The Apprentice winner given huge payout in one of Lord Sugar’s biggest wins yet

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Lord Alan Sugar is celebrating one of his biggest wins from the TV show The Apprentice this week.

The presenter has been handed a huge payout thanks to winner and former NHS doctor Dr Leah Totton.

The pair have sold a majority stake in their chain of Botox and cosmetic clinics.

Dr Leah Clinics, which was founded 11 years ago by the entrepreneur and business mogul, has been snapped up by private investment group Advanced Aesthetics Partners (AAP).

The value of the sale has not been disclosed but the business is understood to be valued at more than £7 million.

Dr Leah was crowned the winner of the BBC reality series in 2013, earning investment worth £250,000 for her start-up and entering into a business partnership with Lord Sugar.

The two, who each had a 50% stake in the firm prior to the acquisition, will remain as shareholders in the group.

Operating from three sites in London and Essex, Dr Leah Clinics offers procedures such as non-surgical facelifts, injectable fillers including lip and cheek filler, skin treatments and facials.

A skincare product line launched under the brand in 2022 has also been acquired as part of the deal.

Dr Leah said she entered the boardroom-based TV series “as a 25-year-old doctor with no real business experience”, having grown up in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She began her career as an A&E doctor in the NHS.

“Working alongside Lord Sugar has been a privilege and a pleasure,” she said.

“For me, The Apprentice was a life-changing opportunity.”

She added: “I will continue to treat clients as normal within Dr Leah Clinics and I am excited that the new ownership presents an opportunity to grow the Dr Leah brand further in the coming years.”

AAP, which targets deals with UK aesthetics clinics, said it hopes to grow the brand under its ownership.

The deal marks the second business to have been formed from the show to be successfully sold, with digital marketing agency Climb Online acquired in 2022.

That was founded by 2014 winner Mark Wright and sold for around £10 million, similar to what Dr Leah Clinics is thought to have fetched from the deal.

Meanwhile, Lord Sugar gained a multimillion-pound payout after selling his stake in Tropic Skincare to Susie Ma, another former contestant on The Apprentice and who founded the business.