The University of Nottingham

Nottingham graduate Chris Bates will be a familiar face to fans of BBC’s The Apprentice. But what happens after the boardroom door finally shuts? Alumni Relations Officer Jenny Wardrop finds out…

So come on then, what was it like?

“Nothing really prepares you for the experience of going from an unknown to being recognised in the street in such a short space of time. It’s been utterly surreal. I was a big fan of the show anyway so getting the chance to go on it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. People recognise me, especially in London, but I don’t get too many unkind remarks although somebody did come up to me on a train and say I looked like her cat. She then showed me a photo of the cat to prove it. I didn’t really see the resemblance myself…”

What’s it been like for your family?

By and large they enjoyed it. They’ve been very supportive. My sister and my mum were quite big fans of the show but my dad really hadn’t seen much of it before I was on it so it’s been a learning curve for him. They all had to go on TV themselves for the final five show which they do and I think they quite enjoyed the experience. Like me, they’ve been learning about how the media world and how publicity works as we’ve gone along.

Do the programme makers help you deal with the sudden fame?

To a certain extent but nothing can prepare you because until you start to experience these situations you’re not really sure how you’re going to react. You do get some limited publicity and PR training and advice so you don’t get completely thrown to the wolves. It can be daunting and slightly overwhelming at times but it’s also fun.

Did you have any time to relax during the filming of the show?

“There were a few opportunities to relax and, contrary to what it seems like on the TV show, where we all hate each other, the reality was that everyone got on very well and there were a few good laughs along the way. There’s probably about 20 hours of footage for a single show so obviously the juiciest bits are the ones that make the edit.”

How did you feel about some of the more personal criticisms, of your tone of voice, for example?

“‘Like a low-flying bomber coming into land’ was their description. It’s one of those things. You sign up for it so you can’t complain too much. It’s weird really, in a reality TV show you’re not a fully-fledged celebrity; you’re just a normal guy off the street who happens to be on a popular TV programme and as a result people feel they can relate to you a little bit more and almost, to a certain extent, critique you. Nobody comes through it completely unscathed as idiosyncracies get picked up and people criticise. But I think I was quite fortunate and other than my voice there wasn’t really too much which I was picked up on.”

Ultimately you came out of the process with a lot of credibility didn’t you?

“I’d like to think so. Certainly one of the things I was always very sure I wanted to maintain was my integrity. Although survival is the nature of the show, a lot of people make the mistake of trying to use one-upmanship to upstage your rival competitors but I wanted to succeed on my own merits and I hope I managed to do that. As a strategy it’s a lot more beneficial to try and get on with people and support them in the tasks. Logic dictates that you should try as a team to win every time. It’s normally the ones who are not in the boardroom who progress the furthest although I think I bucked the trend a little this year.”

Did you support each other through the tasks?

In the early episodes there may be seven or eight people in your team so you know that only one person might be fired. If you make a mistake it will be highlighted but the people who tend to do well in the process are those who are supportive. As a strategy it’s a lot more beneficial to try and get on with people and support them in the tasks than it is to try and make them make mistakes so you yourself don’t get called in. Logic dictates that you should try as a team to win every time. It’s normally the ones who are not in the boardroom who progress the furthest although I think I bucked the trend a little this year.

Once the boardroom door closes more or less everyone had the maturity to know once it’s finished you’re fighting for your own survival. It is a competition at the end of the day in the sense that you create relationships on the show but you can’t agonise over it you just have to draw line under it and move on to the next task. There was no real bad feeling once the boardroom sessions had finished.

Did you watch the show and the series?

“We only got to see the show as the viewing public did. It can be tough at times because you read the newspapers on the morning of an episode going out and it might say: ‘Bates is tonight’s pantomime villain’ and you think ‘what did I do?’. It was most difficult for the finalists because everyone else already knew their fate having fallen by the wayside through the series, which is filmed a year in advance, but we didn’t know up to the very end.”

What about the winner, Stella? What did you make of her?

I’ve got a lot of respect for her. From what I’ve heard she’s doing good things and enjoying her new role. I’ve got no shame in losing to someone like Stella, I think she was a very good candidate. I think Lord Sugar was looking for someone with a little more experience who could start the job and kick-off straight away, if you like, and she probably fits the bill more than I do so best of luck to her really. I’m seeing her tonight actually. She’s invited me to an event she’s organised and it’ll be nice to catch up with her.

Do you think your time at the University prepared you in any way?

“I think I developed independence of thought during my studies and I certainly developed transferable and analytical skills which were very useful in Apprentice tasks and in the boardroom when we were dissecting what went right and wrong. I think my University education gave me the motivation to think outside the box and do something different; it was probably my motivation for going on the show and thinking creatively about my future. My advice to current students would be to really back yourself. If you’ve got ambitions to do things, take risks and go for them. In volatile job markets people inevitably gravitate towards safe options, graduates head towards a grad scheme with a big organisation here in London. I’m not criticising that in any way – those people get a great grounding and go on to be very successful in their careers – but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all if you have entrepreneurial ideas and you are creative.”

Looking back at yourself as a student at the University what advice would you give yourself and others today who followed your progress?

Looking back at myself at Nottingham I could not have imagined I’d be at this point now. My advice to current student would be to really back yourself. If you’ve got ambitions to do things, take risks and go for them. In volatile job markets like we see now people inevitably gravitate towards safe options, graduates head towards a grad scheme with a big organisation here in London. I’m not criticising that in any way – those people get a great grounding and go on to be very successful in their careers – but it’s not the be all and end all if you have entrepreneurial ideas and you are creative. If you really want to test yourself then don’t be put off by the fact that you are a graduate and you don’t have experience. Pursue things which you’re passionate about and if you try hard enough you’ll get a lucky break.

I’ve always been a genuine believer that if you’re good enough for anything then you’re old enough. If you have an innate ability then you’ll be able to compete in business against those with far greater experience even though you’ve only just graduated.

Do you keep in touch with many friends from University days?

I do yes.  I have a lot of friends from the University who are down here in London, pretty much people I met in my first year in halls of residence. I was in Willoughby Hall and I have to admit that when I first saw the hall my heart sank because it looked a bit like an abandoned prison or something but they’ve done a very good job in refurbishing it in the last couple of years.

It always seemed like one of the smaller halls in terms of its layout and, as a result, you kind of got to know everyone and met a lot of people over meal times and things like that. But I had a great experience there and a lot of fun. I’ve got a friend who’s still doing an Architecture degree there and so it gives me a good excuse to go back and see all the old haunts.

Did you get involved in many other activities?

I played rugby for the University as well but I didn’t pursue the rugby as much as I could have done, certainly in my last year. But I met some good people and made some good friends. In hindsight I don’t think I made the most of the clubs and societies on offer because when you’re 18 you’re not always as mature as you hope you are and don’t realise just how much opportunity there is to get involved. I would actively encourage anyone just going to university to exploit the opportunities as much as possible because there are some great things you can get involved in.

What was the idea being studying Politics with American Studies?

I had an unusual university experience in the sense that I was doing a Law degree in my first year but I just didn’t get to grips with it and I wasn’t enjoying the course matter that much. As much as you’re looking to get a qualification at university to get you into employment, you should also really enjoy the opportunity and you should have a passion for study. I’ve always had an interest in politics and political developments and equally the American Studies just gave it a different flavour and an opportunity to read up some history and literature as well. A dual honours gave me a good blend and a bit of variety.

So what next? Lord Sugar always says his door is open. Is that true?

“Yes, I was fortunate enough to develop quite a solid relationship with Lord Sugar. There was a hell of a lot of professional respect from my side and I think he spotted certain traits in me which he liked as well.  In terms of my future, it is quite daunting. Firstly, as a finalist, there’s quite a lot of interest in what I’m going to do and on top of that the show has opened up a whole load of opportunities which I would never normally have considered. Now that I look at them I think, well, actually that could be quite good fun and maybe I would have a flair to do that. I’ve dismissed the ones where people say ‘I’ve got a potential start-up and if you put fifty grand in and I put fifty grand in then we’re going make loads of money together’. It’s all about making the right decision now because it gives you a great platform to build on. It’s quite a short window of opportunity and I want to make sure I make the right decision to capitalise on the exposure that I’ve had.”

Knowing what you do now would you still have sent your audition tape in?

“Yes, definitely. It’s been great fun. I feel I’ve learned and developed a hell of a lot while I’ve been on the show. My ethos in life is that it’s about experiences and in years’ time I’ll look back on this with great fondness. Absolutely no regrets.”