Latest news with #DeanFranklin
Times
02-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Dean Franklin: My last big expense? The £700 tux I wore on The Apprentice
Dean Franklin became the first male winner of The Apprentice since 2017 when he persuaded Alan Sugar to invest £250,000 in his air-conditioning business ADL. The 35-year-old from London beat the pizza firm owner and London School of Economics graduate Anisa Khan in the final of the BBC1 series in April. He's the first tradesman to win the show in nine years. The self-styled 'Daddy Cool' admits he struggled during the 'brutal' interviews in the penultimate episode of the long-running show — especially an awkward exchange about a photo he had posted online as a joke after installing air conditioning units in an adult shop. After being crowned winner, Franklin was accused of not obtaining an F-Gas certificate (required to ensure fluorinated gases used in
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apprentice winner 'not aware' of reported breach
The winner of The Apprentice 2025 said he was "not aware of any ongoing investigation" after reports his air conditioning firm had been operating without the correct licence. Dean Franklin, 35, from Hornchurch, east London, was crowned the latest winner of the long-running BBC reality show on 17 April by Lord Alan Sugar. The Sun newspaper reported he was at "the centre of a rogue trader probe" for failing to provide an F-gas certificate for his business for 17 months, which is required by the Environment Agency. Mr Franklin told BBC Essex: "I'm not aware of any ongoing investigation. I am F-gas registered and have been since 2014." "I wouldn't always believe what you read in the newspapers," he added. F-gases, or fluorinated greenhouse gases, are regulated by the Environment Agency and companies or individuals working with them must be qualified to do so. Coverage in the national media said Mr Franklin's firm, ADL, could be liable for a £200,000 fine if a breach of regulations was to be found. In a statement, an Environment Agency spokesperson said: "We are clear that it is against the law to work with F-gas without the correct qualifications and certification. "We are investigating reports of a potential breach of these regulations." Mr Franklin gave his response to the allegations while taking part in BBC Essex's behind-the-scenes look at this year's run of The Apprentice, featuring candidates from the county including Chisola Chitambala, Liam Snellin and Emma Rothwell. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Chilli vs the chiller: Lord Sugar hires new Apprentice Environment Agency
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why some of The Apprentice 2025 stars are missing from the final
Some of The Apprentice candidates were a no-show when it came to the final on Thursday but did you manage to spot who was missing? When the finalists fight for the £250,000 for their business, they enlist the help of the previous candidates from the series to help them put forward their case to Lord Sugar. Dean Franklin and Anisa Khan rallied up their teams of old friends to help them show off their respective businesses, an air-conditioning company and a pizza company, to the businessman. The two finalists had to pull off a TV advert, new branding, a business name, as well as a final pitch. They even appoint a sub team leader and split into two in the same vein of the earlier tasks in The Apprentice. Although many fan favourites returned to the series, it won't have been lost on viewers that some candidates were not there supporting the finalists and cheering them on to the very last moment. Joining Franklin and Khan to soft launch their businesses were: Amber-Rose Badrudin, Chisola Chitambala, Emma Street, Frederick Afrifa, Jonny Heaver, Jordan Dargan, Liam Snellin, Melica Moshiri, Mia Collins and Nadia Suliaman. Yahoo understands that some candidates are unable to return due to work schedules while others are not invited back by the production team. Not everyone can make the cut for the final two teams so there will always be a few who miss out. It is worth noting that while not everyone made it back for the final, the BBC did organise for all of the 2025 candidates to give their side of the story to Yahoo UK after being fired. It won't be a surprise to those at home that cosmetic dentist Dr Jana Denzel was not present at the final. The Harley Street businessman had quit The Apprentice week five just moments before Lord Sugar was choosing who to fire. The dentist claimed it was what Lord Sugar said to him that led to him sensationally resign from the process. He previously told Yahoo UK: "Task two, you don't see it, but Anisa [Khan] puts me in charge of negotiations. I overcome with objections, and I do all the work there for us to win the task. Task three is my best episode yet but I just get a 10-second camera feature; it was my best in negotiation and Liam put me in charge of doing negotiation there. "So I felt that comment from Lord Sugar was just not accurate or truthful at all and I told myself, 'Look, you know what, a business partnership is like a marriage, you've got to be a great fit for both parties.' "And at that point, if Lord Sugar can't see all the positive contributions I've made throughout the show, when all my candidates can, because it wasn't me that branded myself the king of negotiations, that was other candidates saying it in the boardroom to Lord Sugar, so when he said, 'You call yourself that', I did say, 'I don't, but OK'. "I felt like if [Lord Sugar is] gonna say that 'I've been very quiet and you haven't seen anything from me' when I've been given 100% my whole time, I just don't think me and you are a great fit. So it was at the end of episode four where I already made up my decision to leave the process." Naturally having chosen to leave because the process wasn't right for him, viewers won't have been expecting to see him back on our screens for the BBC show. Former tennis player Max England failed to impress Lord Sugar in the TV selling task, meaning he walked away without investment in his paddle business just weeks before the final. Out of the 2025 candidates missing the BBC show, England made it the furthest in the process. When his time was up on the show, he told Yahoo that an important conversation with Lord Sugar was cut from TV scenes. He previously told Yahoo UK: "In the boardroom by that point as well, we were also talking about business plans a little bit. We're far in the process, he starts looking at the business plans. Lord Sugar is interested in an existing business and that's not something that I provide for him at this stage — to the extent of say Dean or Chisola that were there in the boardroom. "The conversations were really around how exciting the business plans were. For me, it's very much this is the area we need to go into and I'm confident with it, but I don't have an operating business to the same extent as those guys... I can live with that!" Another fan favourite who was missing from the final was Keir Shave who made it to week seven of the process. He made an exit in a double firing alongside Frederick, who was back to help Anisa make her case for Lord Sugar. He previously said of The Apprentice: "I'd definitely recommend going on The Apprentice; it's a unique experience. One thing that I learned is that you've got to go into it not thinking it's gonna be a walk in the park, because I think most people watch the series and think, 'God, these absolute idiots, why are they doing that?' "And I'm gonna be honest — that was me. I was like, 'Jesus, I'm gonna go onto this and I'm gonna win it without even doing anything, right?' Take it with a pinch of salt. There's a lot of things that aren't shown, you do get time constraints, you do get limitations. "The Apprentice is much harder than it looks, so I guess just be ready for that if you're going to go onto it but it's definitely a good experience." The last three who weren't present in the final were the first out of The Apprentice: Emma Rothwell, Aoibheann Walsh and Carlos Brancati. Rothwell previously told Yahoo UK of her time on The Apprentice: "If I could speak to Lord Sugar now, I would say, "Thank you so much for the opportunity. It was so lovely to meet you and I will see you when I'm also a billionaire!" "That makes me sound so bigheaded. I went on to get investment and I came off The Apprentice having the weirdest holiday of my life. But it was phenomenal, such a great experience, I loved it." Walsh also spoke to Yahoo UK when she was fired, previously saying: "What would I say to Lord Sugar now? I'd have said you made a massive mistake! But do you know what, I could have made him millions. I could have made him money whenever he slept. That would have been great — for both of us." Elsewhere, hair transplant consultant Brancati previously told Yahoo UK when he was fired: "I don't know if this was an embarrassment thing because people do like to deflect, but Lord Sugar put that onto Tim (Campbell) in the show. "He said maybe Tim needs a hair transplant, and I was thinking, you know Lord Sugar, you could do with a touch up yourself! To be fair, he has got great hair, but yeah, Lord Sugar could benefit from it, he could enhance his hair, 100%." The Apprentice series 19 is streaming on BBC iPlayer now.
