Lord Sugar invests £250,000 in Dr Leah Totton and picks her to be his new business partner in the final of The Apprentice
Leah Totton beat baker Luisa Zissman to become Lord Sugar's business partner in the first all-female final of The Apprentice last night. The brains bagged the big investment as Leah Totton, an NHS doctor from Londonderry, walked away with a £250,000 investment in her cosmetic surgery business which aims to roll out botox procedures in clinics across the UK.
Luisa Zissman crumbled under the pressure during her final pitch to Lord Sugar's business associates and baking industry experts, choosing to pay more attention to presentation of the brand than forethought for her business strategy.
At the eleventh hour, the baking entrepreneur was icing table decorations and adorning her presentation room with pink balloons, while competitor Leah was perfecting her speech.
Though Lord Sugar's associates felt that Luisa's brand was particularly strong, they argued that she had failed to consider her target market by alienating male bakers with the overpowering pink colouring of the brand.
Lord Sugar said: 'Two completely different business models. As far as Leah is concerned, she doesn’t look like she wants to listen. It’s all very well being adamant about what you want to do but she will need to listen.'
Leah Totton, who claimed to have less business acumen that her fellow candidates on entering the competition, says she aimed to 'disarm with charm', finally winning over Lord Sugar with her 'extremely lucrative' business model.
NIKS Medical was the name chosen by Leah to front her business, which aims to provide face fillers, skin peels and anti-ageing injections by clinic managers trained on rotation by the 25-year-old doctor herself.
But it seems she's had a sudden change of heart about the name this morning, tweeting: 'So excited to launch "Dr Leah" clinics and "Dr Leah" skin care range with @Lord_Sugar ! #Drleah #theapprentice.'
Lord Sugar said he was taking a risk by investing in Leah's beauty business, but we can't help but wonder if he'll be the first to indulge in some wrinkle descreasers.
Congrats, Leah!
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