So neither of the recruiters got chosen to be Sir Alan Sugar’s apprentice on the BBC2 show that gripped the nation for 12 weeks.

Syed Ahmed, 31, made much of his East End roots. Sir Alan was not impressed, despite a similar background. Headhunter Paul Tulip, 26, fell down in the latter stages as his CV proved to be not entirely accurate.
It is back to the daily routine of recruitment for Ahmed. In October 2004, he set up IT People, based in London’s financial district. He told Recruiter he had no plans to emulate Saira Khan, who was the runner-up in the previous series of The Apprentice. She has become a prominent figure in the media.

Ahmed said: “Being in the media is OK, and if that happens, fine. But for me now, this [IT People] is it. It’s the way forward.”
He said appearing on the show had helped his business, with several placements in recent weeks. However, during the first few weeks of the series being aired, he had to adopt a relatively low profile. The show was recorded last year and if he was seen too often, it would have been obvious that he had not won the prize of being Sugar’s apprentice for a year.

Ahmed says he is still in touch with the other contestants, even his sworn rival Ruth Badger. Sugar fired Ahmed after a poor showing in a task arranging entertainment on a cruise ship.
Ahmed, formerly of Spring and Manpower subsidiary Elan, has restructured IT People and has fired some staff, but hired others.
The company now has a staff of seven and will soon move to new premises in Royal Docks, near Canary Wharf.