Lord Sugar: The Apprentice shake-up will show it's 'easy' to start a business

The format change to TV's The Apprentice which will reward the winner with funding to start their own company will demonstrate how simple it is to start a business, Lord Sugar has said. 

Candidates for the new series of the popular BBC show, which begins on 10 May, were unveiled on Tuesday. In a twist to the programme the overall winner will receive funding of up to £250,000 to start a joint business venture with Lord Sugar rather than becoming an employee of the peer as in the previous six series. 

According to the BBC, the straight-talking entrepreneur said that the new format will show viewers how "easy" it is to start a business. 

"We've got to stop all this moaning about banks not lending money," he explained. "I wanted to show the general public that you can start businesses from scratch. And this moaning culture that I refer to is something that needs to be disbanded."

Adding how simple he finds it to make a profit even when have limited startup capital, the business mogul commented: "That's the message really, that on a Monday morning you go out with £250 and you can come back with £700."

Running the actual business won't be a piece of cake though. Addressing the candidates in the first episode of the new series, Lord Sugar will say: "Don't expect me to be doing all the work because I'm not looking for a sleeping partner. I'm not Saint Alan, the patron saint of bloody losers - you can look at it as a bit of an uncivil partnership, so to speak."