The "dumbed down" view of business on BBC TV's The Apprentice could lead to a spate of poorly run companies, a entrepreneurial expert has claimed.
Guy Kingston, who made his fortune in Russia after founding a private mail operator, said the popular programme does not present a true picture of what it is really like to run a business.
"I fear that some real entrepreneurs will be put off by this programme as it deals with sales and marketing and short-term wins every week and little else," he said. "It is a "dumbing down" of business and giving the wrong signals to young entrepreneurs.
"If the charts are full of awful music because of shows like X-Factor that is not going to damage the country but if in a few year's time the country is full of poor businesses because of The Apprentice then we are in trouble."
Kingston, who now advises entrepreneurs through his Mind Your Own Business podcast, added that it is "frightening" that 20,000 people applied for the show which is regularly watched by around 6m viewers.
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