From every corner of the country,

taking their first steps on a life-changing journey,

Britain's youngest aspiring entrepreneurs.

To underestimate me would be the most silly thing somebody could do.

I may look like a five foot one blonde angel, but inside

I have the heart of a lioness, who will take on

anybody in her opposition.

I know that I'm a natural leader.

Men are like dogs, you have to show them who their boss is,

and then they'll follow.

I think my drive and determination comes from the fact my parents

didn't want me to have a life like they had.

Because they've always struggled,

I wanted my own money and my independence.

Thousands applied.

12 were chosen.

My biggest achievement in life would be my GCSE results.

I managed to get 11 A-stars, which I was naturally quite pleased with.

I started my first business at the age of nine,

so I really do think that it's just grown on me,

and become a natural instinct.

Waking up in the morning and owning a business

are the same thing for me.

They'll battle it out for the ultimate kick start

to a career in business -

an investment worth £25,000.

But to succeed, they'll have to impress the boss - Lord Sugar.

I know everything. I've seen everything, I've done everything.

East End boy done good, he left school at 16.

Over 40 years on, he's still at the top of his game,

with a vast business empire.

Has everybody signed on to the fact that this task

was all about making money?

He'll put these budding teenage tycoons through

a rigorous selection process.

I'm sweating like a pig at the butcher's!

Is there any way that you can possibly push the price down?

Those sort of comments are poor, from a project manager.

12 candidates.

Bottom line is, you totally went off the rails, here.

You're acting like an idiot. You kept shouting over him.

Guys, let it go, let it go, seriously.

- Eight weeks. - Well done!

- That's pants. - That's a massive problem.

I was really angry, do you know what I mean?

Don't dodge the question, did you lose control of the task?

One winner.

With regret, you're fired.

You're fired.

You're fired.

10am.

The boardroom.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

- Good morning. - ALL: Good morning, Lord Sugar.

Welcome to my boardroom.

You've done tremendously well to get here, today,

out of thousands and thousands of people.

In a funny way,

I feel quite privileged to have you in front of me,

because, so far, none of you have walked in with your smartphones.

For the next eight weeks,

the only way you're going to be using phones is for business.

Not for playing Angry Birds.

Because that'll make me angry,

and you don't want to make me angry, I can assure you.

It's never been harder than now for young people, like you,

to try and find yourself a job.

You pick up the newspapers, and as you can see,

there are lots of companies going to the wall,

there's even countries on the verge of bankruptcy.

I believe that it is young entrepreneurs, like you,

that will bring the prosperity back to our country.

Now, here's a little warning.

I don't like teacher's pets, and I don't like school bullies.

This is about the real world.

I'm not making you sit exams, the only grade you'll get here is F,

for fired.

Now, I might remind you of your granddad.

Here's the main difference.

You're lucky if your granddad gives you

a fiver in an envelope at Christmas time.

I'm going to give you £25,000 to use to further your business ambitions.

That's what you're playing for here.

Right, so, now, I've got your CVs here, so let me see.

What have we got, amongst you lot?

Maximilian Joseph Anthony Semasko Grodecki.

No-one's going to hack your username, then, are they?

I'll call you Max. What kind of things have you been dabbling in?

I run sort of a little mini enterprise, which deals

on one hand with vintage clothes, and on the other hand with collectables.

Good.

- David. - Yeah? - My God.

Well. Whoa. What a CV we've got here.

You're the chair of this,

the chair of that, the chair of something else.

- Of course. - You're the chair of everything.

Let's hope your colleagues don't just sit on you. Well done.

They won't.

- That's a nice outfit you've got on there, sunshine. - Thank you.

Yeah, very nice outfit on, there.

- I hear you're into fashion, is that right? - I am.

Nothing wrong with that. They all start young.

Stella McCartney, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior - who are you?

Patrick McDowell.

Patrick McDowell, actually, has a very nice ring to it.

A Patrick McDowell.

You might make me a suit, one day.

- Hopefully. - Yeah.

And, Maria, what's your moneymaking skills?

Well, basically, I'm not going to beat around the bush,

I'm 17 years old, I'm not an established entrepreneur,

but I really pick up on ideas.

If I see something, if something needs done, I do it.

That's, like, my work ethic.

You said you're 17 years old, so don't expect too much of me.

Actually, that's exactly when I started my business.

When I was 17 years old.

Whatever you see now, whatever I've ever done,

started from those little acorns.

So, there's nothing wrong with being 17, in fact,

I'm a bit surprised you haven't started already.

OK. So, now, let's get down to business.

Now, your first task is a very, very interesting one,

and it's all about rags to riches.

Now, I've got you a tonne each of discarded clothes.

And your task is to go through them, pick the good stuff,

and sell it in the marketplace.

And the team that comes in with the biggest profit will win,

and the team that loses, at least one of you will be fired.

I'm going to make it simple for myself, initially.

I'm going to have the teams as boys and girls.

Karren will be following the boys' team,

and Nick will be following the girls' team.

I've got you a very, very nice house.

I don't want any trouble from the neighbours.

- So, everything clear? - ALL: Yes, Lord Sugar.

Yeah? Right, good. OK, well, off you go to the house.

Go and get to know each other, and I'll see you back here

in this boardroom, in a few days' time,

and we'll find out which team has won.

- OK? - ALL: Thank you, Lord Sugar.

- You can't learn business from a textbook. - No, no, no. You can't.

Business Studies teachers all around England

will disagree with you, right now.

'I'm like a firework.'

I'm fun, I'm colourful, I'm creative,

and once I get going, there's no stopping me.

I think that power just gravitates towards me.

- Fair enough. - Yeah.

'Not only am I academic,'

I'm social, I'm economical,

I'm philosophical.

Everything that you can think of, I am it.

- These houses are... God. - Unbelievable.

Let's get the biggest room.

Hampstead, north London.

Home, for the next eight weeks, a luxury mansion.

Let's go, let's go!

We've got a walk-in wardrobe!

- Push. - Thank you very much.

Games room.

'I think it inspires you, coming to'

a house like this, to think that,

one day, I could own something like this.

But for now, it's down to business.

First, both teams need a name.

I was thinking of something like "Platinum".

My only concern with Platinum is that it just sounds a bit

cliche, like we're the best, like, platinum.

I've had an idea, but it's a bit strange, it's Latin,

and it's called "Ex Nihilo"

and it means something from nothing.

- Yeah, no, I like Platinum. - I think we should go for Platinum.