If you thought some of your clients’ recruitment procedures were tough, then these will pale into insignificance compared to a new programme that began on BBC2 last week.

The British version of the hit US television show The Apprentice features seasoned entrepreneur and former Tottenham Hotspur chairman Alan Sugar taking the place of tycoon Donald Trump.

On the programme 14 men and women compete for a £100,000-a-year position with Sugar’s computer company Amstrad.

Sugar divides the contestants into two teams and each week they are required to complete a set of challenging business tasks. The candidates live together in a luxury mansion on the Thames and each week one of them will be expelled.

The American version of the television show captivated millions of viewers across the Atlantic and spurned the words ‘You’re fired’ as a national catchphrase.