The story of one of Britain’s most influential businessmen, Lord Sugar
Season 13 of The Apprentice is well under way, with a new selection of business hopefuls vying for investment and approval from Lord Alan Sugar. Through a series of tasks and trials their acumen and savvy will be tested while they are overseen by Sugar’s trusted advisors Karren Brady and Claude Littner.
Although Lord Sugar is best known for his long tenure as host of this hugely successful BBC show, his past is arguably more entertaining than watching him cut a room of snooty contestants down to size.
A self-made man with an innate sense of corporate strategy, Lord Sugar rose from humble beginnings in a council flat to being appointed the UK’s Enterprise Tsar thanks to his tenacity, savvy and a tell-it-like-it-is attitude. The now 70 year old took away £181 million in dividends last year from his property business alone. His businesses together are worth around £105 billion and he has at least £200 million in cash and other interests. This all helps to place him on the Sunday Times Rich List in position 103. Not bad for someone who grew up on a council estate, left school at 16 and started his mountain of wealth by selling electrical bits n bobs from a van.
The Apprentice has cemented Lord Sugar as not only a recognised businessman, but a tv personality too. The shows has produced some classic tv moments which will be guaranteed to give the show a slot on the repeats for years to come. It’s popularity does not appear to be waning any time soon.
Specialist finance brokers ABC Finance Ltd have created this timeline of Lord Sugar’s life and it includes some interesting facts that not everyone will be aware of, such as;
- He worked as a greengrocer during his school days
- Established Amstrad at the tender age of 21
- Was worth £600 million aged 40
- Ranked the 15th wealthiest person in the UK in 1987
- Began supplying Sky with set top boxes in 1989, helping to bring Sky into UK homes
His qualifications to sit across from hopeful candidates in the boardroom have been built up through years of diverse business experience from heading up an early computing giant (Amstrad) to more recently acquiring a lucrative property empire (Amsprop) which currently accounts for £800m of his £1.2bn net worth.
That isn’t to say that there weren’t hard times along the way. Amstrad’s dominance of the home computer space wasn’t to last forever but his ability to shrewdly pivot the direction of both his monetary and time investments have seen him emerge from every snag even more successful than before.
So, while you wait eagerly to find out who will rise above the rest through the challenges the candidates of season 13 will face, why not learn a bit more about the man setting them. As we count down to the finale of the latest series of The Apprentice, this timeline offers some great insights into the story of one of Britain’s most influential businessmen.
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Author Bio
John Patterson writes on behalf of ABC Finance Ltd.
About ABC Finance Ltd: ABC Finance Ltd are experts in commercial and specialist lending, brokering finance applications nationwide. They work with directly with clients and through their network of introducers, matching businesses and individuals with the right funding for them. Established in 2000, authorised by the FCA and operating through their panel of lenders and private funders, they take pride in supporting SMEs across the UK.
