BBC star Claude Littner reveals the story behind his high-stakes career

Claude Littner, the mercilessly tough interviewer on BBC’s hit series The Apprentice, rose to the challenge of being grilled for a change, by being interviewed in front of a live audience.

Over 300 students, staff and members of the public attended In Conversation with Claude Littner, hosted by the University of West London (UWL), where Claude discussed his new book Single-Minded: My Life in Business and divulged his life story; inspiring the audience with confessions from his school days through to the stories behind his prolific business career which has earned him a reputation as one of Britain’s business icons.

The interview, conducted by former BBC Correspondent Torin Douglas, MBE, began by uncovering the real story from behind the scenes of The Apprentice, and went on to explore Claude’s success spanning several high profile companies. Further highlights of the night included Claude sharing how, from being condemned to the back of the classroom in his school days, he came to graduate from UWL; later bestowing the University with the honour of associating his name with their Business School.

The live audience also had their opportunity to grill Claude further on a range of issues, which was then followed by a book signing with guests queuing for nearly two hours for time with the star of the evening.

A pupil from a local school who attended with his father said, ‘Claude was so inspirational and such a generous man – I didn’t expect him to do a book signing and take questions at the same time. It was lovely to talk to him and great to see a different side to him than the one we know from The Apprentice - a really polite and nice person who encouraged me to follow what I enjoy in order to achieve success.’

UWL’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost for Health, Professor Anthony Woodman commented, ‘We knew this event would be special and this has surpassed all of our expectations. Claude is a great inspiration to us all and UWL has the privilege to be beneficiaries of his time and support through The Claude Littner Business School.’

Audience member Pete Savage, a Digital Marketing Content Co-ordinator for Sainsbury's Entertainment On Demand, said, ‘It was a lovely evening. The talk was very enlightening and humorous, with lots of good advice to students and business people alike. Claude was a very entertaining interviewee, and Torin was skilful in engaging him in great conversation and reminiscing about his life. I look forward to attending similar events at UWL.’

The event, which took place on Tuesday 01 November 2016, was part of UWL’s Public Lecture Series which runs throughout the year.

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About the University of West London
The University of West London (UWL) has a reputation for high quality education closely linked to employment; 96% of our graduates are in employment within six months of graduating. * Based in the heart of one of the UK’s most successful business regions, the University has highly qualified staff with a wealth of experience in their respective disciplines and strong connections to their industries. The University is designed to equip students with both the academic knowledge and practical skills to succeed in their chosen careers. In the National Student Survey (NSS) 2016 the University was rated Best University in London for Student Satisfaction** The recently published The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017 saw UWL jump 37 places to No. 84 – the biggest increase in the UK.

About The Claude Littner Business School (CLBS)
CLBS prides itself for being a Business School that is for Business and were among the first British institutions to offer a degree in Business Studies. Their educators have an enviable blend of theoretical knowledge and real-world experience; with over 85% of the faculty holding a doctorate qualification complemented by over 100 years of combined industry experience.

About Claude Littner
Claude Littner has had a very varied career and been involved in many companies across a number of industries and geographic locations. These have included start-up, AIM listed and fully quoted companies. For much of his career he has been involved in corporate turnarounds, working closely with Banks and Venture Capitalists. He was deputy Chairman of Blacks Leisure plc, Chairman of ASCO plc and owner of Powerleague plc.
Since the early 1990’s, Claude has worked alongside Lord Alan Sugar, most notably as a Director of Amstrad plc, Chairman and Chief Executive of Amstrad International and Dancall, Chief Executive of Tottenham Hotspur, and Chairman of Viglen. He currently Chairs Lord Sugar’s companies, and is recently best known for his tough stance with contestants on BBC's 'The Apprentice'.

For more information, please visit www.uwl.ac.uk or follow @UniWestLondon on Twitter.

* These are the latest figures according to Employment Performance Indicators (EPI) released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency HESA in 2016.
** Compared to other multi-faculty higher education institutions

University of West London
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Yeasmina.rahman@uwl.ac.uk
0208 231 2925

This release was published on openPR.