Karren Brady Brings a New Style to the Apprentice

Times are changing on the hit BBC show The Apprentice. Not only has Lord Alan Sugar taken on a government role as the new Enterprise Tsar to the Prime Minister, but Margaret Mountford has resigned. She will be replaced by the "First Lady of Football" and former Birmingham City managing director, Karren Brady.
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<br>Who is Karren Brady and what makes her such a corporate success? Chantél du Plooy takes a look at Karren's career and the role she is expected to play on The Apprentice Series 6.
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<br>The new Margaret
<br>With Lord Sugar appointed as a Labour peer, the BBC Trust has called for a rescheduling of the programme. It wouldn't be appropriate for The Apprentice to give additional media coverage to the Labour party when a general election is due. As a result, viewers will have to wait until July or August for the show to air.
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<br>Sadly the audience will also need to make peace with the absence of Margaret Mountford, who alongside Nick Hewer advised Lord Sugar since the show started five years ago.
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<br>The 56-year-old corporate lawyer was a natural. She played her role as Lord Sugar's "eyes and ears" flawlessly, knowing just when to lift a brow, roll her eyes or speak.
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<br>In the Guardian, Kira Cochrane wrote that Margaret "combines a steely core with acute moral and business judgment."
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<br>Before and during her time on The Apprentice, Margaret didn't care for fame and that is what made her such a keeper. She left the show after finishing the fifth series to focus on her PhD studies in papyrology, leaving an extremely important role vacant.
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<br>Before news broke that Karren Brady would be her successor, many experts set their own characteristics for the "new Margaret".
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<br>Tim Teeman, arts and entertainment editor of the Times, said that The Apprentice could risk losing its mystique if they opted to appoint someone glamorous to replace Margaret.
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<br>Daily Telegraph television critic Mary Evans added: "It's quintessentially British to have the slightly older woman. We don't do glamour in Britain; we do sensible, regal and sound. We have the candidates for eye-candy and it's important that they are looking across the boardroom at the craggiest faces."
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<br>Ironically enough, apart from the very attractive 40-year-old Karren Brady, the other candidates vying for the position were equally enchanting. These included 39-year-old the Ultimo Gel bra founder, Michelle Mone and 37-year-old entrepreneur, Martha Lane Fox.
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<br>"As tough as they come"
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<br>Karren Brady, the current vice-chairman of West Ham United, might already be familiar to The Apprentice fans after she featured in a series of one-off appearances. She also led a team on Comic Relief does The Apprentice and rose over £750,000.
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<br>However, Karren's media career began at the age of 18 when she started working at advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi. She moved on to become an Account Executive at London Broadcasting Company (LBC) where her paths crossed with publisher David Sullivan.
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<br>Sullivan made her a director at his company when she was only 20-years-old. Three years later, she took over the management of Birmingham City Football Club. Although Karren didn't know much about the sport, she directed the company back into profit. She became the youngest Managing Director of a PLC in the UK and improved the average gate of the Club from 6,000 to 30,000.
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<br>When she left Birmingham City after sixteen years, many were disappointed. Dough Ellis, former chairman of rivals Aston Villa told the Birmingham Post: "I've a great deal of respect for her business acumen and what she has done for the football club. I used to sit next to her in FA meetings and got to know her well.
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<br>"She's as tough as they come and it's a huge loss for Birmingham City Football Club. She'll be missed enormously."
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<br>Unlike Margaret, Karren enjoyed a lot of media attention during her career. She hosted her own TV show, Brady Bunch, presented Central Weekend Live and wrote a string of columns for UK newspapers.
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<br>She was also awarded Cosmopolitan magazine's Woman of the Year in 2006, named Business Woman of the Year in 2007 and won the NatWest Every Woman Award in 2008. In between all her professional duties, she is also a wife and mother of two.
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<br>While Karren Brady doesn't have Margaret's mystique or matriarchal image, she does bring a wealth of experience and business smarts to the table, along with lashings of energy, wit and style.
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<br>About the Author: Chantel is a regular contributor of career advice and <a href="http://www.careers-jobs.eu/" rel="nofollow">jobs</a> news for leading UK Job Board http://www.careersandjobsuk.com <a href="http://www.careersandjobsuk.com" rel="nofollow">Link text</a>
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