Who won The Apprentice 2024 final?
The Apprentice 2024 has reached its dramatic finale and Lord Sugar has officially hired his latest business partner.
This latest series of the popular recruitment show saw a handful of entrepreneurial hopefuls put through a variety of intense and colourful challenges. Along the way, we’ve seen plenty of laughable mistakes, some unexpected wins and a rather intense interview-based grilling session – but there could only be one winner of Lord Sugar’s support and £250,000 investment.
2023’s series ended in March last year when Marnie Swindells won an investment in her boxing club business, in an all-female final. 2024’s final pitted pie man Phil Turner against gym chain owner Rachel Woolford – but who came out on top?
Read on to find out.
Who won The Apprentice 2024?
The final episode of The Apprentice 2024 has arrived and Lord Sugar officially has a brand new business partner. After 11 episodes and lots of ups and downs, just two founders were left in the competition, with high-end pie business owner Phil Turner going up against boutique gym chain operator Rachel Woolford.
As with every climactic final episode of The Apprentice, both hopefuls were invited to package and present their grand ideas to a room full of business owners and experts – and both had strengths and weaknesses. For Rachel, there were concerns around the scalability of her proposal, while the prospect of long-term financial returns had Lord Sugar pondering the inevitability of Phil’s pie empire.
It was a close call – but after all was said and done and Lord Sugar had consulted with his fellow tycoons, it was Rachel who was ultimately crowned the Queen of The Apprentice 2024.
“I didn’t walk into The Apprentice thinking I would win but I did,” smiled Woolford while speaking to Yahoo after her win. Meanwhile, Turner was still shocked he made it all the way to the finale having lost a record number of tasks: “I became a master of the boardroom,” he told us during an equally exclusive post-show chat.
Who was in The Apprentice 2024 final?
Phil Turner
Pie company owner, Bognor Regis
Pie company owner Phil Turner has had quite an interesting time on The Apprentice, setting a series record by appearing on the losing team on nine separate occasions. Despite this string of questionable bad luck, Turner has managed to make it to the final of Lord Sugar’s competition.
“I think after the journey I’ve had and so many losses, I feel as if I’ve probably had the toughest route to the [final] that maybe any candidate has ever had,” says Turner of his time on the show so far. “I feel really proud of myself.”
Hailing from Bognor Regis, if he wins, Turner hopes to use Lord Sugar’s help to boost his pie business. “I deserve Lord Sugar’s investment because I already have a track record of successfully building and scaling a business,” he says. “I have learnt how to run a business the hard way, and now I feel like it’s time to take my business to the next level.”
Rachel Woolford
Boutique fitness studio owner, Leeds
Hailing from Leeds, Rachel Woolford has often appeared as a level-headed voice of reason amid the often-chaotic scenes featured during many of Lord Sugar’s challenges. Despite losing the penultimate task, she remains one of this series’ strongest players.
“It feels quite unbelievable after the past 10 weeks,” says Woolford of reaching the final stretch. “It’s been a really tough process and at times I’ve really doubted if I can make it this far.”
The owner of a fitness studio which opened during Covid restrictions, Woolford is convinced she has the tenacity and grit needed to become the show’s latest winner: “Anyone in business must work hard, but I work harder!”
Who has been fired from The Apprentice?
Week 11 – Tre Lowe, Dr Paul Midha and Flo Edwards
It was an episode that many fans of The Apprentice were eagerly awaiting – the interviews, a time when Lord Sugar’s remaining entrepreneurs have their big ideas scrutinised by a panel of industry experts.
On hand to put plans under the microscope were a group of business-savvy bosses including Linda Plant, Mike Soutar, Claude Littner and Claudine Collins – and they certainly didn’t hold back.
After a good grilling, the show’s five remaining contestants Tre Lowe, Dr Paul Mindna, Flo Edwards, Rachel Woolford and Phil Turner returned to the boardroom where the scrutiny intensified.
Ultimately, the heat proved too much for some players to endure, with Lord Sugar sending three of his would-be Apprentices packing including dental group owner Dr Midna, recruitment consultant Edwards and music and wellness entrepreneur Lowe.
The decision left just two people remaining – but only one can win the show.
Week 10 – Foluso Falade and Steve Darken
Week 10 was a big one as the candidates were hoping to make it through to next week’s interview round, where they’ll get the chance to showcase their business proposals.
Unfortunately for Foluso Falade and Steve Darken, they fell at the final hurdle in a vegan cheese task that left a bad taste in Lord Sugar’s mouth – and the mouths of pretty much everyone who tasted it.
With Rachel Woolford as project manager, Darken convinced his teammates to go for a curry flavour while Falade was left single-handedly in charge of marketing and branding.
However, neither the supermarkets they pitched to, nor Lord Sugar were fans of the flavour, the packaging or the promotional video, leaving Falade and Darken hailing taxis by the end of the episode.
Over on the winning team, Phil Turner finally had a victory after being told to step up as project manager – despite an incredibly cheesy rap from Tre Lowe and Flo Edwards to market the product.
Week 9 – Raj Chohan and Maura Rath
Episode nine saw Lord Sugar set his business hopefuls the task of seeing how good they were at TV selling, with the rocky results ending in a dual firing in the boardroom.
Split into two teams, the entrepreneurs had to select the items that they thought would sell best before putting their unit-shifting skills into practice by seeing how many they could shift during a live TV broadcast.
It wasn’t an easy task, with team members struggling to grapple with producers speaking into their in-ear radios while they were delivering their live telesales spiel. By the time their directors yelled cut, it was Team Supreme who won this round after focusing their efforts on selling a lower number of pricier items and beating their rivals Team Nexus.
Once in the boardroom, Lord Sugar had no trouble letting Nexus team leader Raj Chohan go along with teammate Maura Rath. Meanwhile, pie company owner Phil Turner found himself back in the firing line for a ninth time – something that prompted Sugar to give an ultimatum: Be the boss next week and if you lose, you’re out.
Week 8 – Noor Bouziane
Week 8 of The Apprentice saw Lord Sugar give his remaining hopefuls the task of promoting an eco-friendly electric camper van. Splitting into two teams, each had to create a marketing campaign that’d successfully showcase all of the green-friendly benefits of their vehicle, complete with branding and a short, 30-second promotional video. However, as is usually the case with Lord Sugar’s challenges, things didn’t exactly go to plan for one team.
Leading team Supreme was online jewellery company owner Noor, who assured the remainder of her group that she had a clear and strong vision for the type of campaign she had in mind for their vehicle.
Unfortunately, the wheels quickly fell off when it came time to shoot their promotional video, with near-constant clashes with Tre resulting in a video that barely made sense, let alone showcased the benefits of eco-friendly camper van ownership.
Meanwhile, Divinity peppered their video with comedy and while it wasn’t without its faults (their logo screamed bed-and-breakfast a bit more than the electric camper van experience), it was their campaign that came out on top when it came time for Lord Sugar to decide who had won this week’s task.
Back in the boardroom, project leader Noor stuck to her guns, assuring Lord Sugar that her video was not only great but if she had seen it as a customer, it would be enough to convince her to buy an electric camper van herself. Sadly, Lord Sugar wasn’t as convinced and wasted no time showing her the door.
Week 7 – Virdi Singh Mazaria
In week seven, the show’s hopefuls were sent to Budapest where they were required to host their own city tour. The team with the best idea – and more importantly, the most profits – would win the day. So how did each team handle this seemingly straightforward task?
After finding herself in the firing line last week, Maura was asked by Lord Sugar to act as Project Leader for this week’s task and she wasted no time making her requirements known to the rest of her team. Her plan was to host a wine-tasting tour full of facts and fun. However, with a high overhead cost and a last-minute switch-up that impacted the delivery of those all-important wine facts, their success looked uncertain.
Meanwhile, Rachel was in charge of the opposing team, with her group delivering a city boat tour that looked genuinely enjoyable. That said, ticket sale fumbles by Foluso, Virdi and Phil threatened to sink their good time.
As it turned out, it was Maura’s gamble on pricier tickets which ultimately secured her team the win, with Sarah bringing Foluso and Virdi back into the boardroom to face Lord Sugar.
After a little debate, their potential new boss couldn’t overlook the fact that it was ticket sales that scuppered Sarah’s plans. With regret, Lord Sugar decided to terminate Virdi’s job application – but not without telling him to “stay in touch.”
Week 6 – Sam Saadet
Week six of Lord Sugar’s job hunt saw teams Supreme and Nexus set the task of creating a healthy breakfast cereal aimed at a child-friendly demographic. As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, each team’s product had to have its own interactive augmented reality element that would keep the little ones entertained while they started their day.
Proud mother-of-two Sam thought she would be perfectly placed to develop this one for her team, ultimately leading Supreme to create their own Arctic-themed breakfast cereal with a polar bear mascot. Meanwhile, their competitors Nexus took a more super-powered approach, designing a female superhero to front their brand and accompanying digital concept.
Unfortunately, things took an unfortunate turn for Supreme when their tropical cereal flavour was too much of a sticking point for those looking to invest in an arctic-themed product. When Nexus managed to secure an exclusivity deal that shifted a whopping 200,000 boxes, Supreme’s fate was sealed.
Cut to the boardroom breakdown and Lord Sugar didn’t hold back. Despite bringing Maura and Phil back in with her, it was team leader Sam who was deemed responsible for the team’s failure and sent packing.
Week 5 – Onyeka Nweze
In week five, the remaining entrepreneurs were split into mixed groups and asked to pitch and design a brand-new Formula E team catering for the racing world’s eco-friendly, electric alternative. Once their racecar designs and accompanying promotional videos were finalised, the team that managed to secure the highest amount of sponsorship money would emerge victorious.
Sadly, the stars didn’t align for Onyeka’s team and when she found herself back in the boardroom, Lord Sugar wasted no time in aligning the blame for her group’s inability to secure Formula E sponsorship funding.
“Onyeka, the lack of not explaining the ethos is also a very, very serious thing,” said Lord Sugar, commenting on the confusing nature of their Formula E pitch.
“You are culpable in as much as the failure is concerned. Onyeka, you’re clearly a charming and highly intelligent lady, and I appreciate that you’ve done your best throughout the course of this process, but on this occasion it simply wasn’t enough. So, it is with regret that Onyeka you’re fired.”
Week 4 – Jack Davies and Amina Khan
It was the return of a notoriously tricky task in The Apprentice week four – and one that is Lord Sugar’s favourite. Sadly, neither team Supreme or Nexus lived up to the expectations of their sack-happy boss.
Each team was sent to Jersey where they had to embark on a treasure hunt, tracking down a variety of items like shucked oysters, Jersey Royal potatoes and sweaters with a very specific design on them, all for the lowest price possible. Jack Davies nominated himself as project leader this week but hit road blocks while haggling, clashing with fellow team member Maura. When it came time to crunch the numbers, it was the opposing team that bagged the best deals, leaving Jack and his crew in the firing line.
After a heated debate, Lord Sugar sent everyone back outside the boardroom to think about what they’ve done. As team leader, Jack returned with Amina and Maura but it wasn’t long before Lord Sugar had decided to break with convention and pull the entire team back in for an extra grilling.
Ultimately, though Amina was the first to be let go followed by Jack, in a surprise second firing.
Week 3 – Dr Asif Munaf
Doctor and vitamin and supplement business owner Asif Munaf was the third entrepreneur to leave Lord Sugar’s competition following a challenge that involved the show’s two teams developing their own digital escape room game.
Having stuck with male and female groups for the first two episodes, week three saw Lord Sugar mix things up a bit by separating the teams into new groups – Supreme and Nexus. After narrowly avoiding a firing in week two, Munaf took the role of Supreme’s team boss in order to put his leadership skills to the test. However, after deciding on a virtual game concept that couldn’t quite decide whether it was serious or tongue-in-cheek (a war scenario with dancing bears?), investors were left less than impressed with team Supreme’s final product.
As a result, Munaf’s team lost this week’s challenge and he was pulled back into the boardroom. In what may be a series first, episode three saw the losing team leader second guess himself while deciding which of his fellow candidates to bring back into the firing line, with Lord Sugar ultimately deciding for him and pulling four faces back in for a further grilling
Amina Khan, Sam Saadet and Onyeka Nweze joined Munaf in getting the third degree but it was the latter who was sent packing. “Your claim of being a great leader hasn’t come to fruition in my view,” explained Lord Sugar, adding: “Asif you are a poor poor manager, so it is with regret you are fired.”
Week 2 – Paul Bowen
Pie company mastermind Paul Bowen was the second candidate to be sent packing from Lord Sugar’s boardroom after a cheesecake-related task went a bit pie-shaped for the boys’ team in episode two.
Each team had two days to design and manufacture their own cheesecakes, with the group with the most units sold and profits made being declared the winner. Fellow pie man Phil Turner was the team leader this time around and together with pie pro Paul, this task should’ve been a walk in the park. Unfortunately, a too-crumbly base and an unusual avocado filling meant that the boys’ team’s cheesecakes weren’t as popular as the ones produced by their female counterparts.
When crunch time came, Lord Sugar didn’t mess around. Phil brought Paul and Asif Munaf back into the boardroom and it was anyone’s guess as to who would be going home. Ultimately, it was Paul who was fired, with Lord Sugar telling him, “I admire you for admitting your mistakes, but there were simply too many mistakes and so it is with regret Paul, you’re fired.”
Week 1 – Oliver Medforth
Sales executive Ollie Medforth from Yorkshire was the first candidate to leave the competition after receiving walking orders from Lord Sugar following his group’s fumbled attempts at running a corporate away day in the Scottish Highlands.
It was team leader and self-professed event expert and DJ Virdi Singh Manaria who led this week’s task and while the activity portion of the day appeared to be semi-successful, activity in the kitchen ahead of the meal portion of the event didn’t run so smoothly. A lack of alcoholic drinks left customers wanting, while cold food which was served late resulted in several refunds requested by the client.
Virdi brought Ollie and Management Consultant Steve Darken back into the boardroom and after a tense discussion, it was Ollie who was on the receiving end of Lord Sugar’s firing finger. “It’s a shame because he’s a nice lad,” said Sugar after the deed had been done, warning Virdi and Steve that they mustn’t make the same mistakes again.
The Apprentice 2024 final airs on BBC One and iPlayer on 18 April at 9pm.