Apprentice is a masterstroke for the Beeb

May 3 2005 By Helen Logan Evening Gazette

Tomorrow will see the climax of a thrilling three month business battle.

For that is when Sir Alan Sugar, boss of an empire including Amstrad, picks who is going to be his sidekick for a year.

Fourteen wannabe tycoons started out and now, after testing tasks, that number has been whittled down to two.

Business has once again proved compelling TV viewing - and not just for those like me whose livelihood depends on taking an interest in this sector.

I know loads of people who have tuned into The Apprentice, which has attracted around three million viewers on a Wednesday and just under a million for its Saturday repeat.

The BBC2 series - just like the Dragon's Den featuring Darlington millionaire Duncan Bannatyne where entrepreneurs had to pitch for cash to help turn their ambitions into reality - has proved to be gripping, funny and informative.

But for me Sir Alan fired the person who should have won.

He has since admitted, with hindsight, he made the wrong decision - for while he got a good brief about the contenders' performance in each task, he did not see the TV shows until they were broadcast.

And these revealed Miriam, a 26-year-old languages graduate, the manager of an exclusive hotel in the French West Indies, to be cool-headed, smart, adaptable to different and testing situations, both a strong leader and a team player, and, unlike some of the others, she was not over-emotional, over-confident or bitchy.

My money is on Tim, the quiet and thoughtful London Underground transport manager, winning rather the pushy sales hotshot Saira.

For the programme is, after all, called The Apprentice and Tim, I think, would be more willing to learn from the master.

* The Apprentice BBC2 9pm tomorrow.