for that £250,000 business investment from Lord Sugar – as long as they can avoid getting fired, that is.
Ahead of the 14th series of the entrepreneurial reality show, we spoke to Lord Sugar’s trusted adviser, Baroness Karren Brady, to find out what she thinks of this year’s crop…
What can you tell us about the candidates?
Well, they’re a very mixed bunch. We’ve got everything from a tax inspector, believe it or not, through to a tree surgeon and every career background in between from fitness to IT. They’re a really diverse bunch of characters.
And what will they be doing for their first task?
All 16 candidates come into the boardroom and Alan immediately dispatches them to Malta with a list of nine items they have to buy, and a map. They have to get to Malta, understand what the items are, locate them, negotiate for them, and get back to the airport on time. Almost nothing goes to plan. It’s a real, ‘Bang! Welcome to The Apprentice!’ show!
It’s incredible to do that task so early on…
Alan knows they all have business plans, but what he doesn’t know is, if they get the money, do they have the skills it takes to actually run that business? So the tasks are there to work out: can you negotiate? Can you sell? Can you manage a team? Do you understand logistics? Can you work with people? They’re there so that at the end of the day, he gives the money to the right person.
Have these candidates learned from the mistakes of their predecessors?
There are always people that think they know better until they don’t. I don’t think people realise how difficult the show is. You need an enormous amount of various different skills and stamina, because this show is relentless in terms of the pressure, the information you have to absorb, decisions you have to make, the way you have to work with people. It’s not easy!
Claude Littner has said that the notes you take during the tasks are the gold standard to which he aspires. What’s your secret, and have his notetaking skills improved?
[Laughs] His have definitely improved! I would admit I am pretty good at note-taking. It’s all about the various different shorthands. But I’ve been doing it for eight years, so I do have a slight edge on him. But he’s definitely caught up – I’ve given
Claude very detailed lessons on how to do it, and he’s a very good student!