Hucknall man set to impress Lord Sugar in The Apprentice

This year the contestants hoping to secure Lord Alan Sugar’s financial backing include a former beauty queen, a builder and a private tutor – although for Irish viewers there are no contestants from this fair isle this time around.

Launching the new show, he said: “I’ve invested one million pounds in all four winners and all four of those people are doing fantastically well and I’m expecting the victor of this particular process to carry on that trend”.

He described the £250k investment from him that candidates win as “an acorn which we want grown into a great oak tree”.

The first episode will see the customers being tested on key business skills of product creation, negotiation and selling. The aim is simple – make as much profit as possible to avoid being in the firing line on the losing team in the boardroom.

April Jackson was born in London, before moving to Jamaica where she was later crowned Miss Jamaica.

After growing up in New York, 27-year-old Koutsomitis now lives in Barcelona and is a social media entrepreneur. Her inspiration is Skinny Girls Cocktails founder Bethenny Frankel.

Top quote: “I’m Jamaican”.

In her audition tape for The Apprentice Ms Garbis said: ‘People do not just buy into your product or service – they buy into you and that’s what I’m here to do.

Manchester boy Dan has worked at the European Parliament in Belgium, and owns a fragrance company. he idolises Jeff Bezos of Amazon for the way he has redefined online shopping. A keen feminist, she cites actress Emma Watson as an inspiration for her role in the recent “He for She” campaign, and says if she didn’t work in business she’d like to give politics a try.

Asked if there was anything he was afraid of, Littner replied: “I don’t think so”. “A lot of people laugh at me”.

The 25-year-old is confident about appearing on the show and says his greatest achievement was promoting a high-profile women’s football match which sold-out at Wembley Stadium.

“The candidates are under scrutiny all the time”, he says of his discoveries after replacing Nick Hewer for this 11th series.

Ms Garbis, who describes herself as an “adrenaline junkie” who is “only happy when she’s busy”, believes she is a sure thing, declaring: ‘Lord Sugar won’t just buy into my business ideas, he’ll buy into me and I will win’.

Stevenson, who comes from Nottingham, is the youngest of the entire group, but claims that those who know her would agree she seems older than her years. His biggest achievement has been turning round his perfume company after a “difficult few years”.