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Travelzoo plays supporting role in latest episode of The Apprentice

One or two familiar faces among travel industry professionals starred in last night’s episode of BBC’s The Apprentice business reality TV show.

The deals publisher Travelzoo became a client of one of the two teams whose members are battling it out for a £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar.

Travelzoo UK managing director Joel Brandon-Bravo was shown agreeing a £2,500 deal, down from an original quote of £6,100, for a corporate day out at the women’s FA Cup final at Wembley earlier this year.

Brandon-Bravo was seen to request entertainment at the event that “wasn’t awkward”. In the end one of the candidates opted to sing in order to keep costs down.

His team ended up winning after making more profit than the opposing team, although risked running out of alcohol after not ordering enough.

Brandon-Bravo said Travelzoo did deduct £300 for the lack of drinks, but tweeted: “Go Team Vitality! We had a great time at Wembley and the candidates were excellent hosts on the day.”

He even praised the quality of the entertainment. “No word of a lie, we really enjoyed Harrison’s performance,” he tweeted. “He had us all singing along with him! Good guy and good entertainment.”

The BBC’s award-winning business show has returned for a 13th series in which Lord Sugar puts 18 new candidates through their paces in a series of challenges.

Lord Sugar is joined by business heavyweights Baroness Karren Brady and Claude Littner as his would-be business partners embark on the gruelling 12 week selection process.

In last night’s episode “Stadium Sales”, Lord Sugar asked the candidates to plan and manage a VIP event involving a corporate box and also sell food to the crowd at Wembley Stadium.

Nicola Gibson, head of local and entertainment at Travelzoo in the UK, said: “Last year we started working within our industry to host exclusive member events in the UK, including a theatre buyout of ‘Motown the Musical’ in London, an after-hours tour of Bombay Sapphire’s Hampshire distillery, and a takeover of Michelin-starred Restaurant James Sommerin in Penarth.

“It was good to see the apprentices’ approach to organising a high-end function.”

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