The penultimate episode of this series of The Apprentice is here. After two months of watching a cohort of budding businesspeople gradually get smaller, four hopefuls have made it to the eleventh hour.
This stage of season 16's competition marks a first in the history of The Apprentice; four female contestants are set to be grilled in interviews, where they will be pitching their business plans to Lord Alan Sugar's advisors, Karren Brady CBE and Tim Campbell MBE. Four will become two tonight, as two hopefuls will unfortunately be sent back home.
Next week, the two remaining contestants will go head-to-head in a final task, where the winner will scoop a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar, and go into business with him as a 50-50 partner. Four ambitious businesswomen remain, including Bristol's very own Brittany Carter.
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The former front of house hotel manager is hoping to win assistance from business magnate Lord Sugar in sustaining her alcoholic protein drink brand, Maintain the Gain. Bristolian Brittany attended Montpelier High School, before completing her A Levels at St. Brendan's Sixth Form College in Brislington.
Brittany completed higher education at Edge Hotel School at the University of Essex, where she was on a fast-track Hotel Management degree course, and walked away with a First Class BA Hons degree. Prior to her time on The Apprentice, Brittany worked at Marriott Hotels in the city for just over three years in various roles.
25-year-old Brittany credits her parents, Rebecca and Stephen, for raising her to have an excellent work ethic, a love for sports, and the determination to succeed in life. During The Apprentice: The Final Four, which aired on Tuesday night (March 15) Brittany revealed that she was 'over-the-top' as a child.
The fitness fanatic said: "Whatever energy I have now, was times twenty as a child, and it was probably too over-the-top. I can remember singing all the time, dancing all the time."
Rebecca and Stephen 'drummed' into Brittany that in order to be successful, she had to work hard. When she was 16, the future businesswoman got her first job at a fast food restaurant, which is where she fell in love with hospitality.
And Brittany's hard work has certainly proved successful so far. Aside from leading her team to success during the shopping channel task, Brittany has only appeared in the boardroom twice, and has been praised by Tim Campbell MBE.
According to the Daily Mail, Tim said: "It is fair to say that at the beginning of the process, Brittany was maybe too passionate for her own good. But if she can put her passion and confidence into her business plan, she can potentially pull it off and make it to the end."
Stephanie Affleck
Brittany's friend Stephanie has not had as much success during the competition. Over the course of the season, the 28-year-old from East London has found herself on the losing side several times, but has had great success with her online children's clothing store 'Little Fashion House' away from the heat of the competition.
With a dad who owns a car dealership and tries his hand at property, Stephanie's business drive is in her blood. She said: "My dad is willing to work all hours under the sun to get what he wants and I've learned that's what I have to do."
But despite her ambition, Stephanie revealed that she often got into trouble at school. The businesswoman reflected: "My teachers wrote me off as someone who never really paid attention in class, but I feel that they didn't realise that I just got things really quickly, and because of that, I got really bored and became destructive."
Stephanie achieved a First Class Honours degree in Event Management from the University of West London. During her time in hospitality, Stephanie worked for a number of brands, including The Ivy as an Event Coordinator.
Little Fashion House, for which she is hoping to bag investment from Lord Sugar, provides pre-loved designer wear and unworn clothes from previous seasons for children. Stephanie formed the business in January 2021, and is the director.
Before appearing on The Apprentice, Stephanie described herself as confident, decisive and brutally honest. She said: "I’m an East London girl, and I’ve got that no-nonsense sort of work ethic. I’ve got grit, determination and I’m determined to be successful."
Harpreet Kaur
30-year-old dessert shop owner Harpreet Kaur describes herself as a 'born leader', and warned viewers and her fellow candidates that she was not entering the competition to make friends prior to the start of the show. Harpreet earnt a degree in Marketing and Advertising Management from Leeds Metropolitan University, before studying Leadership and Management at the Open University, and getting a first class honours degree.
After working at Barclays and HSBC, Harpreet set up Barni's in August 2015. With two stores up north - one in Huddersfield and the other in Leeds, Barni's not only serves desserts in store but ships them out to customer's doorsteps across the country.
Harpreet is proud to be in the final all-female four, but she has said she has always felt equal amongst her male counterparts, according to the Daily Mail. She said: "I just think we all got on really well as a group when we were on task – we were focused on just winning as a team.
"I’ve never felt like there were mind games and this mentality of the other candidates being my competitor – we all just acted with real professionalism and if things had to be brought up in the boardroom, then they weren’t said maliciously.
"Obviously, it’s difficult because when you’re sat there you want to be shouting about your own highlights which I found difficult – and so many times I’d just want to celebrate the other candidate’s achievements. It’s just about finding that balance.
"But, when it came to leaving the boardroom, that’s it, you let it go and you move on. Yes, I’ve got far in the process because of my own abilities, but I honestly believe it’s also down to good teamwork, collaboration and the people who I had around me. Teamwork really does mean everything to me."
Kathryn Louise Burn
Swindon's Kathryn Louise Burn, according to BirminghamLive, is currently the bookies' favourite to win The Apprentice. The 29-year-old has an online pyjama store, which she tends to run seasonally from September to December, supplying matching Christmas sleepwear to families and their dogs.
However, in the last year, Kathryn's business has expanded. The Wiltshire native now supplies pyjamas all year round, with the website launching at the beginning of last month.
Kathryn claims she saw the passion possessed by female candidates in the competition from the beginning. She said: "The girls were hungry for it, and I could see that on the first task. There’s a lot of strong personalities and I thought, 'woah, this isn’t going to be easy', as soon as I got speaking to everyone.
"I think one good thing we are all good at is adapting, and we’ve shown that throughout the process. We’ve put ourselves ‘out there’ even on tasks we have no experience in and have always tried our hardest and gave 110%."
Prior to her time on the show, Kathryn worked a number of jobs in several different industries, including as a Sales Consultant at Virgin Holidays and an Event Coordinator at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This is not her first experience of reality television, as Kathryn previously appeared on The Island with Bear Grylls.
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