Zara, 16, is Lord Sugar's Young Apprentice

Zara, 16, is Lord Sugar's Young Apprentice
Zara, 16, is Lord Sugar's Young Apprentice (Image credit: PA)

A 16-year-old has been crowned this year's Young Apprentice after wowing Lord Sugar with 'wisdom far beyond her years'. Zara Brownless beat 11 other candidates to the £25,000 prize fund, which she will use to kick-start her business career. The A-level student, from Hertfordshire, will pursue her education before developing her already-existing film company. In the final of the BBC One show, she came up with a Piggy Panic online video game, which required character Porky Pete to escape from a butcher. Her rival, A-level student James McCullagh, devised a Crazy Cabinet game that sees the player take the role of prime minister. Lord Sugar said: "Zara, you're calm, articulate and you look to be in control of your emotions, which is a good thing when you're in business. "It was a hugely tough decision, but Zara really showed wisdom and clarity far beyond her years." Zara, who produces films for charities, said: "To say this is a dream come true doesn't even come close - I've loved the whole Young Apprentice experience and taken so much from it, and now I'm so excited about what the future holds for my business career."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.