BIOGRAPHY

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'You're Fired!' is now a national catchphrase, thanks to Sir Alan Sugar's spirited performance on the hit BBC series The Apprentice. Personifying the East End lad made good, Sir Alan has become Britain's favourite stroppy boss.

The son of a tailor, Sir Alan grew up in Hackney and left school at sixteen. He started out selling car aerials and electrical goods out of a van he bought with his savings of a hundred pounds. At the age of twenty one, he founded his electronics company, Amstrad and within twelve years the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange. The breakthrough products were the personal computers which he manufactured for the home market. At its peak, Amstrad achieved a Stock Market value of £1.2 billion.

Although the fortunes of the company waned somewhat from their peak at the end of the eighties, Sir Alan himself continued to prosper, with business and property deals. He bought into Tottenham Hotspurs football club and spent nine years as chairman. He now also owns an executive airline, an IT company and a property firm. Exactly forty years after founding Amstrad, Sir Alan stepped down as chairman in a planned move that resulted from the company's acquisition by Sky.

Sir Alan's work for charity includes fundraising for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. He holds two honorary Doctorates of Science and was knighted for services to business.

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