Mark Bowness is a creative old chap – successfully founding Tribewanted.com he is now about to launch a new concept here in the UK called Rock Control.

Kicking off in two weeks the website is calling for talented musicians an singers to upload a 60 sec video demonstrating their talents. The public will then vote and manage the band with the intention of releasing one song into every chart around the world!

You can check out more by following Rock Controls blog here and also check out Q&A with Rock Control and participants here.

Mark’s personal website and blog is here and although it is very interesting reading back over past blogs it hasn’t been updated lately (much like mine!).

Good luck Mark! You have UKpreneur’s full support!

Its already on but you will be able to catch up on Five on Demand.

Five is extending its hugely successful ‘Inspector’ format with the commission of The Business Inspector, a troubleshooting series transforming failing small companies. Straight-talking, self-made haulage millionnaire, Hilary Devey will take on the title of The Business Inspector tackling struggling small British businesses and transforming them by injecting business sense into their passion projects. 

The 4 X 60 minute series has been made by Optomen Television and is sponsored by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Presenter Hilary Devey said: “Britain’s brimming with creativity but a terrifying number of businesses go bust each year and this shouldn’t be happening. I am going to teach businesses how to improve their all round business knowledge and direction, cash flow, marketing strategy and in some cases even their enthusiasm.”

Hilary will teach business owners the key skills essential for a thriving business, helping our nation of entrepreneurs keep their dreams alive by getting businesses shipshape and profitable. Five’s Head Of Factual Programmes, Andrew O’Connell said: “Hilary is a fantastic new talent for Five and her enthusiasm, expertise and experience make her the ideal presenter to help transform floundering businesses and teach them practical skills.”

Optomen’s Editor For Factual, Becky Clarke, said: “Hilary Devey is like no other business woman out there. She’s an amazing combination of down to earth grit coupled with an extraordinary business mind – for any small business person working with her this will be a life changing experience.”

The series will air on March 10, March 17, March 24 and March 31 at 8pm on Five. I and many of UKpreneur readers will no doubt be watching!

Niall O’Farrell, 43 , is one of Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs with a myriad of businesses from men’s fashion to property and smoothies to his name.

It all began when O’ Farrell finished up school at Catholic University School on Leeson St with every intention of joining his father estate agency , however it was during recessionary times and there was a major depression in the property market, so instead, decided to go into the menswear business. It proved a fortuitous move.

He spent a few years working his way up from the shop floor at Frewen&Alward in Dublin and eventually realised there was a gap in the market for suit rental in this country. In 1985 he rented the top floor of his fathers premises and opened Club Dresswear, within four years he opened a second store, and the start of his empire was born.

O’Farrell is the man behind men’s outfitter Black Tie. The now ubiquitous brand is in every large town in Ireland many with accessories and even male grooming bars attached. It’s a high margin business with sales of over €6 million a year and 130 employees. He recently celebrated 25 years in in the retail business.

Meanwhile O’Farrell, who started work in retail at just 17 and opened his first store at just 20, is also expanding his empire into London where he is behind Jermyn Street shirts in Piccadilly. He has also developed an extensive property portfolio with many landmark buildings in London as well as almost every Black Tie premises in Ireland. His latest venture is a drinks and snack food business called Simply Direct.

Gavin Duffy

Gavin Duffy was reared in the hospitality and retail business with his family running pubs, restaurants and shops in Naas, Drogheda and Dun Laoghaire. By 18 he had set up a local radio station employing 20 people. In 1989 he set up the country’s first licensed provincial local radio station, LMFM, after working for some years in RTE presenting various programmes including Ireland’s first television business programme, “Marketplace”.

In 2004, LMFM was sold to UTV for €11 million. In 1992 he founded his Media Consultancy business Dorland. In 1995 he also became a property investor and enjoyed spectacular success in the property boom. In September 2007 his property portfolio, held privately in his joint name with wife Orlaith was valued at c. €100m. As he stayed clear of property development, “not my thing” he says; and concentrated on buying commercial properties with “long and strong covenants” he is not as exposed to the property down turn as are the developers and builders left sitting with very expensive land bank or unsold houses in the face of rising interest rates and the credit crunch. He also successfully invested in a number of companies and start ups and remains part owner of the HRM Group of Companies, one Ireland’s biggest players in recruitment.

Sarah Newman

Born in Colchester, Essex in 1969, Sarah left school aged 16 with very few formal qualifications. She moved to Ireland May 1994 to set up Needahotel.com. Starting with zero funding, needahotel.com sold hotel accommodation wholesale to travel agents and tour operators in Ireland at heavily discounted prices. Needahotel.com introduced a massive selection of hotels worldwide for travel agents and tour operators to put together their own packages for clients.

Newman went on to negotiate a long term contract with Ryanair based on any future hotel reservations. Sales grew at a rapid rate and in order to expand Sarah bought on board a MD and FD to assist her in their rapid growth plan. The company grew from one to 95 people within 10 years and sales of 100million euros.

Newman sold Needahotel.com in 2006, to Cendant Corporation along with long term contract with Ryanair, Aer Lingus ,and BMI for their on and off line sales for hotel accommodation. Newman also worked with 80 % of all UK and Irish travel agents , with her call centre , multi lingual, 7 days a week operation, based in Glenegeary Co Dublin.

Newman has since been involved in Newmac Equity with her business partner, Tom Mceneany ( ex Independent Editor) looking for opportunistic ideas in Ireland and Belarus. Newmac Equity brings leading Irish companies to a number of Belarusian business forums to meet their Government contacts.

In her spare time Sarah is currently completing a leading Super Chalet in Zermatt, Switzerland, named after her daughter, Grace. She is also the incoming Lady Vice Captain at the K Club for 2009.

Sean Gallagher

Sean Gallagher is Managing Director of Smarthomes. Set up in 2002, Smarthomes install cabling and technology systems into thousands of homes each year, providing home owners with access to the latest in Communication and Entertainment services.

Having overcome near blindness as a child, his life was changed at the hands of a skilled surgeon who opened new possibilities for him. While he struggled throughout his early school years because of his sight, the advice of an encouraging Primary School Headmaster was to change his life. That advice became his life’s mantra “if you can dream it, you can become it”. At age 18 he wrote his first life plan; to become a farmer, a youth leader, a trainer, a martial artist, a fitness instructor, a politician, and an Entrepreneur. Over the last 25 years he has pursued his goals with relentless focus, achieving one after the other.

On leaving school, he attended Agricultural College he went on to buy a farm at the age of 21. At age 26 he was commissioned to develop the Government’s first National Alcohol Education Programme the Young People. By age 28 he had become full time Political Adviser to the then Minister for Health, Dr. Rory O Hanlon T.D..

In 1995 he moved to Louth as A/CEO of the County’s Enterprise Board. Over the following 5 years he graduated with an MBA, developed and presented “real life” Start Your Own Business courses to hundreds of budding entrepreneurs. In 2000, no more than a month off his 5 year target, he left to pilot his own business venture, with business partner Derek Roddy. Two years later he launched Smarthomes.

In 2004, and with no money to undertake a national marketing campaign, Sean entered Intertrade Ireland’s Equity Fund Competition. With a top prize of €100k, the competition was looking for the best business plan from emerging companies on the island of Ireland. Smarthomes won the overall prize. This was to provide the cash to help launch the company on the national stage and establish its position as the market leader in its sector.

The company went on to receive numerous awards and accolades including the Deloitte “Rising Star Award” and the SFA National Award for Innovation. With the recent downturn in the building sector in Ireland, the company is currently embarking on an ambitious plan to enter foreign markets. Sean himself was also a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Programme in 2006. In 2007 he was appointed by the Government to the Board of Intertrade Ireland, the agency responsible for developing North / South trade. He is now spearheading a campaign to launch an all island national network of business angels who are willing to provide start up capital and mentoring to early stage businesses.

Committed to helping those wishing to set up their own businesses, Sean now spends much of his time presenting and giving motivational talks to aspiring or early stage entrepreneurs. He has spoken to hundreds of groups and is a regular contributor to Enterprise Ireland, Enterprise Boards and MBA programmes throughout the Country.

In an effort to recover from injuries suffered in a car crash in his early twenties, Sean became passionately committed to health and fitness. He became a qualified fitness Instructor and massage therapist. Over the past twenty years he has attained first degree black belts in both Judo and Karate.

Bobby Kerr

Bobby Kerr is CEO of Insomnia. Since becoming CEO and shareholder of Insomnia in 2003 Kerr has led the expansion of Insomnia from 17 to 50 shops and increased turnover from €5 to €13 million. Born in Dublin in 1960 Bobby Kerr was brought up in Kilkenny where is father ran the family business, the 4 star Newpark Hotel. Kerr was educated in CBS Kilkenny and Castleknock College, Dublin and went on to study catering management DIT Cathal Brugha Street. In 1981 Kerr’s took his first job as chef/trainee manager in AIB Catering Ballsbridge. Kerr then went to work as a chef in the North Sea Oil Rigs, working for ARA offshore for 2 years. In 1984 he was transferred by ARA to their Canadian sister company, Versa Food Services, and worked in their parks and leisure division. While in Canada Kerr held Assistant Catering Manager positions in The CNE Stadium Toronto, Ottawa Civic Centre, Crystal Beach Amusement Park & African Lion Safari and coordinated the catering for the Popes visit to Canada in 1985 for one million people.

On his return to Ireland in 1986 Kerr took the position of Assistant Manager in Jury’s Hotel Ballsbridge for a year before taking the role of Catering Manager for Campbell Catering in UCC from 1987-1989. Kerr became Area Manager for Campbell catering South of Ireland with operational control for 30 sites as well as holding a development role in seeking new business. Kerr was also involved with Campbell Catering Offshore.

Kerr was awarded the role of Business Development Director Campbell Catering with responsibility for all new business and marketing for Contract Catering Company with 120 sites in 1991.

In 1992, Kerr took on the role of Managing Director Bewleys Oriental Café, Bewleys Franchising and Bewleys Bakery which included 30 Cafes, and a bakery with a turnover of over €40 million. In 1997 Kerr became Director of Development Campbell Bewley Group with responsibility for the overseas development of the Bewley Brand in the UK, USA and Japan. He also ran the product export department which involved the acquisition of two American Café chains Java city and Rebecca’s.

In 1999 Kerr set up PERK Coffee Shops with cafés in Grafton Street, Baggot Street, Dawson Street, and UCD. In 2003 he bought out Fitzers, who held 50% of the shares in PERK, and then sold Perk to Insomnia. Kerr reinvested all the proceeds of the Perk sale back into Insomnia and became a shareholder and CEO of Insomnia.

Since 2004 to date Kerr has led the expansion of Insomnia from 17 to 50 shops and increased turnover from €5 to €13 Million.

2008 has been a very busy year for Kerr, having sold 51% of Insomnia to The Icelandic Penninn group valuing the business at €16 million. Kerr also spearheaded the sale of his late father’s Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny for €23million. He had held the position of Chairman since his father’s death in 2002.

Kerrs’ interests include cycling and rugby. Kerr played for Bective Rangers in Donnybrook for ten years. Kerr is also talented yachtmans and races competitively in Dun Laoghaire on his yacht. Over the last three years Kerr has raised €40,000 for the Blackrock Hospice through the Fitzgerald Sailing Rigatta.

Bobby Kerr currently lives in Sandycove, Dublin with his wife of 20 years Mary and their four daughters Meghan (17), Emily (15), Rebecca (12), and Michaela (9).

A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE businesswoman who lives near Burton is to appear on a hit television series after giving away £160,000 of her personal fortune to community projects.

Hilary Devey is the founder and owner of Pall-Ex – a leading pallet distribution company – which employs around 400 people at its base in Ellistown, near Coalville, and many thousands more across the country.

Earlier this year, Ms Devey swapped her luxurious home in the Edward VII wing at Rangemore Hall to spend 10 days living in a run-down council flat in Rochdale, Lancashire.

The switch was for Channel 4 series The Secret Millionaire, in which millionaires live undercover in deprived areas to find individuals and projects they think deserve a slice of their fortune.

The experience saw Bolton-born mother-of-one Ms Devey return to her North West roots, albeit to a ‘grotty’ flat in one of the most depressed corners of that region.

Rochdale’s Falinge estate was dubbed the ‘scrounging capital of the UK’ after a report on GMTV – broadcast two days before Ms Devey arrived there – claimed nearly 80 per cent of its residents were on benefits.

“There was what you would find on any inner-city estate – asylum-seekers, drug pushers and mass unemployment, but equally there were some really nice, honest, genuine people,” she said.

After finding work as a barmaid in a local pub, Ms Devey offered her services to voluntary groups including a cash-strapped community centre and a pioneering music project keeping youngsters off the streets.

She says her experience left her feeling only admiration for the group’s volunteers – all of whom were ignorant of her ‘secret’ life.

“You couldn’t but admire them,” she said. “These people are working equally as hard as you or I, but for nothing.

“I have had problems with my own son in terms of drug abuse, and to me anything that can take kids off the street and channel them into something creative has to be a good thing.

“I was talking to people who attend these projects and they told me what it means to them. I spent a lot of time talking to these people and it gave me such a buzz.”

After her 10-day stint, Ms Devey chose three projects which will between them receive around £160,000 of her own money.

She says the receipients were ‘genuinely shocked’ when she revealed – in front of the television cameras – who she really was, although one lady said she had suspected something, telling her: “I didn’t think you could be on benefits because your nails are too manicured and your teeth are too white”.

Ms Devey says the recipients were ‘over the moon’ with the money they received, which will enable them to carry on their vital work in the community, while she also took something out of the experience.

“It was a bit like being Santa Claus,” she said. “I felt very privileged to take part and met some lovely people along the way.”

The Secret Millionaire will be screened on Channel 4 on Tuesday at 9pm.

An aspiring indie band struggling to make the big time will tonight become the first ever band to secure financial backing on the BBC2 hit show Dragons’ Den.

In a move away from tradition, where a band is wooed by a record firm and hopefully given a deal, Hamfatter asked the Dragons for £75,000 to produce their own album.

The band had just three minutes – the length of their latest single The Girl I Love – to convince the panel of Dragons that theirs will be a sound investment.

In return they offered the millionaire investors 20 per cent of royalties on all future albums.

However, entrepreneur Peter Jones, believing he had an ear for talent spotting, bargained hard and secured 30 per cent of royalties for the band’s next two albums.

The offer was a huge boost for the band who have admitted to playing the “toilet circuit” and turning down mediocre record company deals.

Under the business proposal the band will register Hamfatter Ltd as a company and collect the royalties themselves as well as retaining the rights to their songs and creative control over their output.

Band manager Jamie Turner said: “The bands on the big labels will be lucky to make perhaps 30p on an album. the record label takes the rest.

“We’ll make about £3.50. It’s the deal of the century.”

Lead singer Eoin O’Mahony told how they pitched to the Dragons by explaining the breakdown of costs involved in producing an album. Their last was recorded on a budget of just £5,000, which included a promotional video.

In recent months there has been a significant shift in they way bands put out albums.

On Sunday the smash boy band McFly followed in the footsteps of Prince and gave away their new 10-track album free with the Mail on Sunday.

In recent months high-profile bands including Radiohead have released albums on the internet.

Radiohead asked fans to pay what they wanted for their album In Rainbows, with thousands opting to downloading it for just one penny.

Weeks later the album was released on CD and still went to number one in the album charts, proving the hard format is far from dead.

Peter … you do look a right plonka in that picture though!

A businessman whose invention made him the star of BBC’s Dragon’s Den has made his first million just three months on – without spending a penny of the £150,000 investment.

Budding entrepreneur Peter Moule, 53, secured the cash for his innovative plastic electrical wire junction box – called a “Chockbox” from two dragons in December.

Peter has since landed deals with a string of DIY giants and has enquiries from as far afield as South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and America.

Peter won investment from James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne after he impressed them with his polished pitch for the Chocbox.

The device is a simple plastic housing that protects cable connections, eliminating the need for untidy and potentially-dangerous electrical tape.

But within days of Caan and Bannatyne’s investment – for a 36 per cent stake in his business – Peter signed a multi-million pound deal with one of the world’s biggest electrical distributors.

His one pound gadget is expected to sell five million units per year in 152 countries during the five-year deal – netting a cool £25million in sales.

BT has signed Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones to replace Gordon Ramsay as the new face of its TV campaign promoting its business telecoms services.

The new BT Business campaign, which has featured Ramsay trying to get his IT under control while his kitchen descends into fiery mayhem, will launch on May 5.

The multi-million pound campaign will be fronted by entrepreneur Jones but will also feature “some surprising Hollywood guest stars”.

The campaign aims to highlight how the UK’s 4.3m small and medium-sized businesses can benefit from using BT’s range of mobile, telephony, broadband and IT products.

“He embodies the entrepreneurial spirit which characterises many small businesses,” said Bill Murphy, managing director of BT Business, adding that small businesses “are the lifeblood of the UK economy”.

The signing of Jones was announced today at the three-day BT Business Experience exhibition targeting entrepreneurs and small business owners.

BT Business is also launching for the third time the Essence of the Entrepreneur competition.

The competition is seeking the top 20 technology entrepreneurs in the UK.

All 20 winners will be photographed by fashion photographer Rankin for a London exhibition with prizes for best male, best female, best young entrepreneur and most original business concept.

Jones’s Dragons’ Den co-star Duncan Bannatyne recently appeared as part of a Blackberry ad campaign.

Ian Wallis has been appointed editorial director and head of Entrepreneur TV for cmypitch.com.

His role on the soon-to-be-launched website for entrepreneurs will see Wallis conducting video interviews, as well as being responsible for the community aspects of the site.

Commenting on his new role, Wallis said: “There’s nothing like cmypitch.com out there at the moment, which brings together this particular range of business services and combines it with the latest in video and social media technology, so we’re entering uncharted territory and as a start-up will need to establish our brand.”

Wallis joins from Crimson Business where he was previously editor of Growing Business magazine and GrowingBusiness.co.uk, as well as working on Startups.co.uk and MyBusiness.co.uk as managing editor.

I liked this guy, funny, down to earth and at times had good business acumen but he crumbled when confronted by a stronger team member. Ex-forces also!

UKpreneur talks to Simon now he is out of the competition:

How did you feel the day after your big day?
I mean, I’m ok. I think you saw where I lost the task and where I got upset and I realised the dream had gone. And I knew that the following day I’d be going to the boardroom and I wouldn’t be coming back. And that was just the realisation that everything had gone wrong. I said look, put me in charge of something let me do it, and I blew it. I was really, really upset at that point. But in retrospect the right person went, I’ve got no qualms, no hard feelings, and it was a pleasure to be on the show, I really thoroughly enjoyed it – we’ll just see what happens now.

Ian volunteered last week with the pub task because he said he knew the business. You had a similar reaction when this task came up because of your photography background. Do you think it’s a mistake when people assume they’re going to do better because of personal experience?
The validity of me as a photographer meant that I completely lost track of it at the start. I should have done the photographs and let someone manage the project, or I should have managed the project and let someone else do the photographs. At the time you think right, I wanna be in the front office, I’m fed up with being in the back office doing all the hard stuff. I want to show that I’ve got something about me. I took on so much, and I think my team was sabotaged from the start. They didn’t want to work for me, so I knew it was going to take something absolutely spectacular to turn it around.

Watching it was really uncomfortable because it was quite clear Alex and Claire weren’t taking it, or rather you, seriously. Why do you think that was?
I have no idea. I said on the show that I felt they had no faith in me business-wise but I don’t know what I’ve done to project this lack of faith. I think sometimes when you’re not in charge you’ve just got to tuck in behind. One thing Ian could never accuse me of when he took me into the boardroom was that I didn’t work for him. I pointed out where I felt he was going wrong, but when he said ‘no, I’m doing it my way’ I went ‘Ok’. I went to the supermarket, I did all the work, I chopped all the onions and did all the pizzas. Sir Alan said ‘well I know you can do all that, but you need to show me a bit more’. And I probably tried to show him too much at once, but it was doomed to fail from the start. I knew I was going to have to pull something pretty spectacular out of the bag to beat Helene and I think he made the right decision. Everything he said to me at the end was correct.

Did you feel personally let down by Alex because he was a friend of yours up until that point?
He is, and he will be when he comes out. I think Alex is a potential winner, but I wanted him as my deputy because I wanted him on side. And he was playing a game in the episode right from the start, he knew exactly what he was doing. You’ve got to take it as a back handed compliment – in a way that they wanted to get rid of me. They may have seen me as an overall threat, they probably thought the longer his popularity goes up with Sir Alan, Nick and Margaret, the harder it’s going to be to get rid of him. So, get him in a pincer movement and we’ll get rid of him now.

A bit tactical then perhaps?
Oh of course, and I was naïve. I went in with no game plan. I went in to win the tasks and get the job. Perhaps, in retrospect if a candidate was applying to do it next year, I might say, ‘you’ve gotta have a game plan’. Even if you’re a nice person, you must have some kind of game plan, because that’s what the general public love about The Apprentice, the Machiavellian tactics. I didn’t have any, and it cost me dearly because you need practice to be Sir Alan’s apprentice - a bit more of a ruthless streak that I didn’t have.

Talking about tactics, the time I noticed Alex doing it was in the boardroom when he said he thought Claire should go even though he’d spent the entire time questioning your ability. Did you feel that way?
Well that was nice for me but I don’t think Alex covered himself in glory by doing that, because what he did was actually change tack. At that point he was squirming because Sir Alan was ripping into him as well and he went for the popularity by then backing me, and Sir Alan didn’t like the fact that he changed tack. You could see Claire was very shocked, she felt suddenly very vulnerable. But you will have noticed when we got down to the final three I had very little fight left in me. I’d given it my best shot. I’d given it 110%, but it just didn’t quite come up to what he requires for the job of the apprentice. But it was great fun finding that out. And I’ll take the best bits of it and I’ll go back to work and it’ll make me a better engineer.

What was it like watching the show back? Was that the first time you’ve actually seen it last night?
No, I saw it on Monday. The other episodes I get to watch the same time as you, on Wednesday night every week. But for your firing episode they bring you into London a little bit earlier, and they show you it because then you have to go on the You’re Fired programme that goes out straight after. So I’d seen it on Monday, and I watched it through my fingers because I had some real David Brent moments in last night’s one. You can see I’d lost complete control of the team and I’m just trying to smile and bluff my way through it. It’s hard because 24 hours after I’d been fired and I was home I’d knew where I’d gone wrong. To see it laid bare for eight million people… well never mind. I’ve got to say the public reaction has been overwhelming, there are people stopping me on the streets, they are being very kind to me. It’s quite unusual for Apprentice candidates to come out and be liked, most people get spat at. It’s been amazing.

You endeared yourself to people because you thought you could win without tactics or having  to screw people over, but do you now think that’s not the case?
No, it isn’t. And I think that’s something I’ve learned. Sir Alan probably didn’t get where he is without being a bit ruthless. I’m sure there’s people in Brentwood somewhere thirty years ago that were selling aerials out of a car that he shafted to get on the ladder. You’ve got to have that. If I had won it I was hoping to be taught that sort of thing, because I’m the kind of person that if you teach me to do something I can go off and do it and knock it out for you. I’ll turn my hand to most things. But I think he is looking for a more rounded business individual. He doesn’t want an unshaped piece of clay to work with, but something that he just needs to tweak. And I think maybe at 36-years-old, it’s too late to knock a few of the edges off me. It was the right decision and it was great fun trying to get the job, but ultimately it wasn’t to be.

Some strong personalities have already begun to emerge. What do you make of Lucinda?
She’s very sweet. I think she’s in risk management on the outside, but the thing is with Lucinda, I wasn’t sure what she was doing there. She’s so kooky and she’s nice, but you struggle to wonder what it is that she wanted to achieve from it. She’s got her own motivation for doing it, I don’t know what that is yet, and I’d love to see her go a little bit further, because she’s going to have to project manage pretty soon and that’s gonna be really interesting. I’m unfortunately out and I didn’t get there to see it, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing her in action. But, yeah, she’s a very nice person.

What about Raef?
Raef’s my buddy, I absolutely adore Raef. He’s so posh, but there’s nothing to dislike about him. He’s genuinely open, kind, and he really does get on with prince and pauper. I know he got pilloried for that but, he is a genuinely nice, kind guy.

He certainly led his team very well in the previous week - no division there.
No, absolutely not.

And Claire, what’s your honest opinion of her?
A potential winner in that she’s got the ingredients. What she needs to do now is learn from a couple of these boardrooms she’s been in. When she’s not in charge, she’s got to stop chipping away at the project manager because she can’t get her own way. And that’s basically what it comes down to with Claire. She’s a wonderfully accomplished business professional and I think she’s one of the candidates that would take a salary drop to go and work for Sir Alan Sugar because she wants the experience. But she’s got to start listening to him now. There’s a couple of weeks she’s been in the boardroom now, and she’s got to start listening to him if she’s gonna go any further. I think he puts her in charge next week, so if she loses that task, she’s bang up on offer isn’t she?

She got on his nerves last night, didn’t she?
You didn’t see the whole cut of that. She was at him and he was at her for a good half an hour. It was a very intense boardroom that night.

What was that like to witness? And did you think it might work in your favour?
There is a point, if you watch the repeat, when he says ‘Get out, get out now,’ my eyebrows lift a bit because I think, ‘Christ she’s dug her own grave here. I might survive this.’ But when he said ‘get back to the house’, I knew in my heart of hearts I was fired and it was all finished for me.

What’s your honest opinion of the man himself, Sir Alan Sugar?
You know, what you see with him is what you get. He doesn’t come and have a coffee with us back at the house after the task is finished and say ‘good work chaps’. I’ve got the utmost respect for him. He’s always treated me with a lot of dignity and spoken to me nicely in the boardroom. He said, ‘Simon, with regret’, ‘my friend,’ that sort of stuff.

He only says that to the people he likes, the ‘with regret’ thing, so that’s a compliment isn’t it?
It was a compliment. Whenever he asked me a question, I answered him like I would expect he’d want the question answered. You know, Raef would flower it up and he’d go ‘Raef shut up. Simon what happened?’ So, I did build up a bit of a rapport with him but he’s not gonna let you get too on side. And I think that’s why I got the ‘with regret.’ He did want me to do well, but ultimately it wasn’t to be.

Nick and Margret, are they good guys as well do you think?
Again, the programme is really good at reflecting what goes on there. They follow you. They make lots of notes and they play it with poker faces. They don’t miss a trick. As to say whether I know them or not, no I don’t know them any better than you see on TV because they don’t interact with you. It’s part of the business part of the programme - they keep it real. You are being assessed by Nick and Margaret so they’re not gonna talk to you about their holidays and stuff. You try, in the first week, you try and have a little chip away at them, but they’re not having any of it. I’ve seen four series of it now and you realise quite quickly that to try and get them on side is not the way to go about it. 

What was your personal highpoint?
The laundry task. I wish they’d just show some of the banter I had with Raef, because it was just great. It was so hard, but it was one of those nights when we came back to the house before the boardroom and we swaggered in there because they could not possibly have beaten us that week. We did so much and the hotel contract was huge and we kinda knew that if you got that, and you completed it, you were through. Nobody could beat you because there wasn’t another big enough contract to get. So, although we were sold short a little bit on the price that we got for it, to get it completed 15 minutes before that laundry shut, and it was really that tight, was great.

Military precision you might say…
It was military precision. Again, it didn’t come out, but it was fantastic to be a part of that team that night. And the boys really did gel, we put all our differences to one side and I think this week I suffered from the split teams as well. I think if I’d had the guys on their own… but I think Sir Alan knew that as well. He thought the guys would all unite around me. I think if Alex had had Lee around to guide him, they’d probably have tucked in and helped me out a bit, but what can you do?

Your friendship with Raef has come out in this interview, do you think you’ll still be friends?
Yeah, absolutely. Raef’s gonna take me to a gentlemen’s club and I’m gonna get him an ASBO! You know, as soon as he comes out, whether he wins or loses, we’ll meet up and have a drink and have a laugh. I’m looking forward to seeing him.

Have you had any offers yet?
I’m being told that even as I’m talking to you that the interest in me is overwhelming. So I am going back to work because my company was very good to me while I did The Apprentice. They held the job open for me, they left me on full pay, and I’m going to go back for two to three months to give them that time. And I’m gonna look at all these offers coming in. I’m 36-years-old, so the next job change for me will be something pretty good. I’m gonna just soak it up and take my time on it, go back to my old job immediately so I can get my feet back on the ground and then see what comes of it. But yes I’m open to offers, and we’ll see. It’s early days yet because I was fired effectively at 10 o’clock last night.

So no regrets then?
Absolutely none at all, really enjoyed it, hope I made a few people laugh. A few cringy moments, but it was good fun. 

I didn’t bother blogging about the posh barrister who had no experience or ‘will’ to be a businessman, I’m talking about Nicholas De Lacy Brown, a 24-year-old trainee barrister living in West London when he entered The Apprentice series 4.

But here is one guy who may be a little outspoken at times and portray a true English gentleman but he has impressed me by building up a company ‘apparently’ worth £2 million. Raef setup import/export company Ifinitate Ltd which imports/exports a wide range of goods from the Far East and the states.

Raef Bjayou was a 27-year-old entrepreneur living in North West London when he entered The Apprentice series 4.

Raef gained a BA in Politics & History at University of Exeter and an MA in Economics at Cambridge.

Raef Bjayou used to be an estate agent and spent one year in property sales in America and the Caribbean, and one year as a volunteer on Ethiopian charity projects.

Raef was captain of his school, and founded the Exeter University debating society.

The Apprentice is not Raef Bjayou’s first TV appearance. He was once in the audience of BBC’s Question Time and asked Michael Heseltine a question.

Raef Bjayou’s hobbies include antiquarian book collecting.