Apprentice 2024: Who are the contestants vying for Lord Sugar's investment?

Here is the full line-up for the show's 18th season
The Apprentice series 18
PA
Ayan Omar24 January 2024
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The Apprentice is returning for season 18 and joining the line-up is noughties garage musician, Tre Lowe.

Tre is an award-winning producer-songwriter and entrepreneur, who is best known to people as one half of the early 2000s British garage band, Architechs. 

Eighteen contestants will go head-to-head to win Lord Sugar’s £250,000 business investment, as they are tasked with completing a series of challenges.

The Apprentice 2024 contestants

Amina Khan

The Apprentice series 18
Amina Khan
PA

Working as a pharmacist for over a decade, Amina is the owner of a skincare and supplements brand, which she said made a turnover of a million within the first two years. 

Amina who describes herself as a “massive risk taker” is confident that she and Lord Sugar will “dominate the market overnight” if they join forces. 

Dr. Asif Munaf

The Apprentice series 18
Dr. Asif Munaf
PA

A previous contestant on Dragon’s Den, Dr. Munaf’s best achievement is launching his own wellness brand while working 12-hour shifts during Covid. 

Despite his unsuccessful run with his business idea D.A.T.E Smoothies, which he premiered on Dragon’s Den, Dr. Munaf said he learnt “some great business insights.”  

Flo Edwards

The Apprentice series 18
Flo Edwards
PA

Flo is a recruitment consultant from London, who started her own consultancy and lists successfully training her dog to close a door as her greatest achievement. 

Flo has said while she doesn’t “necessarily deserve Lord Sugar’s investment more than anyone else,” she has a “great track record of generating revenue”. 

Folosu Falade

The Apprentice series 18
Foluso Falade
PA

Folosu is a Manchester-based project manager and describes herself as the “Mary Poppins of business”. Her inspiration to embark on a business career comes from her mother, who owned a shop in Manchester for 25 years. 

Folosu plans on “building an empire in an ethical way whilst raising up and inspiring people along the way". 

Jack Davies

The Apprentice series 18
Jack Davies
PA

Jack’s motto is “anything I put my mind to, I succeed in” and he has proven it by achieving five promotions in seven years. 

Jack is a recruitment director from Bristol, who also runs a food review blog on Instagram. Failure is “never an option” for Jack, who believes he deserves Lord Sugar’s investment because of his “work ethic and drive to succeed”.  

Maura Rath

The Apprentice series 18
Maura Rath
PA

Yoga teacher Maura, from Wexford, believes her business is “measured by the joy and health it brings people”.

Talking about her biggest successes, Maura said: “I hear back that my business brings some people a little bubble of self-love, it helps some people with that winter dread, and people move stronger and more freely than before.”  

When she is not helping promote her client’s wellbeing, she is busy “swimming in the Irish Sea”.  

Noor Bouziane 

The Apprentice series 18
Noor Bouziane
PA

As well as a fantastic cook. Noor is the owner of a jewellery company from Liverpool and believes she has “competitiveness” in her blood. 

She kickstarted her jewellery business at the age of 20 and has run it independently since. Speaking on her desire to win, Noor said: “My brand is something new and it offers the best accessories around.”

Oliver Medforth

The Apprentice series 18
Oliver Medforth
PA

Hailing from Yorkshire, Oliver is a sales executive who has called himself the “selling machine”. Oliver has five years of sales experience under his belt and “determined to achieve anything”. 

Hoping to dominate the sales task, Oliver said: “I really hope there is a selling task because this is where I will dominate and prove to Lord Sugar, I am a selling machine.

“I work the markets selling gin and tonic and there aren’t many customers that leave without buying.”

Onyeka Nweze

The Apprentice series 18
Onyeka Nweze
PA

Already coming in with high ambitions, chartered company secretary, Onyeka, plans to be the first tech investment Lord Sugar makes.

She said: “If Lord Sugar is ready to make some serious money, then he needs me. He's never invested in a tech business, now is the time.”

She added: “My business is going to be making 10 million within the first 5 years.”

Paul Bowen

The Apprentice series 18
Paul Bowen
PA

Based in Lancashire, Paul is a director of Pie Company, which boasts big clients like Manchester City Football Club. 

He promises he can “make Lord Sugar the lord of pies”. 

Paul said: “I’m seeking investment of Lord Sugar’s time and knowledge. I have great ideas and great business acumen, along with a work-hard attitude. 

“My organisation and planning is my weakness. But with Lord Sugar’s strategy and my passion and ideas, I could make him Lord of the Pies.”

Dr. Paul Midha 

The Apprentice series 18
Dr. Paul Midha
PA

Dr. Midha is the owner of a dental practice in Leeds and boasts and impressive growth of £900,000 over 15 months.

Besides his business acumen, his body-popping talent got him into Britain’s Got Talent in the past and he has also played as an extra in a Disney TV show. 

He said: “I am ready for the extensive learning ahead, understanding that I have much to gain and a long yet rewarding journey ahead.”

Phil Turner 

The Apprentice series 18
Phil Turner
PA

The other half of Pie Company, Phil was awarded the Supreme Pie Champion' in 2020 for his family-owned pie company dating back to the 1930s. 

Hailing from Bognor Regis, Phill said his biggest achievement is buying his “parents' small bakery at the age of 21 and building it into a seven-figure profitable business”.

He has been open about his possible undiagnosed dyslexia and struggles with writing. 

He said: “Although undiagnosed, I would imagine I am dyslexic. I don’t feel it has held me back in business.” 

Rachel Woolford

The Apprentice series 18
Rachel Woolford
PA

The Boutique fitness studio owner from Leeds has “plenty of experience” and shows determination after opening her business during the pandemic. 

She said: “For a long time, I did absolutely everything in my business - teaching classes, payroll, cleaning, accounts - you name it, I was doing it.

“Once I learnt that it's ok to delegate and outsource some of these jobs, I started to scale my business. I finally understood the phrase "work on your business, not in it.” 

Raj Choan

The Apprentice series 18
Raj Chohan
PA

Already a successful mortgage broker, Raj from Leamington Spa wants to be a millionaire by 50. 

She has already been awarded Mortgage Broker of the Year in September 2023 and Silver Award winner of Best Businesswoman in Finance.

Raj said: “I want to be the UK’s leading lady within the bridging world of finance.”

Sam Sadeet 

The Apprentice series 18
Sam Sadeet
PA

Sam, a pre- and post-natal fitness coach from Essex believes her business “truly helps others”. 

Nicknamed a “real Del Boy,” Sam is best known for sniffing out great bargains. She moved to Malta at 21 and worked independently for a year. 

She said: “I deserve Lord Sugar's investment because I am one of the savviest, go-getting women I know! This business is all focused on something I am very passionate about whilst also making money too - it's a win-win.” 

Steve Darken 

The Apprentice series 18
Steve Darken
PA

Steve is a management consultant based in London, who said he shares Lord Sugar’s humour and sharp knowledge. 

Alongside being a successful consultant, Steve dabbled in filmmaking back in the day, and did everything from “big screen horror movies to R’n’B music videos”. 

He said: “If I get the investment, the real winner in the show would be Lord Sugar! My CV speaks for itself - I’m a dedicated business and tech leader who smashes every goal and challenge set.” 

Tre Low 

The Apprentice series 18
Tre Lowe
PA

Viewers will recognise Tre from the noughties British garage band, Architechs. Gaining popularity after releasing a remix of Brandy and Monica’s The Boy Is Mine, Architechs is best known for their 2000s hit Body Groove, which reached number in the UK singles chart and went on to sell over 380, 000 copies. 

Tre his brother and band member, Ashley Akaba in 2020, who was a gifted music producer. 

The London-based businessman thinks he has what it takes to bag the £250,000 prize and said he will “create a legacy that revibrates through time”.

He said: “People think I am a cool dude. But underneath all of that, I am a super-geek. I have always had a fascination with how things work. 

“One of my dreams as a child was to be in those big red Britannica Encyclopaedia volumes, alongside the likes of Galileo, Newton, and Tesla. Total super nerd. Still cool though.” 

Virdi Singh Mazaria 

The Apprentice series 18
Virdi Singh Mazaria
PA

Virid is a music producer from Leicester, who wants to be the first to interest Lord Sugar to invest in the music industry. 

Talking about his achievements, Virdi said: “One of my most notable business achievements was having the privilege to produce a track for Sidhu Moose Wala, a prominent figure in the Punjabi music scene.”

The Apprentice will return to BBC One on 1 February.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in