A business graduate from Aldenham will be among the candidates in the forthcoming series of The Apprentice.

Aldenham girl Ella Jade Bitton, of Hillfield Lane, will face tough competition from 19 other candidates throughout the BBC One series as she tries to land a top job with Lord Alan Sugar.

A business woman at heart, by the age of 16 Ella Jade already had her own interior design concession in Harrods that soon began attracting major celebrity clients by the score.

The 23-year-old entrepreneur also co-founded the National Student Apprentice, which became the UK’s national competition for universities around the country including Cambridge, LSE and Warwick.

She said: “When I graduated I was just so caught up in the Apprentice buzz, because of the work through the National Student Apprentice, so I just thought – well, why not.

“It’s all part of the experience as well, so it has been a really exciting challenge.”

Hardworking and ambitious, Ella Jade says she is enthusiastic about pitching and marketing, also adding presenting and negotiating to her list of top qualities, and was keen to develop her skills on the show.

Speaking to the Borehamwood Times, she said she is really looking forward to see how the first show has come out. She said: “It’s been a long time coming and obviously I am very excited to see the edit next week, so that will be great. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Although not able to divulge any information as to who will win this year’s series, she says her next step is to continue developing her successful design brand in the hope of becoming a household name.

With new links in the television industry, she is now working on several programme commissions to com¬bine the business side with performance in front of the camera.

The series starts on Tuesday next week on BBC One at 9pm.