From the makers of Dragons’ Den comes The Last Tycoon, a new BBC Three business series for young people which sees the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs going head to head to see who can turn dust to gold in some of the world’s most challenging cities.

Stripped of their wealth and contacts, 12 young tycoons are put into pairs and are dropped as one big group into a different foreign city each week.

Armed with only their business brains, talent and gift of the gab they will be judged purely on how much profit they can turn in five working days.

In a twist on conventional TV grammar the pair who are the most successful each week are sent home to return to their affluent lifestyles.

The remaining entrepreneurs move on to the next city and so it continues for six gruelling weeks until the final pair go head to head. By the end of the series only one will remain… The Last Tycoon.

The tycoons have only five working days in which to make as much money as possible in each city.

They will have very basic accommodation, a very small amount of seedcorn funding – equivalent to that city’s average wage – and a general theme within which they have to construct their business ideas.

Without personal organisers, finance directors, PAs and mountains of capital, the pressure is on to make as much profit as possible.

Controller of BBC Entertainment Commissioning Elaine Bedell says: “This is a real chance to see how some of Britain’s most impressive young entrepreneurial successes cope after being plucked out of their comfort zone and thrown into unknown territories – and it’s being produced by one of the smartest factual entertainment teams in the business.”

Executive Editor of BBC Entertainment, Manchester, Helen Bullough, says: “Expect all the genuine tension and drama of Dragons’ Den, combined with entertaining insights into building a business from scratch in six of the world’s most exciting cities. It’s travelogue injected with massive amounts of jeopardy and rivalry!”