Lord Sugar, one of the best known British businessman in the world, is announced as the headline speaker of The Business Day 2019; to be held at Bridlington Spa on Friday 7 June, coinciding with the end of Humber Business Week.
Lord Sugar, most famous for his role leading BBC TV’s The Apprentice, founded the hugely successful electronics company, Amstrad, in 1968 and served as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur between 1991 and 2001.
As a child, when his family couldn’t afford to buy him a bicycle, he built one himself from an old bike frame then, by the age of 12, he had started earning his own money working part-time for a local greengrocer.
On leaving school he became a statistician for the Ministry of Education but, finding it boring, he unleashed his burgeoning, entrepreneurial skill by selling car aerials from a dilapidated van.
He founded Amstrad (Alan Michael Sugar Trading) when he was just 21 years old, taking it public on the London Stock Exchange in 1980. The company saw significant growth during the 80s, leveraging the surge in demand for personal computers and later, the production of set-top decoder boxes for satellite television provider, Sky.
He made his first appearance on the BBC reality show, The Apprentice in 2005. Appearing as himself, he sets business tasks for participants, or candidates, then acts as overall judge of the results with the least successful hearing his now notorious catchphrase, “You’re fired” and leaving the programme. The winner in more recent seasons receives a cash investment from Lord Sugar for the business idea they pitch during the run of the show.
He was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours list and was awarded two Doctorates of Science from City University in 1998 and Brunel University in 2005. He became a life peer in 2009 becoming Lord Sugar.
Lord Sugar will host a question and answer session with the audience at The Business Day thus creating a unique and interactive element to the day which honours the event’s promise to provide delegates with a day of discovery and insight.
Gyles Brandreth has already been announced as host and speaker of The Business Day this year and additional speakers will be added to the line-up in due course.
Andrew Aldis, general manager of Bridlington Spa said, “I’m still pinching myself that Lord Sugar is to be the headline speaker of this year’s event. I had to check the confirmation twice to make sure I was reading it correctly.
“Since 2017, in producing and delivering The Business Day, we have strived for quality in our speaker line-up and the delivery of the event. This announcement serves to only reinforce the great reputation we continue to earn and demonstrates to the business community that Bridlington Spa is a force to be reckoned with in the business event arena.”
Stephen Parnaby, deputy chairman of Humber LEP said, “It’s hard to imagine finding a more prestigious and appropriate speaker to headline this high-quality event. The name Lord Sugar is synonymous with business and The Business Day is the East Riding of Yorkshire and Hull celebrating business at its best.”
The Business Day is a networking event billed as a tailored day of discovery and insight and is aimed at a business audience. It has established itself as the traditional end to the Humber Business Week. It is produced fully in-house by Bridlington Spa on behalf of Humber LEP.
Previous speakers have been Karren Brady (Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge), John Simpson CBE, Alexander Armstrong, Naga Munchetty, Josh Littlejohn and Sir Bob Geldof.
Tickets to The Business Day are available from thebusinessday.com or by calling Bridlington Spa on (01262) 678258 (option 1) and cost £125 each or ten for £1,000.
