Lord Alan Sugar

    (£55,000 - £75,000)

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Biography

Lord Alan Sugar and the Amstrad brand are almost as well known in the eyes of the consumer as the IBMs, the Nokias and the Motorolas of this world.  Yet, this company is only a fraction of the size of its international peers, with a market capitalisation of just £29m, which makes the achievement all the more remarkable.  And much of the success of the Amstrad brand can be attributed to the "no nonsense" approach to business adopted by the founder and chairman of the company, Lord Sugar.

Lord Alan Sugar was once reported as saying, "People who meet me for the first time often find me rude and abrupt... but I have always found that straight-forwardness and plain-talking tends to pay off."  Lord Sugar might not win in the popularity stakes but in the world of business he is a consummate marketer and a wonderful motivational speaker.  His mission is to identify and understand the latest technology and then create and develop products that would have mass-market appeal using that technology.

Sugar was co-opted onto a Government inspired scheme designed to promote the values of enterprise amongst the nation’s youth, part of a major initiative to encourage young people to start up businesses of their own.  Organised by the Treasury, the “You Can Do It Too” tour saw Alan travelling around the UK’s major cities to talk about enterprise, with all the flair and panache of a person who practices what he preaches.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown says, “Alan Sugar has provided a considerable boost to the Treasury business team, bringing his wealth of knowledge to offer to our next generation.  We want to avoid pursuing the ‘Whitehall knows best’ approach to policy-making and to become a friend and supporter of all that is best in British entrepreneurial culture.  Mr Sugar has already demonstrated himself to be a valuable asset to us in carrying out that task.”

A former barrow boy from London’s East End, Sugar was born into a working class family in Hackney and lived in a council flat.  It is important to him to give back to the community, his idea is to encourage the nation’s youth to consider working for themselves, to take risks, to take a gamble while they are young and not committed.  He believes that business can be fun, whether it be doing deals, developing products or selling.  He says, “Young people are interested to see how I came from nowhere and ended up a millionaire – and, as the tour title says, there is no reason why they can’t do the same too.”

His venture into the world of sport saved Tottenham Hotspur from the brink of bankruptcy and once he was Chairman, Sugar did his utmost to ensure that the club became the focal point of local life once again.

Alan Sugar was the driving force behind the Excalibur Scholarship Scheme in 1993 which established opportunities for graduates from former Eastern Block countries to study in Europe.  He recruited twenty-one leading British companies as sponsors, raising over £1.5 million.

The Alan Sugar Foundation, established in 1986, has donated over £3.5 million to charity as well as a donation of £3.5 million to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for their “Wishing Well” appeal.

Lord Sugar's business empire was (as at 2005) estimated to be worth £700 million and he was 25th on The Times Richlist in 2004.

In 2005 Lord Sugar entered the world of reality TV when he tested 14 apprentices in a new BBC TV series based on Donald Trump's successful US show The Apprentice.  The show now receives enormous viewing figures and is currently in its 6th series.

Alan Sugar was knighted in 2000 for services to British industry and received his peerage in 2009.

His long awaited autobiography What You See is What You Get was published in 2010.