Shropshire businessman Chiles Cartwright hired for latest Apprentice series
Meet 35-year-old Chiles Cartwright – the businessman from Shropshire hoping to catch the eye of Lord Alan Sugar on this year's BBC series of The Apprentice.
He will be going head-to-head with 19 other contestants in a bid to impress Lord Sugar and win a £250,000 investment in his businesses.
Mr Cartwright is currently a company director of a consultancy firm based near Whitchurch.
Before that he worked in management for international consumer brands for nine years.
He describes himself as self-motivated, loyal and committed to everything he does. He also has a passion for martial arts and is a black belt in karate.
He said: "I consider myself one of the most credible candidates in this process. I don't believe that anyone has the wealth and breadth of business acumen that I've gained over the years.
"Team management is one of my best business skills.
"Towards the end I will identify people's strengths and weaknesses and play on them. I will exploit their Achilles heel."
A burlesque dancer, a hypnotherapist with her own matchmaking firm and a pub quiz boss are among the candidates aiming to triumph in this year's series.
They are each hoping to impress Lord Sugar and his advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Nick Hewer to survive the weekly boardroom massacres.
The show will this year feature 20 contestants – four more than normal – but it will last the usual 12 weeks, which means more than one elimination on a number of shows.
Candidates include Jemma Bird, a 26-year-old trained dancer with her own troupe, from Aldridge in the West Midlands.
Also featuring in the series, which begins on Tuesday, is Sarah Dales, 32, who set up a Harley Street hypnotherapy practice in addition to operating a dating firm.
Among the 10 male contestants is Daniel Lassman, 27, who has an events company which runs quizzes and has spent a year as a professional footballer and also a market trader.
The boys also include Steven Ugoalah, a Canadian social worker who spent a year working in the Arctic Circle with remote Inuit communities.
Tasks will range from designing wearable technology, and creating an online video channel.
The hopefuls also include a fitness instructor with her own DVD range – 27-year-old Katie Bulmer-Cooke – and Lindsay Booth, 29, who runs her own swimming academy.
Lord Sugar warns: "On certain occasions I may decide to dispose of more than one candidate at a time. Be prepared."
The series will begin with a double bill next week before settling into a regular 9pm slot.
