The Apprentice (British TV series) series 7

The seventh series of British reality television series The Apprentice was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, from 10 May to 17 July 2011. Due to a qualifying match for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League set to be aired live on 20 July, the final episode was given an earlier broadcast date to avoid schedule clashing.
After six years of offering a six-figure job as a prize, this series was the first to offer a £250,000 business investment. The change in prize led to a revamp of the series format, with the Interviews stage being the final task, rather than the usual business task. The interviews were also extended to include a scrutiny of each candidate's business plans. Alongside the standard twelve episodes, with the first two airing on consecutive days, two specials were aired alongside this series – "The Final Five" on 7 July; and a series exclusive, "How to Get Hired" on 15 July.
Of the sixteen candidates who took part, Tom Pellereau was crowned the series' winner. Excluding the specials, the series averaged around 8.80 million viewers during its broadcast, and is the most watched series of The Apprentice to date.

Series overview

Following the end of the sixth series, Alan Sugar began to question the overall format of The Apprentice, especially after the controversy caused by series 5 winner, Stella English, who slated the legitimacy of the winning prize after becoming disillusioned with her new role under Alan Sugar. Therefore, the winning candidate would now receive a £250,000 investment towards a new business they wished to start, with Sugar taking a 50% stake in exchange for providing guidance and support, along with supplying a team of experts to help develop the winning candidate's plan.
The change in format was finalised during the processing of applications for the seventh series, between April and July 2011, with Sugar accepting the changes to remain with the programme. For those applying for a place in the programme, the change in prize came as a surprise, as many still expected it to be the six-figure job, effectively leading those who became part of the final line-up having to come up with business plans before filming began. Furthermore, the Interviews stage was extended to include scrutiny of candidates' business plans, alongside the usual questions about their background, work experience and performance on tasks. The change in format also led to the Interviews stage being the final task overall, with the series winner decided in the conclusion of that episode. Following the last series, two of the interviewers – Bordan Tkachuk and Alan Watts – decided to leave the programme, with Mike Soutar and Matthew Riley assuming their roles. The sixteen candidates who were to compete in the series were revealed on 3 May 2011, a week before the series premiered. The team names for this series were Logic and Venture.
This series is notable for featuring a task in which the winning team was not given a prize, since the winning team had failed to perform to a high enough standard. One candidate established the programme's record for the most wins, both consecutive and total. Of those who took part, Tom Pellereau would become the eventual winner, launching a range of mani/pedi products with his new investment. Susan Ma, the series' runner-up, would later receive an investment offer from Sugar, putting it towards creating her skincare company Tropic in 2012.

Performance chart

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Episodes

Ratings

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.

Episode no.	Airdate	Viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
1	10 May 2011	8.79	4
2	11 May 2011	8.30	7
3	18 May 2011	8.10	5
4	25 May 2011	8.62	4
5	1 June 2011	7.59	1
6	8 June 2011	8.62	3
7	15 June 2011	8.40	5
8	22 June 2011	8.78	2
9	29 June 2011	8.98	1
10	6 July 2011	9.42	1
11	13 July 2011	9.73	2
12	17 July 2011	10.24	1

Specials

Episode	Airdate	Viewers	BBC One weekly ranking
The Final Five	7 July 2011	5.29	12
How To Get Hired	15 July 2011