Mark Wright became the 10th winner of The Apprentice on Sunday night when he was told 'You're hired' in the final showdown.
Wright,
25, landed the all-important £250,000 investment in his digital
marketing agency after beating 19 other wannabe entrepreneurs to become
Lord Sugar's business partner.
He
went up against fellow finalist Bianca Miller - who was proposing to
launch a range of tights to match to various different skin tones - in
the series climax, after weeks of gruelling challenges and boardroom
showdowns.
Mr Right: Mark Wright became the 2014
winner of The Apprentice when he took on hosiery entrepreneur Bianca
Miller in this week's final
Winner Mark, originally from Australia, explained that the UK was a dream location to start a new business.
His work involves digital marketing and search engine optimisation to help push businesses up online searches.
He
said: 'London particularly is a land of opportunity for young people to
start businesses. You can start a business here from your kitchen bench
and turn over a million quid - what other place in the world can you do
that?
'In Australia the population's not big enough and the dollar's not strong enough.'
Victorious: Mark earned the 'You're Hired' finger point from Lord Alan Sugar on Sunday night's final
Asked
what his family and friends back home thought, he admitted: 'I think
they're confused. They're like, 'First of all, what's The Apprentice?
Second of all, what are you doing, we thought you went backpacking and
now you're on a TV programme with a tycoon starting a business?'.
'It's a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but I'm in it for the long haul.'
The
final saw previous candidates from the series invited back to help Mark
and Bianca in their pitches to the relevant industries to try to sell
their business plans.
Stiff competition: Australian Mark beat off competition from 19 other wannabe business partners
Not on side: Apprentice loser Daniel
Lassman showed that he was more than a little bit bitter about his rival
heading into the final
Fans
of the series were not surprised to see Wright's nemesis Daniel Lassman -
who went out in the semi-final after the gruelling interview stage -
join his competitor's team.
Mark said there was some truth in pub quiz company owner Lassman's claim that their rivalry had spurred him on to success.
He
said of his clashes with Lassman: 'That's why you see a lot of
businesses excel when they get a competitor with a good product who
pushes them in competition.
The three to impress: Karen Brady and Nick Hewer were the ones to impress alongside Lord Sugar
Two teams: The Apprentice candidates were brought back to help their finalist triumph in the showdown
'Daniel
comes from a footballing sales background and so do I. You put two of
those people in a competition and it becomes a nightmare for anyone else
around it. In the tasks we hated each other, but in the house we got on
fine.'
Meanwhile,
Bianca, who came under fire for pricing her tights at £20 a pair,
revealed she had since dropped the price to £7.99 to give the brand
broader appeal.
She said of her business: 'Mark could help me with my SEO - although I think he might be a bit too expensive for me.'
Talking
about losing out to him, she conceded: 'If you lose to someone who
isn't very good, it's upsetting, but Mark is very credible. I was happy
to go up against him and if I was going to lose, to lose to him was the
best I could hope for, really.'
All down to him: Alan Sugar would be the man to choose his business partner on the night
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