talkbackTHAMES and BBC announced today Junior Apprentice is coming to BBC 1 with Sir Alan Sugar at its helm.The series offive 60-minute episodes will see 10 young contenders, five girls and five boys aged 16 to 17 years old, compete to become the winner of the title of the first Junior Apprentice. The series will be in addition to the multi-award winning main series which returns for its sixth successful run next year.
Multimillionaire and self made businessman, Sir Alan Sugar left school at 16 with no money in his pocket and no qualifications but, against the odds, he battled his way to the top. Now he's on the hunt for teenagers aged 16-17 who have the same potential, with drive, determination and raw business talent. Candidates from all social backgrounds are being encouraged to apply - whether they are straight A students from public school or have no academic qualifications.
Image by jovike via Flickr
Sir Alan said: "It is my long held belief that we should be doing more to promote enterprise amongst young people, as the future of our economy relies on them. I passionately believe that the key to business success lies in hard work and common sense and that we should encourage our young people as much as possible. Understandably, the contestants won't have any previous business experience, but all I want to see from them is an entrepreneurial aptitude and an enthusiasm to succeed."
Sir Alan will guide the candidates through a variety of business tasks to test their entrepreneurial skills. Each week, teams will go head to head starting with the five boys against the five girls. As with the main series the losing team will end up in the boardroom and the project manager will have to choose two people to join them in the firing line.
The Junior Apprentice chosen by Sir Alan will win a prize tailored to his or her individual career prospects and worth up to the value of £25,000.
Lorraine Heggessey, CEO, talkbackTHAMES said: "Junior Apprentice is a great opportunity for teenagers to learn about business first hand from one of Britain's most successful entrepreneurs, Sir Alan Sugar. The main series of The Apprentice is extremely popular with younger audiences and we're delighted to give them a chance to prove themselves in this challenging competitive environment."
Mark Linsey, Controller of Commissioning, BBC Entertainment commented: "I'm delighted that Sir Alan is going to be bringing his searing honesty and brilliant business brain to Junior Apprentice and to the country's up and coming entrepreneurs."
Junior Apprentice is a talkbackTHAMES production for BBC 1. Executive Producers are Michele Kurland for talkbackTHAMES and Jo Wallace, BBC entertainment commissioning exec, for the BBC.
Anyone wishing to take part in the show should go to www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice to apply.
