While critics have always been keen to brand Sir Alan Sugar’s Amstrad a one-product company, he’s not done too badly for himself over the years. Worth an estimated £800 million, Sir Alan’s fortune comes from his business empire which has experienced its fair share of ups and downs over the years.

In 1988, Amstrad’s new PC2000 developed hard-drive problems and had to be withdrawn, damaging the firm’s reputation. Then there’s the E-m@iler, which at its launch in 2000, Sugar declared “the most important mass-market consumer product for 15 years” - yet has still failed to make its mark on a world inundated with BlackBerries, mobile phones and wi-fi.

He’s still there though, flying high and now a reality TV star, but it’s never plain-sailing in the world of business. Just this February Amstrad posted half-year pre-tax profits down 16%; news which had City analysts describing Amstrad as “vulnerable”.

But it takes more than a little knock to put Sir Alan off his stride. As he says, failure is all part of the business process.

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