Their names can send shockwaves through any candidate on The Apprentice.
Tonight, Lord Sugar’s hard-nosed associates Claudine Collins, Mike Soutar, Linda Plant and Claude Littner are back.
They’ll be putting Priyesh Bathia, Pascha Myhill, Lawrence Rosenberg, Dan Miller and Karishma Vijay through their paces to see who makes it through to the grand final.
But who are the people asking the questions? Here’s what you need to know.
Claudine Collins is the recently appointed chief client officer at Mail Metro Media. Prior to that, she was chief client officer at EssenceMediacom UK, overseeing delivery across more than 200 clients and £2bn in billings. Alongside her commercial career, she’s been part of the final stage interview process on The Apprentice since 2013, also appearing regularly on The Apprentice: You’re Fired.
Scottish-born and London-raised, Mike Soutar started his career in journalism in Dundee writing horoscopes for a women’s magazine before moving to the capital and progressing up the editorial ranks. In 2007, out of the ashes of the global financial crash, he co-founded Shortlist Media. It grew from five employees to more than 200 in five years.
Why The Apprentice is a two-horse race
As CEO, he led the sale of the business for a significant multi-million pound sum just eight years later, having revolutionised magazine publishing in the UK along the way. For the last 13 years he’s been the meticulous interrogator on The Apprentice.
Linda Plant describes herself on LinkedIn as a ‘powerhouse in British business’ and it’s hard to disagree. She was one of the first women to float a company on the London Stock Exchange but what sets her apart is her staying power. During her career she’s launched a fashion brand, developed luxury properties and mentored the next generation. Today she’s the CEO of the Linda Plant International Academy and has been one of the formidable interviewers on BBC’s The Apprentice since 2015.
Claude Littner has been involved in the interview stage of The Apprentice since series one and his no-nonsense approach has made him a viewers’ favourite. Littner is fluent in French and was a finance manager at Unilever before forging a career as a turnaround specialist. In 2014, he was appointed visiting professor of the Claude Littner Business School at the University of West London. He is also a trustee of Blood Cancer UK.
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