City wannabes to be told: 'You're fired!'

Top City trader Lex Van Dam is set to do for equities what Sir Alan Sugar has done for enterprise with The Apprentice. Mr Van Dam, a "long-short" trader who used to work for Goldman Sachs and the hedge fund GLG Partners, is to star in a new real-time TV show called Traders. The programme, commissioned by BBC2 and made by Century Films, is to be aired early next year.

A whizz with numbers, the Dutch-educated Mr Van Dam has a masters in investment theory and econometrics. Now running his own fund, Hampstead Capital, he is also putting up the money for the traders to invest.

Six "ordinary" people from all backgrounds – but with no financial skills – were chosen after a long vetting process. Around 5,000 applied for the chance. They were then whittled down to the final six.

One source said: "The idea is to take some of the myths out of trading and show that, with a bit of training, anyone can learn. But it's much more difficult than proving yourself on The Apprentice, where you're selling fish. This is much tougher."

Each contestant will be given a pot of money and advice from technical experts – including Mr Van Dam and Geoff Wilkinson, the head of investment research at broker Mint – on how to build an equity portfolio. Filming started last week at the Cass Business School, when the traders got their first lessons. It will continue at a secret City location decked out as a trading floor. Contestants will get to keep some of the profits – if they make any.