Lord Alan Sugar

Education & Experience

Lord Sugar was knighted in the New Year Honours list of 2000 for services to the Home Computer and Electronics Industry. He has two honorary Doctorates of Science, one from City University in 1988 and one from Brunel University in 2005. Lord Sugar was appointed a life peer on July 20, 2009, as Baron Sugar of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney. Lord Sugar was ranked number 5 in the UK-based firm Richtopia's list of the 100 Most Influential British Entrepreneurs on October 29, 2015, and in 2017 he was named the most powerful person in Essex and ranked first on the Essex Power 100 list.

In 1968, Lord Sugar founded his consumer electronics firm, Amstrad which was placed on the stock exchange in the 1980s, with a stock market valuation peaking at £1.2 billion. During this time he acquired consumer-electronics brands Fidelity, Betacom, Sinclair and Viglen. From 1991 to 2001, Lord Sugar was the chairman and part-owner of Tottenham Hotspur football club.

Lord Sugar is also famously known as being the presenter of The Apprentice (2005-present), Young Apprentice (2010-2011), and The Celebrity Apprentice Australia (2020-present). He sold his remaining interest in Tottenham Hotspur in 2001 for £25m, and sold his remaining interest in Amstrad in 2007 for £125m. In 2020 he was ranked as the UK’s 121^st richest man, with a fortune estimated at £1.21bn.

Lord Sugar also has companies that specialise in real estate property, airlines, advertising signage, skin-care products, beauty accessories, recruitment, cosmetic clinics, digital marketing, confectionary and party products, clothing, flooring, labels and jewellery.  

What Lord Sugar enjoys about the trade mark profession?

“I became involved in Trade Mark Wizards because I’ve seen what happens to business that fail to protect themselves. It’s basically carnage, and sometimes game over for the business. I enjoy helping companies grow, and I feel that I can do that at Trade Mark Wizards”.

What kind of trade mark work does Lord Sugar enjoy?

“I don’t actually do any of the legal work here but I do sometimes involve myself in strategy decisions when our clients are getting bullied. Trade mark rights are just so extremely important for a business and I enjoy being a part of a company that help with this stuff”.

What bit of advice would Lord Sugar give to all businesses if he had the chance?

“Don’t make the schoolboy error. When you think of a name for your business or products, search to see if it is available and then apply to register it immediately. You cannot afford not to do this. If you launch your business without protection, you are literally a sitting duck for a trade mark hijacker. This happens a lot, and believe me, you do not want to be on the receiving end of it. If you have a business that is currently running without trade mark protection, stop what you are doing and get your house in order. Protect your trade mark and make sure you get specialist advice if you are able to”.

What do I like about Trade Mark Wizards?

“The company really cares about its customers. I have been a client of the Managing Director Oliver Oguz for almost 15 years. He took over Trade Mark Wizards recently and its a company that is reasonably priced and provides an excellent level of service. They don’t tolerate big companies bullying small companies and I like that. All of the legal team are very carefully selected and extremely well trained. The legal talent here is incredible. This is a company I could not resist being a part of”.

Life outside of Trade Mark Wizards

Lord Sugar has so many other businesses to deal with but when he is not working he spends time with his family, exercising and travelling. Also, he’s always looking for other businesses to invest in.

As a child, what did Lord Sugar want to be when he grew up?

He was born an entrepreneur, and so that’s what he has become