The proprietor of a dessert parlour in northern England of Indian ancestry knocked off 16 other contenders to win a GBP 250,000 investment in one of the UK’s most popular reality television programmes, ‘The Apprentice.’
Harpreet Kaur, 30, competed against other aspiring entrepreneurs from throughout the United Kingdom, including another Indian-origin contestant, Akshay Thakrar, for the 16th edition of Lord Alan Sugar’s BBC show.
In the end, Kaur was able to persuade the CEO to support her plan to expand her Oh So Yum! dessert parlour chain.
“I’m incredibly overwhelmed,” Kaur remarked after being named the winner of the weekend’s pre-recorded show.
“I’m at a loss for words after winning the BBC Apprentice.” But I’m really looking forward to this new chapter with Oh So Yum! “I’d want to express my gratitude to everyone who has shown their support,” she stated.
Kaur entered the programme to develop her already successful coffee and cake business in West Yorkshire, with the goal of creating a major brand in the UK, describing herself as a “natural leader, fearless, and witty.”
“I’m not in the business of making friends.” She claimed at the start of the show earlier this year, “I’m here to make money, and I’m very sure Lord Sugar isn’t searching for a new companion.”
“I enjoy converting my dreams into objectives and then attaining them.” But life is also about savouring the minor joys, like as a delicious dessert,” Kaur, a British Punjabi who grew up in Birmingham, explained.
Kaur’s working-class family owns a convenience store in Huddersfield, where she volunteered while combining job and academics before opening her first dessert business with her sister Gurvinder.
She applied for ‘The Apprentice’ because she believed her company was ready to scale up with the proper amount of capital.
Sugar culled down 16 hopefuls with the words “you’re fired” over the course of 12 gruelling tasks shown weekly until only the final four remained to compete for his GBP 250,000 investment.
Each week, Sugar’s advisors, well-known businesswoman Baroness Karren Brady and past winner Tim Campbell, separate the want tobe entrepreneurs into two teams, each lead by appointed Project Managers, who compete under the careful eye of Sugar’s advisors.
Following the completion of each activity, both teams reconvene in the boardroom to share their inspiring or disastrous experiences and determine whose side has succeeded.
The winning team receives a luxurious treat, while the Project Manager of the losing team must choose two colleagues to accompany them back into the boardroom.
Sugar then allows them to present their case before selecting who should be removed from the process.
This was the first year that ‘The Apprentice’ had an all-female final, which Kaur won as Sugar’s new business partner.
