Why Analysis of past winners of The Apprentice suggests Hull sweetshop entrepreneur Megan Hornby could be Lord Alan Sugar’s most likely choice.
Female food business owners aged between 26 and 30 are the most common victors in the 16 series screened so far.
Data has been crunched, determining what makes for boardroom brilliance. And it found last week’s successful project manager for the girls team top of the pile - with only the fact she doesn’t hail from London a blemish in the stats.
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Megan, 26, triumphed in the bao bun challenge, taking the high-pressure role in just the second episode.
“It appears that Lord Alan Sugar has a bit of a sweet tooth when it comes to picking his next apprentice,” a spokesperson for CasinoAlpha, the online gaming comparison site that carried out the research said. “Having analysed the winners of the past series, Lord Sugar tends to select female business owners as series winners, particularly those that run confectionery or cake businesses.
“And although she was on the losing team during the first task this series, Megan recently stood out as a strong contender, taking the reins as project manager and winning for the girls' team in the latest episode.
“88 per cent - 15 out of 17 - of former winners, won their series with at least one win under their belt as project manager, so this definitely puts her in good stead for the final.”
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Across the past 16 series of the show, there have been 17 winners in total due to a surprise double hiring during the series 13 finale, which aired in 2017.
Of those, they found that female candidates are slightly more likely to be chosen as the series winner, at a ratio of nine female winners, to eight male winners - though evening up those numbers could spell trouble.
Female candidates with food businesses accounted for 29 per cent of the winning cohort - with five out of 17 of the past winners, or 55 per cent of the female successes cutting their teeth that way.
If the theory plays out she would join restaurant owner Yasmina Siadatan from series five, cake company owner Alana Spencer from series 12, confectionery company owner Sarah Lynn from series 13, bakery owner Carina Lepore from series 15 and last year’s champ, Harpreet Kaur, a dessert parlour owner.
Further analysis found 58 per cent, 10 out of 17, past winners lived in London when they took part in the show, suggesting Lord Sugar may have an unconscious bias for candidates that remind him of his humble beginnings in Hackey. Hopefully Hull Trains’ direct link to the capital will more than compensate as she looks to follow Michelle Dewberry’s series two success at the same age.
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