Nick Hewer is TTJ Awards host

Nick Hewer, Lord Sugar’s co-star on TV’s The Apprentice and a successful businessman in his own right, will be host and guest speaker at this year’s TTJ Awards.

Mr Hewer ran his own PR company, which became one of the leaders in the field, representing a range of major clients, from international corporations to the secretariat of the Aga Khan.

His first contact with Lord Sugar came in the 1980s, when his firm won the contract to represent his Amstrad electronics business. He was subsequently given responsibility for media handling for all Lord Sugar’s business and charitable activities and went on to play an integral part in Amstrad’s management structure for the next 20 years.

After selling his business, Mr Hewer moved to France, but was then persuaded by Lord Sugar to appear with him on The Apprentice, with his former boss offering to negotiate his fees for him.

“He cajoled me in a muscular sort of way,” he said. “And having Alan Sugar negotiate on my behalf with the BBC was fun, after fighting him tooth and nail over my fees for years!”

This year’s series of The Apprentice starts on Wednesday on BBC1.

Besides starring in The Apprentice, Mr Hewer has taken the role of host on Channel 4’s perennial Countdown. He has also become a business and motivational speaker, addressing and hosting events for major corporations and other organisations.

“We’ve had some tremendous awards hosts and guest speakers over the years and I know Nick Hewer will be up there among them,” said TTJ editor Mike Jeffree.

“I’m sure he’ll have some fascinating anecdotes to tell about his career, but also some interesting and important business messages, especially on marketing and the underlying theme of The Apprentice, the importance to an industry of attracting new young talent and providing effective training, which are both key to the timber sector.”

The TTJ Awards take place on Friday September 14 at The Savoy in London.

For details and tickets contact Carol Stratford on 01795 589236, cstratford@ttjonline.com.