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50 years after the publication of 'James and the Giant Peach', the works of Roald Dahl continue to celebrate success.
The Apprentice is still a nationwide television phenomenon, in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to become an ‘apprentice’ to Sir Alan Sugar, a British business magnate. After an arduous interview process of business related tasks lasting several weeks, the winner is given a £100,000-a-year job with Sugar.
Almost 4 million viewers saw the final episode of the first series, in which Tim Campbell won. Born and bred in East London, Campbell was already one of the youngest and highest paid middle managers of the London Underground when he applied to The Apprentice. Being happy in the job, Campbell admits he was consequently quite flippant in the answers he gave on the application form. As for actually getting the job, and having such a high profile job on his CV by the age of 29, he remains dumbfounded.
“I never believed I’d be in this position. My aspirations weren’t that high in terms of when I finished university. I only wanted to go to university for my mum and I didn’t see the link between university and success as clear as a lot of the youngsters do today.
I never believed I’d be in this position. My aspirations weren’t that high in terms of when I finished university.
“I just saw it as something I had to do and get through for three years in order to get letters after my name and make my mum happy. But I now understand that education gave me an opportunity to compete in an environment with other like minded individuals and therefore be able to show my capabilities past my degree.”
Campbell, who graduated from the University of Middlesex with a degree in Psychology, admitted that he thought the university route wasn’t essential for the cutthroat nature of the business world. “It’s important to do what is right for the individual. The way that the academic process is set up it can be quite regimented for individuals who may be more creative and have other aspirations. Thankfully we’ve seen a lot more emphasis on vocational training and I think that’s good because it offers more diversity.”
“I wouldn’t want to be the one to force someone to stay in education who has no desire to be there, to be in debt and then be stifled away from enterprise. It’s got to be a conscious choice people make.”
After two years working at Amstrad, Campbell took the decision to leave the corporation to set up alone. He describes this choice as a hard, but necessary one to take.
“It was very difficult decision as I had a lot of external people thinking I was a bit of a lunatic to leave six figures and then go out into the real wide world for myself. But on the other hand it wasn’t a hard decision because I’d got to a point where I had done what I needed to do in the organisation, and I felt I was ready to go out and start my own business. Sometimes you have got to put yourself in an uncomfortable place to see what you can achieve.
“But I didn’t just jump ship, I left with a really good reputation from Sir Alan, we’ve still got a very good relationship now.”
Despite there being much hype around the show, and the exciting lifestyle of the candidates portrayed on camera, Campbell told The Yorker that actually beginning work with Sir Alan was the greatest part of being hired into Amstrad.
“Getting the job was a breath of fresh air, I didn’t have to run around in front of TV cameras! I was never caught up in the glamorous nature of The Apprentice. I never saw the media circus that it is now. There’s a lot more emphasis on the profile of individuals as opposed to them getting through business tasks.”
“When I actually went to work in a role it was more than I expected, I was actually working directly with Sir Alan in a non intrusive environment without cameras looking over your shoulder every two seconds, where I was actually learning the real world of business and the processes behind it.”
However, Campbell does remain adamant about the cutthroat nature of the business world, and defends the show, saying it remained true to real life.
“I think what they showed was real, they can only edit what we gave them. What they displayed was when you get competitive people mixing together, you are going to get some clashes. Those things happen in the real world. Thankfully most people have their arguments behind doors, we did it in front of millions of people!”
The nature of the show meant that all of the candidates lived together during filming whilst competing for the same post; an experience which Tim says brought them all closer together. The final task involved Tim and fellow candidate Saira Khan hosting parties on boats on the River Thames. Nevertheless, Tim regards his rivalry with Saira as purely for the camera’s sake.
“Me and Saira were very close, we had this great pact that when we finished a task we were never going to be competitive in the house. We got on extremely well, and I’m still in contact with her and many of the other candidates.
"We all had a fantastic friendship because it was almost like you had been kidnapped. It’s only when people have been through that process they can understand exactly how it was!”
After leaving the company almost six months ago, Tim has thrust himself into setting up his own male grooming business and founding the Bright Ideas Trust, which aims to provide to support to young business and enterprise. The Yorker asked Tim if he had discussed his ideas with Sir Alan.
"Sir Alan is fully versed on Bright Ideas. But Sir Alan is not my best mate and I’m not his. I was an employee of Amstrad and he was my boss. But more so he was my mentor, adviser and guider. I have a huge amount of respect for him. What he is, is an inspirational entrepreneur.”
Tim later admitted at a talk organised by Business Link at the University of York that many of his business ideas had been “shot down” by Sir Alan, before he saw some opportunity in the male grooming proposal. Tim has now established a deal with a well known high street chain for his products, due to be released early next year. The Yorker asked if he will be giving any grooming advice to Sir Alan.
“I don’t think I’ll be giving Sir Alan any grooming advice, and if you’ve seen some of his shoes they’re quite slick, he doesn’t need any!”
Although some may regard his ascent as fortunate, upon meeting him it’s easy to see why Sir Alan hired Campbell. A confident yet modest character, he remains a genuine and hard working person, despite sudden fame and his chosen career in the aggressive business world. With time for one last question, The Yorker plumped for one surely on everyone’s mind: Do they actually make you pay for the cab at the end of the show?
“No they don’t make you pay for the cab! I’m surprised they don’t, that would actually be a good money making exercise!”
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