Who is Linda Plant? Meet the fearsome Apprentice interviewer

Lord Sugar has recruited Mike Soutar, Claudine Collins, Linda Plant and of course, Claude Littner to give our candidates and their proposed business plans a thorough grilling.

But who is one of our newer recruits, Linda Plant? Here’s all you need to know…

Who is Linda Plant?

Having joined The Apprentice for the interviewing process in 2015, Leeds-born Linda describes herself on her website as an “inspiration to women worldwide.”

Linda’s known Lord Sugar (Alan to her) more than twenty years, crossing paths as she built her business from scratch.

She began with what she describes as “humble beginnings” on a market stall selling clothes, before opening her own retail shops and wholesalers. This snowballed into importing clothes from Hong Kong, at which point she founded clothing brand Honeysuckle and was crowned Northern Business’ Woman of the Year.

After initial success, Linda unveiled a range of winter knits at a show in London’s Olympia and admitted: “If one could drown in success, then I would say I was nearly guilty of that”.

Linda eventually floated Honeysuckle, retiring from the fashion business some years ago. After getting into property, the savvy businesswoman found success dressing the properties ahead of sale.

Speaking about being an interviewer on The Apprentice, Linda told RadioTimes.com in 2015: “My role is to advise Lord Sugar and to make sure that his £250,000 is going to the best possible candidate. Therefore, my role is to be sure that that candidate has the right ethos.

"I’m looking for any weaknesses. You have to be tough in business: firm but fair. You know, a people person. I’ll be digging to expose a weakness so that Lord Sugar doesn’t make a mistake.”

You can follow Linda on Twitter here.

The Apprentice final is on Wednesday 18th December at 9pm on BBC One