In the show’s best tradition, The Apprentice contestant Anita Shah doesn’t come over as a shrinking violet. But the ‘self-confessed perfectionist’ has a novel strategy for getting ahead in the competition to impress Sir Alan Sugar.

Shah reckons that you can be successful by investing in relationships and being nice to people – rather than by being ruthless and devious.

The 35-year-old qualified solicitor from Birmingham is one of 14 to join the new series of the BBC1 reality show, which began last night. She says of herself: ‘My CV is strong. I am articulate. I can deal with questions and make impactful statements. Many lawyers can’t. People want to chat with me.’

We shall see. We hope she already hasn’t suffered the fate of previous legal contender, trainee Nicholas De Lacy-Brown. In the first episode of the last series he got the famous ‘You’re fired’ for selling a lobster for £4.90 – less than the trade price it was bought at.