The Apprentice winner revealed! Marnie Swindells wins 17th series as Lord Sugar invests in boxing gym

2023-03-23

The winner of the 17th series of The Apprentice has been revealed as boxing gym owner, Marnie Swindells.

The 28 year old beat stiff competition from 18 ambitious entrepreneurs undertaking plenty of tough tasks on the popular BBC show to win a life-changing £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar, her new business partner.

She won the show with her boxing gym business plan for Bronx, and last week she said: "My business is in boxing gyms, the name’s Bronx, the idea is to create a middle-market option between the high-end boutique gyms and the low-end spit and sawdust gyms."

Marnie was in the final with Rochelle Ray Anthony, who's dream was to expand her salon and hair academy business.

It was tense in the boardroom as Lord Sugar sat with his trusted aides, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell MBE, as they discussed the two final business ideas on the table.

About Marnie, Baroness Brady said: “Marnie, she has never run a business before, and she’s chosen a business that’s very competitive – can she stand out in this very competitive market?”

Tim added: “That being said, for an ambassador for a boxing facility, there is no one better I would think than Marnie and what she stands for.”

Speaking about Rochelle, Tim said: “It’s what we posed to her at the very beginning of this final stage, to prove this is scalable. And having been in business for a number of years, I’m not 100% sure that she’s captured that piece about how she takes it from one successful store to a nationwide entity.”

While Baroness Brady then said: “The one thing I know you can do is put the infrastructure around her and that she will need to be able to focus on running her business.”

Addressing the two entrepreneurs, Lord Sugar said: “Marnie, it is such a crowded and competitive market. I’m thinking, ‘is this £250,000 down the drain?’

“Rochelle, what worries me about you is why would your second and third branch would be popular and make me and you money?" he pondered.

Making the announcement of his decision, Lord Sugar said: “It’s a tough one, but Marnie, you’re asking me to invest in something which is completely alien to me to be honest and you’ve never run a business before.

"Rochelle, it’s opening the second one and it really is a difficult decision as to what industry I should be in. Two very excellent candidates."

Lord Sugar went on: "But I’ve always been known to be a gambler, I’ve always been known to try new horizons so I’m going to try a new horizon… Marnie, you are going to be my business partner.”

A jubilant Marnie said: “What an incredible opportunity and moment for a girl like me to get to a place like this and have become Lord Sugar’s business partner. It feels strange to even say that, but I’m not going to stop saying it because I am so happy.”

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