After 12 gruelling weeks battling it out against Britain’s brightest business hopefuls, Simon Ambrose, a 27-year-old internet entrepreneur from London, has been named as Sir Alan Sugar’s third Apprentice.

Simon walks away with the prize of a six-figure salaried job with the self-made multi-millionaire and boss of Amstrad, Sir Alan Sugar.

In the concluding episode, screened last night on BBC One, Simon beat off stiff competition from 36-year-old pharmaceutical sales manager Kristina Grimes, by managing a team of fired apprentices in the toughest task yet – they had to come up with ideas for a replacement building to Sir Alan’s recently acquired £120million IBM building on the South Bank.

Although some said Simon’s design looked like a flaccid-looking phallic symbol, he won over a room full of architects and property gurus during his presentation. Sir Alan later credited Simon with delivering a presentation about his building design which had “hard-nosed business people … eating out of his hands.”

Meanwhile, Kristina failed to impress with an Angel Of The North-style property that architects said was redolent of Thirties fascist architecture.

Sir Alan dropped the bombshell news by telling the pair: “It’s a very difficult decision. There’s only one job. I’ve got someone who’s very experienced. I’ve also got someone who’s enthusiastic, a great talker and willing to learn.”

He told Simon: “Bloody old fool that I am, I’m going to take that risk, you’re hired.”