Tonight, millions of viewers around the country will find out the answer to a 12-week-long question – who will be Lord Alan Sugar’s next business partner?
Hit BBC Show The Apprentice reaches its conclusion tonight, with Bombay Pizza boss Anisa Khan taking on ADL Air Conditioning co-owner Dean Franklin in the highly-anticipated final.
The duo has beat off competition from a total of 16 candidates to get to this point and will now face off to win Lord Sugar’s mentorship and £250,000 investment.
But who will be victorious? BusinessCloud looks at the journeys that both finalists have been on throughout the famously gruelling process.
Dean Franklin
Business: ADL Air Conditioning
Based: Upminster
Age: 25
Business plan: Grow and expand air conditioning company, which supplies and installs air conditioning units in homes or commercial properties.
Times as project manager (PM): 1
Wins as PM: 1
Overall wins: 7
Overall losses: 4
Times brought back to final boardroom: 4
High point: Winning his only task as project manager, steering the team to victory in a sales-based task during week three.
Low point: Being confronted by a sex toy prank by business guru Mike Soutar in last week’s episode. Franklin was left red-faced after being shown an old photo posted on the company’s social media account of a sex toy stuck to an AC unit.
Cheeky-chappy businessman Dean Franklin has found his way to the final of The Apprentice through a combination of charm, wit, skill, business acumen and a slice of good fortune.
He runs Upminster-based firm ADL Air Conditioning alongside his business partner, Alex Scott, and together they provide air conditioning solutions to homes and businesses across London, Essex and Kent.
The firm’s shares are split four ways – between the two men and their wives. Franklin told Lord Sugar last week that if he wins the £250k investment, he’ll take up the shares owned by the two wives, giving him 50% of the business.
The father-of-two joined the process with no shortage of credibility – his business won the Best Tradesperson Award at the 2023 Havering Small Business Awards.
He also claimed that they are inundated with business, saying last week that they are ‘literally bursting at the seams’.
Franklin has intentions of using a large chunk of Lord Sugar’s £250,000 on a new showroom, although Lord Sugar questioned the approach.
BusinessCloud looks at the highs and lows of Franklin’s journey so far.
The process
Franklin had a shaky start to his journey on The Apprentice and narrowly avoided getting fired in episode one – Austria Tours – after failing to make any sales.
His team turned the tide in week two, winning the virtual popstar task.
It was then Franklin’s turn to step up in week three, as he became project manager for a discount buying task.
From uni dropout to boss of £2.5m budget and The Apprentice star
This was his only stint as project manager and it was a successful one.
It was also a catalyst for the beginning of a hot streak, with Franklin on the winning side from weeks four to six.
However, this was brought to an abrupt halt, with the business owner seeing himself back in the boardroom after losing tasks in weeks seven, eight and nine.
He had a major disagreement with project manager Max England in week nine, which saw the two clash in the production room during a TV selling task.
It was Franklin who survived however, leaving England facing the dreaded finger point from Lord Sugar.
Week 10 saw a welcome return for victory for Franklin, before finding himself in the final after succeeding at the interview stage in week 11.
Anisa Khan
Business: Bombay Pizza
Based: Wallington
Age: 26
Business plan: Expand business by opening more dark kitchens in high-demand areas to allow for further growth and expansion.
Times as project manager (PM): 2
Wins as PM: 1
Overall wins: 3
Overall losses: 8
Times brought back to final boardroom: 4
High point: Receiving many plaudits for her business strategy in week 11, with the generally brutal Mike Soutar giving her pizza a five-star review.
Low point: Being on the losing team six weeks in a row between weeks three and eight.
Ruthless entrepreneur Anisa Khan burst onto the scene in series 19, becoming project manager in the first two tasks of the series.
The now-TV star was told that she ‘could literally get to the top of any corporate career’ by interviewer and EssenceMediacom chief client officer Claudine Collins, but Khan has her sights set on expanding her business Bombay Pizza.
This checks out with what she told BusinessCloud last month when she said: “I guess I’m very stubborn and I go for my goals. Ultimately, my business is what’s most important to me.”
The former Accenture employee has ambitions to open a restaurant should she secure Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment and mentorship.
However, Sugar last week opened Khan to the possibility of expanding into more dark kitchens before launching a restaurant itself.
The Apprentice star swapping hospitals for Lord Sugar’s boardroom
Khan’s losing record throughout the show isn’t impressive but she has proven herself to be a reliable, strong, driven and intelligent candidate worthy of a place in the final two.
BusinessCloud looks back at Anisa’s time on The Apprentice.
The Journey
Former international Kabaddi player Khan took on the role of project manager in week one, relying on her experience of having worked abroad in Japan for a year as an English teacher.
The move didn’t work out as her team lost the task, but this did not deter her as she went in as project manager again in week two.
This was a task she did end up winning, after creating virtual popstar BAMI.
It was after this, however, that the Bombay Pizza owner went on a barren run.
She was on the losing team for six weeks in a row, being brought back to the boardroom in weeks seven and eight.
Despite this, she fought for her cause and won Lord Sugar’s favour, meaning she was able to return and be part of the winning team in week nine.
Her fortunes turned again though a week later, when she was brought back to the boardroom for the third time in four weeks during week 10.
Again though, she lived to fight another day and was a true standout during the interviews episode in week 11, which led to her clinching a spot in the final.
‘I wanted eyeballs rather than Lord Sugar’s £250k’ – The Apprentice star