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When Sir Alan Sugar uttered the words 'You're hired' to Tim Campbell , an Afro Caribbean manager from London Transport on the final of the Hit BBC show The Apprentice, television history was being made.

Not only was this the first time that a person from a minority group had actually won a reality TV show but a new role model for minorities in business was created.

Formerly a Middlesex University Psychology graduate, Tim Campbell went onto become a Transport Manager with London Underground before landing a sixth figure salary of £100,000 a year with Amstrad, in the marketing and development of a new product line, through the BBC series The Apprentice.

The final Episode of the hit BBC series The Apprentice, where 12 contenders had competed each week to win a £100,000 a year job with business tycoon Sir Alan Sugar, saw Tim Campbell up against 34 year old Saira Khan a competitive sales manager from Nottingham. Their final task was to organise a boat party on the Thames. Tim’s idea of a fashion show party, over Saira’s wine tasting event, allowed him to win the position. However, the runner up was able to take the defeat on the chin saying she was “really pleased for Tim…I’m sure it was a hard decision for Sir Alan but I think he’s chose the right person for the job he’s got in mind” Later Sir Alan hinted at the possibility of offering Saira Khan a position at Amstrad.

Tim however, was hired not only for his talent but because he was easily the most credible and consistently managerial type of candidate over the other 12 contenders. He was also admired for his humility as well as personal authority which have been created through his own personal adversity. On being asked what he would spend his first months salary on he replied that it would be spent on a luxury holiday for his mother who raised him and his two siblings on her own, often taking on three jobs. “ I understand the sacrifices she made when we were growing up and I want to repay her”.

Tim, who lives in Stratford, East London said he also entered the show to be a “strong role model” for his three year old daughter. However, the knock-on effect will be felt in all ethnic communities for some time. Tim Campbell has become a role model to us all. As Sir Alan said “He’s young, he’s enthusiastic, he’s a good listener, he’s eager to learn and he’s a good all-rounder”.

Business and management degrees

So do you think you have what it takes to land a sixth figure salary? Do you have the talent, temperament, imagination and above all drive to capitalise on your future? Well, many students get a head start by studying a business and management degree.

According to UCAS, there are over 157,000 students who choose to study business at undergraduate level each year. Business and management studies proved the most popular subject at degree level for full-time students starting in autumn 2003.A recent survey by the Association of Business Schools (ABS) also discovered that nearly half of 16 to 17 year-olds think of taking a business and management degree see themselves as running their own business after graduating. “There’s much more of an entrepreneurial spin these days,” according to Jonathan Slack chief executive of the ABS. “A lot of students are looking to work for themselves, and business studies courses are reflecting that. It’s not just about working for a big multinational anymore.”

Whatever you decide to do with a business studies degree - whether it’s setting up business in your garage or climbing the corporate ladder - your employment prospects look rosy. Six months after graduating, almost 94 percent of business graduates seeking employment have found it, compared with an average across all subjects of 92.6 percent.

You can boost your marketability by choosing a four-year sandwich course. These now account for just over half of business studies degrees. Work placements can be key to students seeking employment as a large percentage of companies go on to offer its placement students a job on graduation.

But as well as offering valuable work experience, business studies degrees also come in various shades and formats which increase their flexibility and give you a chance to specialise from the outset. Specialisms and/or joint honours degrees can often include accounting, banking and finance, business economics, transport management, languages etc. The kind of degree you choose will influence exactly what you study, but generally expect to explore organisations and the external environment in which they operate and their management, along with following areas such as markets, customers, finance, information systems, communications and IT, and business policy and strategy.