From Yorkshire to You're Hired: How Apprentice winner Rachel Woolford dreamt of ... trends now
Rachel Woolford was last night crowned the winner of series 18 of The Apprentice - after tirelessly working for three years trying to set up her boutique gym business.
The fitness entrepreneur, 28, who launched North Studio during Covid, went head-to-head with fellow finalist Phil Turner to secure Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment and form a partnership with the business mogul.
After she was declared the winner during Thursday's finale, she said landing the investment was 'something beyond my wildest dreams'.
And she told MailOnline that one of her two goals was making it down the aisle after getting engaged to her long-term boyfriend Benjy in December last year.
She said that Benjy supports her wholeheartedly and understands firsthand the sacrifices she has made by working long hours in setting up her business.
Speaking on Thursday, she added: 'I am so lucky to have a fiancé who also has a business so knows what it takes.
Rachel Woolford has been crowned champion of season 18 of The Apprentice (Pictured with Lord Sugar)
Rachel already has a list of targets she hopes to achieve including expanding her gym chain to other northern UK cities (Pictured in The Apprentice boardroom)
Rachel is very active within fitness and appears to be a fan of running (Pictured after running the New York Marathon in 2019)
'If I'm working late or missing something, he knows it's business especially in the first few years... it's not an easy ride and I'm so grateful from an early age I got stuck in and I was never put off by things going wrong. I will continue to work like that but now all the blood, sweat and tears were worth it.
'I got engaged in December last year so a month before the Apprentice started airing. We haven't actually set a date yet because I have been a little busy, but we plan on getting married next summer.'
The 28-year-old hails from Leeds and opened her first fitness studio in the city before adding a second at Wellington House on Cold Bath Road in Harrogate last year.
The gym's website explains: 'We're not your typical gym. We won't tie you down with yearly contracts or complex cancellation clauses, because we know we're good enough to keep you coming back for more.
'Instead, we offer a range of flexible options suited to all budgets and commitment levels.'
Rachel, who helped her team secure a record-breaking £38.7 million in sponsorship during a task earlier in the series, said on Thursday: 'I was 24 years old when I started North Studio.
'I was just a girl from Leeds and now I cannot believe it, I'm going into business with Lord Sugar and he's investing in me.'
But it appears that Rachel has had the business eye since she was only seven years old.
She explained: 'When I was seven years old, I went missing - only for my frantically worried mum to find me by the roadside selling my toys shaking a biscuit tin full of coins shouting 'toys for sale, everything must go today!'
Rachel also revealed the biggest challenge she faced during the process was being away from her business and her friends and family.
Speaking to local Harrogate newspaper The Stray Ferret in February, she said: 'It's changed my life. It's not even about it airing – even if it hadn't been on TV it would still have changed my life.
Rachel grew up in Leeds and established her first gym just before the Covid-19 pandemic
Rachel revealed the biggest challenge she faced during the process was being away from her business and family (Pictured in New York)
'It made me step away from my business, which no one could ever usually make me do. It made me think about what I wanted to change in the business, where I wanted to take it and majorly took me out of my comfort zone. It takes serious balls to do.'
During an interview with Excelle Magazine in 2022, Rachel gave a snapshot into her life and career as fitness studio owner.
She said: 'Experiencing the fitness market in London , New York and LA and following the industry data that group fitness classes were in higher demand than ever, I felt Leeds was missing out on something.
'The big commercial gyms weren't delivering what consumers were looking for any more.
'Consumers demanded flexibility in how to pay for their gym and variability in types of group exercise classes on offer.'
Looking to the future, Rachel said she would use the investment to 'expand across the north' and hoped to roll out more sites in York or Manchester.
She said: 'My business plan going in was to promote and expand North Studio. It's about making sure we provide a consistent service to roll out in the new locations.
'North provides a very personal group workout, the whole point is for it to give clients a setting of being remembered and known.
'It's not an intimidating or competitive environment. It's fun and I want fitness to be
