British Indian owner of a dessert parlour business in northern England beat 15 rival candidates to win £250,000 investment in ‘The Apprentice’.
Harpreet Kaur, 30, went head to head with other budding entrepreneurs from different parts of Britain, including another British Indian candidate Akshay Thakrar, for the 16th series of the BBC show helmed by tycoon Lord Alan Sugar. In the end, Kaur was able to convince the business leader to back her idea to scale up her Oh So Yum! range of dessert parlours.
“I’m really overwhelmed,” said Kaur, as she was revealed as the winner of the pre-recorded show over the weekend.
“Lost for words that I’ve won the BBC Apprentice. But I’m so excited for this new chapter with Oh So Yum! Thank you to everyone who showed their support,” she said.
Describing herself as a "born leader, fearless and funny", Kaur entered the competitive show to expand her already successful coffee and cakes business in West Yorkshire, with the aim of becoming a leading brand in the UK.
“I’m definitely not in business to make friends. I’m here to make money, and I’m pretty sure Lord Sugar isn’t looking for a new mate,” she declared, at the very start of the show earlier this year.
“I love turning my dreams into goals, and then achieving them. But life is also about enjoying the small moments and pleasures, such as really good dessert of course,” said Kaur, a British Punjabi who grew up in Birmingham.
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Her working-class family run a convenience store in Huddersfield, where Harpreet Kaur helped out while juggling work and studies before eventually setting up her first dessert shop business in partnership with her sister Gurvinder.
She applied for ‘The Apprentice’ convinced that the business was ready to be scaled up with the right amount of investment. Over the course of 12 tough tasks broadcast weekly, 16 candidates were whittled down with the famous words “you’re fired” by Lord Sugar until the final four remained to fight it out for his £250,000 investment.