Lord Sugar has hired Carina Lepore of South London as his new 2019 apprentice. He will be going into business with the Artisan baker early next year. She will use Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment to begin building an empire of bakeries.
The thirty-one-year-old currently manages Dough Artisan Bakehouse in Herne Hill, where her father is employed as head chef. The young Mum said that she will attempt to open one of her bakeries in every High Street across the UK.
Carina was given the nerve-wracking task of re-branding and pitching her business to 250 people in the show’s final. The project involved creating new television adverts and marketing for the business. She beat 32-year-old Scarlett Allen-Horton, who is a recruitment consultant from the West Midlands.
The show’s winner impressed Lord Sugar after she ended up on the winning team in 9 out of 10 of the show’s episodes. She also pulled through with the lead in all three circumstances where she was managing a team. Lord Sugar acknowledged the high demand for food outlets which the UK market was facing. Carina currently owns a bakery in Herne Hill, South East London, and plans to open one or two further in 2020.
The show faced much speculation as drama from the last series made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Contestant Lottie Lion was informed by the BBC that comments she made to other contestants via a WhatsApp group were out of line. She sent a text to Lubna Farhan, which read: ‘shut up Gandhi.’
Reflecting on her win, Carina said: “To get told ‘You’re hired’ by Lord Sugar, it was an incredible feeling.
“Me and Scarlett said it the whole way through – we have got massive respect for each other. She is a great businesswoman and she was tough competition for me. I knew that.”
