The Apprentice 2015 candidates: Hardly any City folk want to work for Alan Sugar any more
Though stars of The Apprentice are already jumping through hoops to work with TV finger pointer Lord Sugar, City workers are the most apathetic they’ve ever been about the show, with most lawyers and accountants saying they would never quit their jobs to go and work for the man himself.
Some 18 per cent of lawyers and 31 per cent of accountants said they'd quit their current job for the chance to battle it out in the famous boardroom, according to research from recruiters Laurence Simons and Marks Sattin.
The percentage of lawyers wishing to pack it all in for a chance to work with Lord Sugar was much higher in previous years, with 25 per cent of those asked in 2011 saying they would happily join his team.
2011 was a year of change for The Apprentice in terms of the nature of the prize offered. In series one to six, the winning candidate was offered a £100,000 a year job with Lord Sugar as his “apprentice”. Since series seven, the prize has been an entrepreneurial one, with the winning candidate receiving a £250,000 investment in a business of their creation with Lord Sugar as a 50 per cent owner.
Clare Butler, global managing director at Laurence Simons, said: “Lawyers realise the odds are stacked against them to get any real value out of participation in the show."
"In the meantime they could undermine their integrity by doing a pterodactyl impression in front of an audience of millions – as demonstrated by the 2008 winner, Lee McQueen."