The owner of a Harrogate business has made it to the final of the BBC’s The Apprentice.
Rachel Woolford, owner of North Studio on Cold Bath Road, is just one of two remaining contestants competing for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment.
The two North Studio sites, in Harrogate and Leeds, currently offer small group fitness classes, including running, reformer pilates, boxing and HIIT workouts.
Over the 11-week series, the 28-year-old has sold and run a tour in Budapest, created a vegan alternative to cheese and even flogged paddling pools on a TV shopping channel.
Now, the Leeds woman has one final chance at convincing the British billionaire she is worthy of the prize money.
But her success has not come without obstacles.
In last night’s episode, the five remaining candidates were interviewed — and their business plans scrutinised — by business tycoons.
Rachel’s plan is to open three more North Studio sites in the north of England.
But Claude Littner, long-term business associate of Lord Sugar, crunched Rachel’s numbers — and not in the way she had hoped.
After failing to turn up with her company’s accounts, Mr Littner told Rachel she had made a “very serious mistake” before the interview had even started.
She told Mr Littner she spent more than £250,000 on both North Studio gyms, funded partly through a bank loan, plus monthly finances spent on equipment. But without the figures in front of him, he responded:
“All I can see is losses, loans. It’s impossible to get any idea.”
Rachel Woolford preparing for her interview. Pic: BBC Pictures.
Before Rachel thought the interviews could get much worse, they did.
Publishing pioneer Mike Soutar bought both website domains Rachel had anticipated on purchasing for her new gyms.
Her business plan included opening a site in Newcastle – or more specifically, Jesmond.
However, Mr Soutar beat Rachel to buying her desired website domain for Newcastle (www.northstudionewcastle.co.uk), as well as the Jesmond domain (www.northstudiojesmond.co.uk) – pointing out two flaws in her business plan.
The interview did, however, resolve in Rachel purchasing both domains from Mr Soutar for £34 plus VAT.
Mike Suter. Pic: BBC Pictures.
But despite the rocky interviews, Rachel was praised for her passion about her business.
Mr Soutar told Lord Sugar there may be financial “difficulties” when scaling her business, but added if it can be done right “she is definitely the person to do it”.
Lord Sugar even created a new tagline for Rachel: “You want people to get ripped in Ripon”.
When asked to convince Lord Sugar why she should be his business partner, Rachel said:
“In the first year, I turned over £85,000. However, for six months of that year, we were closed because of the pandemic.
“Now I’ve turned it into a profitable business, and I’ve got a model there that we can copy to other cities, to other locations, which I believe is successful.
“With your mentorship, I will put my all into this, as I already do. I’m willing to learn and I will continue to put my entire life into it.”
Rachel was the first contestant through to the grand final – and is now just one task away from £250,000.
It will be a battle between fitness and food as she faces owner of family-run pie business, Phil Turner, in next week’s final.
The Apprentice finalists Rachel Woolford and Phil Turner. Pic: BBC Pictures.
The final of The Apprentice will air on Thursday, April 18, at 9pm on BBC One.
You can read our interview with Rachel Woolford here.
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