Amstrad chairman Sir Alan Sugar to front reality TV show

Sir Alan Sugar freely admits he comes from the "John Blunt" school of management. Which made him the natural choice to front the UK version of The Apprentice, the US reality television show that proved a surprise hit. The American version pitted two teams of aspiring moguls against Donald Trump, the New York property tycoon.

Sir Alan Sugar freely admits he comes from the "John Blunt" school of management. Which made him the natural choice to front the UK version of The Apprentice, the US reality television show that proved a surprise hit. The American version pitted two teams of aspiring moguls against Donald Trump, the New York property tycoon.

BBC2 confirmed yesterday that it had won the rights to screen the show and revealed that it will give Sir Alan the right to run roughshod over 14 hopeful business magnates before rewarding one of them with a job working for one of his companies and a six-figure salary.

Sir Alan, the founder of Amstrad, is renowned for having one of the business world's more abrasive personalities. But even he will have his work cut out to match the candid Mr Trump, who is attempting to trademark the phrase "You're fired!" ­ his curt way of informing contestants on The Apprentice that they should make other plans.

Much as the US show rescued Mr Trump, from a symbol of 1980s excess to contemporary capitalist puppet-master, Sir Alan will hope that the UK version cements his own renaissance. The one-time wheeler dealer, who still runs Amstrad, was berated by the City when he launched his e-m@iler, a telephone with e-mail and text messaging; but the Amserve division that makes it recently made its first profit, rescuing Amstrad's share price and Sir Alan's personal fortune.

Commenting on his new job, Sir Alan said: "My good news/bad news approach to business has earned me a reputation for being blunt but you've got to have what it takes to make it in business."

The series, which will be made by Talkback, the independent production company, will not air until next year.

It will set its 14 contestants weekly tasks to test their business acumen and entrepreneurial skills. Sir Alan, who has a controlling stake in Tottenham Hotspur, will fire one of them each week before rewarding the winner with a one-year contract at either Amstrad or Viglen, the computer company he also owns.

Sir Alan, one of Britain's 50 richest men, with an estimated £700m fortune, started out selling aerials, car radios and amplifiers to shops in London's Tottenham Court Road. He formed Amstrad, worth £1.4bn at its technology boom-inspired peak, in 1968. Other candidates to front The Apprentice included Sir Richard Branson and Stelios Haji-Ioannou.