When does The Apprentice 2017 start? Time, channel, format and everything else you need to know

The business competition is back for another year
Moguls: Baroness Karren Brady, Lord Alan Sugar and Claude Littner
Jim Marks/BBC

The Apprentice is back for another series, bringing a whole host of budding business maestros with it.

But who are this year’s hopefuls, and what kind of hoops will they have to jump through to impress Lord Alan Sugar and his aides Baroness Karren Brady and Claude Littner?

Here’s everything you need to know about The Apprentice 2017.

What’s the format?

Each week the candidates tackle a business task in two teams, at the start of the series the groups are divided by gender, but are then mixed as the series goes on.

Candidates can either put themselves forward or be nominated by the other candidates on their team to act as project manager for that week’s challenge.

After the tasks are completed the groups gather in the boardroom with Sugar, Brady and Littner to hear the results.

While the unsuccessful group head for a nearby café to thrash out where it all went wrong, the winning team gets a treat.

The losers then return to the boardroom for a grilling from Sugar, before the project manager chooses the two candidates he or she feels have contributed most to the loss to take back into the boardroom with them.

The three hopefuls must then convince Sugar that they deserve to remain in the competition with at least one eventually being fired.

What business tasks will the candidates face?

This year’s tasks include creating a range of burgers, branding and selling robots, planning a premium corporate experience at a sports event and running a doggy day care centre.

Viewers can also expect to see some old favourites from previous series return.

Hopefuls: The Apprentice 2017 candidates
BBC/Jim Marks

The candidates usually have to do a cooking or creating task, previous series have seen hopefuls creating fragrances, brewing beers and cooking up condiments.

Several tasks test the contestants’ ability to sell products to the general public and woe betides anyone who doesn’t manage to shift to Lord Sugar’s standards.

A mainstay of the series is the challenge which sees candidates given a list of unusual items that they must source in London and acquire for the cheapest price.

Who are the candidates?

This year’s 18 candidates include 24-year-old management consultant from Manchester whose businesses include the firm he works for, a watch trading company and a comparison website, 39-year-old florist chain owner Elizabeth McKenna, who calls herself a “slightly bonkers country girl”, and business analyst Jeff Wan, who moonlights as a semi-professional hip-hop dancer.

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What do they win?

For the past six series, The Apprentice candidates have been competing for a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar in their business, plus the benefit of the mogul’s mentorship.

And this year is no different, as well as impressing on the many tasks, candidates will also have to prove that their business plans are watertight if they’re to win over Sugar.

Who are the presenters?

There are no presenters as such, instead the candidates are observed in their tasks by Sugar’s aides Brady and Littner who report back to the man himself.

All three then reunite in the boardroom to quiz the candidates on their performance in that week’s task.

When is it on?

The Apprentice 2017 kicks off on Wednesday, October 4 at 9pm on BBC One.

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