A 24-year-old doctor who plans to open a high-street chain of cosmetic treatment clinics has become the latest winner of BBC1's reality show The Apprentice, despite Lord Sugar's fear that the industry might be "completely alien" to him.
Leah Totton, who works in the accident and emergency department of a London hospital, convinced the Labour peer to invest pounds 250,000 in her business in the final episode of The Apprentice yesterday.
Belfast-born Totton, 24, beat her rival, Luisa Zissman, below, the owner of a cupcake shop in St Albans, Hertfordshire, whose plan for a wholesale bakery utensils business turned out to be a little half-baked.
Totton said: "To have Lord Sugar show this faith in me is absolutely unbelievable. It's amazing. I had much less experience than the other candidates in business coming into the process and I really can't believe that I have got this far and that I've actually won it. I'm the first person in my family to have even gone to university so it's such a massive achievement for the whole family."
Totton emerged triumphant despite concerns among industry experts that she was misjudging the market for cosmetic treatment, and despite some worries about her brand name, NIKS ("skin" backwards). Sugar, who made his fortune in electronics and property, expressed concern over the ethics of the business and the fallout if something went wrong.
"It's a bit of a nasty world," he told Totton. "If you can imagine a dartboard and I am the bullseye. This business - it's as if I am leaning out there with my chin waiting to get a smack on it. I am 66 years old. Do I need another load of aggravation?"
But in the end the prospect of "extremely lucrative" returns was enough to win over the business guru. "The devil in me is wanting to take a risk," Sugar said.
Totton aims to sell nine of her clinics for pounds 8m in year-five of her business scheme, earning Sugar, who will take a 50% stake in the business, a pounds 3.75m return on his investment. Sugar has already persuaded her to change the name of the company to "Dr Leah" - an idea she dismissed during the final - and has suggested she add a skincare range under the same name.
"I would have preferred if it wasn't my name . . . but from a brand perspective it is the best thing to do," she said yesterday.
Last night's final involved each of the two remaining contestants, who remained from an initial group of 16 people, devising a brand, a website and a launch event for their respective companies. Totton promised a "professional, ethical service" which would offer customers just three treatments, namely anti-wrinkle injections, facial fillers and skin peels.
Sugar ruminated on the experiences of an "array of friends of a similar age to me . . . who have had these treatments", but the businessman, who has had surgery around his eyes, did not offer any personal testimonies on the matter.
Karren Brady, Sugar's righthand woman on the show, who is vice-chairman of West Ham United football club, described Totton as an "incredibly bright young woman".
Brady said: "She really does know what she is talking about. She has shown she can take a gift that she has and use it to create a business. That shows a really unique skill."
Totton, who only found out she had won the series this week, said she would not be giving up her medical career. "I am extremely passionate about continuing in medical academia," she said.
"I have spoken to Lord Sugar. It's been seven years of work so far and I don't want to walk away from that. I will continue to do my masters and continue with medical research while I set up the company over the next few years.
"I am a young woman, I am still in my 20s, and I am a fully qualified doctor. Hopefully in the years to come I will be able to return to my NHS career. It is my vocation.".
Sam Wollaston's review, g2
Captions:
Faith in facials
Lord Sugar hopes that Leah Totton will give him a pounds 3.7m return on his investment in her high-street clinics Photograph: Ian West/PA