MP asks Apprentice guru to provide economic direction

Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis said last night that he hoped to enlist the help of the Labour Peer to advise him on how to assist the town’s current economic regeneration project.

Mr Jarvis, who will today act as chairman of the Labour backbench Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, will be joined by Lord Sugar, who was offered a peerage by Gordon Brown in 2009.

The Barnsley MP said he planned to ask the multi-millionaire a series of questions about skills, profile, infrastructure and workforce in Barnsley.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Jarvis said: “Lord Sugar is one of the truly great British success stories.

“He has decades of first class business experience and expertise which I hope to harness and use as we look to build the next chapter in Barnsley’s history.”

“Lord Sugar grew up on the streets of Clapton which are not too dissimilar to those our children in Barnsley are growing up on now.

“He wasn’t from a well-off family but through sheer determination and hard work, he has built a multi-million pound business empire.

“Lord Sugar is a great example to our youngsters and my hope is that the example he sets will encourage as many of our children as possible, to go on and achieve their full potential.”

Lord Sugar made his millions with his company Amstrad, which he set up after starting out selling low-cost electronics from the back of a van in east London.

He sold the firm in 2007 to Sky after it became one of the biggest manufacturers of the satellite TV firm’s set-top boxes.

He will address the committee at 5pm today before answering questions from its members.