British businessman and presenter of BBC’s The Apprentice Alan Sugar will be among the headline speakers at the Pendulum Summit in January. Having left school in Hackney at the age of 16, Sugar started selling electric goods out of a van he bought for £50. In 1968, he founded Amstrad and he is now said to be worth an estimated £1 billion.
A former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur FC, he sold Amstrad to Sky in 2007. His other companies include Amscreen digital media and property investment firm Amsprop. Until 2014, he was chairman of Viglen, a manufacturer specialising in computers, networks and solutions. In 2000, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his services to British business.
He has two honorary doctorate of science degrees, awarded by City and Brunel universities.
Having sat on the Business Council for Britain and fronted a campaign promoting the benefits of apprenticeships, Sugar, 72, was named as the government’s Enterprise Champion in 2009 and entered the House of Lords as Baron Sugar of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney. He is well known for fronting all 14 series of BBC One’s The Apprentice.
Sugar is a philanthropist for Great Ormond Street Hospital and Jewish Care charities.
