The Board
Key:
- Currently stars
- Previously starred
| Starring | Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3 | Series 4 | Series 5 | Series 6 | Series 7 | Series 8 | Series 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Sugar | |||||||||
| Nick Hewer | |||||||||
| Karren Brady | |||||||||
| Margaret Mountford | |||||||||
Along with "the boss", Alan Sugar, two advisors follow the contestants during their weekly activities. In season 1–5, Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford took on these roles. Mountford resigned at the end of season 5 and was replaced by Karren Brady in season 6. Lord Sugar and his two advisors constitute "The Board"—the panel that evaluates the teams' performance.
Alan Sugar is a businessman and the founder of electronics company Amstrad. He has an estimated fortune of £830m and was ranked 84th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2007. Sugar was knighted in 2000 for services to business and holds two honorary Doctorate of Science degrees, awarded in 1988 by City University and in 2005 by Brunel University. He is a donor to the British Labour Party and has given money to charities such as Jewish Care and Great Ormond Street Hospital. In July 2007, Sugar sold his stake in Amstrad to BSkyB and has since left the business.
Early season of the show made frequent reference to Sugar's connection with Amstrad, but in the fourth season, following the deal with BSkyB, reference to Amstrad was dropped. Sugar is now billed simply as controlling a "vast business empire" (most of which is actually in property). In a change of format, future winners will start a new business in a 50:50 split with Lord Sugar.
Nick Hewer is a former public relations officer. His involvement with Lord Sugar began when his company was chosen to represent Amstrad in 1983. Hewer's role was as a PR manager, working with the media and press. He also became an integral part of Amstrad's corporate management. He lives in France.
Margaret Mountford has worked with Sugar as one of his main advisers for 20 years, and is a non-executive director of Amstrad. She has many years' corporate law experience as a partner in the law firm Herbert Smith, where she met Sugar when working on Amstrad's flotation. She retired from the firm in March 1999, and was appointed to the Amstrad board on 22 September 1999. She is also a non-executive director at Georgica PLC. In her column for the Daily Telegraph on 1 June 2009, Margaret announced that season 5 would be her last appearance on the show, as she intends to devote more time to her studies. She went on to study for a PhD in papyrology at University College London, studying documents found in Egypt and written in ancient Greek.
Karren Brady is best known for being the former managing director of Birmingham City Football Club. She was appointed in March 1993, when only 23 years old. She was responsible for the company's flotation in 1997, thus becoming the youngest managing director of a British plc. In 2007, Brady took part in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice where she was chosen as a team leader and took the women to victory, raising over £1,000,000 for charity. She has since made recurring appearances on The Apprentice's sister show, You're Fired!. In January 2010 she was appointed vice-chairman of West Ham United following a change of ownership of the club.
Read more about this topic: The Apprentice (UK TV Series)
Famous quotes containing the word board:
“During depression the world disappears. Language itself. One has nothing to say. Nothing. No small talk, no anecdotes. Nothing can be risked on the board of talk. Because the inner voice is so urgent in its own discourse: How shall I live? How shall I manage the future? Why should I go on?”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)
“This morning I threw up at a board meeting. I was sure the cat was out of the bag, but no one seemed to think anything about it; apparently it’s quite common for people to throw up at board meetings.”
—Jane Wagner (b. 1935)