After 12 weeks of tasks, including the infamously intense interviews, Lord Sugar has finally chosen his new business partner on The Apprentice.
Alana Spencer, the 24-year-old baking entrepreneur, beat 29-year-old novelty gift maker Courtney Wood to the £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar.
During the final, Alana and Courtney received a call summoning them to London’s City Hall for one final task. The two finalists were asked to launch their businesses and create a brand. They would then have to unveil the campaign to over 200 industry experts a few days later.
As with the previous finals, a few familiar faces returned to help the final two with their ideas. Alana chose Grainne, Frances, Rebecca and Oliver for her team. Courtney opted for Jessica, Karthik, Sofiane and Paul.
Courtney struggled to come up with a name for his business, but eventually decided on Purple Whale. He also received some help from a public speaking coach, who helped to boost his confidence before the big pitch.
Over on Alana’s team, she settled for the brand name Ridiculously Rich, although lacked a Unique Selling Point for her goods. At the eleventh hour, she amended the name of her brand to include ‘by Alana’, to emphasise the personal touch.
On the day of the pitch, Alana was extremely nervous but turned things around, delivering a great pitch. Courtney also stepped up to the mark, demonstrating a remarkable improvement from his previous pitches.
After a discussion with the finalists, their team mates and his aides Karren Brady and Claude Littner, Lord Sugar came to his decision. Debating on whether or not he should stick to what he knows, Lord Sugar went with his gut feeling and chose Alana as his winner.
The result will not have come as a surprise to some eagle-eyed fans of the show. Notoriously, Lord Sugar only ever follows the show’s winners on Twitter. He recently followed (then quickly unfollowed) Alana’s account, which gave the result away to some.
Whilst Courtney was also worthy of winning, Alana had a great journey throughout the show. Having struggled emotionally at the beginning, she grew in confidence throughout and proved why she deserved to win.
Congratulations to Alana on winning The Apprentice and becoming Lord Sugar’s new business partner.
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PHOTO CREDIT: Jonathan Brady/PA