Former Brunel alumnus Courtney Wood will take his seat in TV’s most hostile boardroom this week as he looks to win over belligerent boss Alan Sugar.
Courtney, a first class honours graduate in Industrial Design in 2009, makes his debut on series 12 of BBC1’s The Apprentice on Thursday – and hopes his confidence and positive attitude will give him the edge.
The 29-year-old, from Essex, set up his own novelty gift company Bubblegum Stuff in 2012 (http://www.bubblegumstuff.com/about), a decision that he says wasn’t difficult because of the skills, particularly networking skills, he learned studying his degree.
“Over the years I built up a range of contacts around the world,” Courtney told Brunel’s Co-innovate team. “So I knew I had distributors in Australia and Germany who would be willing to buy my products – that made it less of a daunting prospect.”
Since finishing his degree, Courtney has visited the university a number of times, mentoring and supporting current students.
The first episode of the new series of The Apprentice will be shown at 9pm on Thursday 6 October.