After 12 tough weeks, Lord Sugar named Dean Franklin his newest business partner in Thursday’s final of “The Apprentice”, defeating Anisa Khan, who sells Indian food-flavoured pizzas, in the final boardroom.
Franklin, who runs an air conditioning company, came to the show with a successful business but wanted to use Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment to expand and gain valuable mentorship from the businessman.
“I can’t believe I’ve just won The Apprentice,” Dean said. “This is going to mean the world to me and my family. My kids are going to be over the moon.”
For the final task, both Anisa and Dean had to launch their businesses. Lord Sugar told Dean needed to show a “scalable proposition”. Ownership of Dean’s company was previously split between his existing business partner and their two wives, with each having a 25% share.
Lord Sugar will now be given the wives’ 50% in return for his investment.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Dean said of his experience on the show. “I never had to speak in front of an audience or speak about myself in these ways. I’ve always been a grafter, I’ve always been on the tools and sites, and that’s what I’m used to, so this was me out of my depth. But I was just true to myself and just spoke how I could really.”
“Lord Sugar is going to be able to open up doors that I probably could never imagine and that’s what I wanted, that’s what I said in the process. I’ve not come here for the money,” Dean added.
The Apprentice will return next year for its 20th series.
