Sir Alan will see you now
VM: Sir Digby Jones, the former Director General of the Confederation of British Industry said that programmes like The Apprentice put British business in a very bad light. How do you respond?
Sir Alan: "Well, at the end of the day I'm the one worth £800m! There seem to be two types of businessman in this country. The hands-on type like myself who know where every nut and bolt in their company is and others like Sir Digby whose reputation for business stems from not doing an awful lot. He seems to hold a number of senior corporate advisory positions and gets paid a lot of money for each of them. Nice work I guess. Maybe I'm the mug after all!"
VM: With the success of the show are you aware that you have to become more 'showbiz?'
Sir Alan: "No. My assistants Margaret, Nick and myself are natural on camera. What you see is what you get. There's no scripting and no showbiz."
VM: But you must get recognised far more in the street nowadays?
Sir Alan: "Yes I do but to be honest the public are always very polite, especially kids of 12, 13, 14, they're always very nice."
VM: Will there be a fourth series of The Apprentice?
Sir Alan: "Let's see how well this new series does first. We'll decide then."
VM: Do you have any advice for budding entrepreneurs? People like me who have no business acumen whatsoever?
Sir Alan: "You have to be focused, be prepared to work harder for yourself than you would for an employer, start small, continually take stock of where you are, be realistic about your ambitions and failures, be humble, work very, very hard and never give up."
27th March, 2007