Well known for reaching the final five in Series 2 of BBC TV’s ‘The Apprentice’, Syed Ahmed may be a familiar face to many – but few are aware of the real story behind his success.

Born in Bangladesh in 1975 to an industrious tailor, and a hardworking housewife and mother of six, he came to London with his family at an early age and grew up in Tower Hamlets in the East End of London.

His earlier career began in hospitality and PR management at Sugar Reef where he got a taste of being at the sharp end of a business, and developed a good grounding in the whole marketing and management mix.

Following this, Syed pursued a very successful career in the world of recruitment.  After building a considerable reputation within the industry, in 2004 he struck out on his own and co-founded IT People Ltd.  Syed played a key role in bringing in the business of numerous big accounts and his strong performance, coupled with Syed’s careful positioning of the brand within the marketplace, enabled him to sell his share of the business to his business partner.

Following the Apprentice, Syed has channeled his energy into SAVortex Ltd, a UK company that has developed revolutionary air-spinning heating technology for hand-dryers.  The worldwide patent protected technology has been compared to what Dyson has brought to the vacuum cleaner market.  Syed has hand-picked an accomplished management team to assist in the international launch of SAVortex and has been instrumental in generating sponsorship and grants, overseeing ongoing product development, the set up of production and implementation of marketing strategies.  The business was recently featured in a one-off documentary by Sky One, following Syed through the process of invention, called ‘Hot Air.’