Having watched him shred contestants on The Apprentice I’m glad it’s me asking the questions when I speak to Mike Soutar.
The Dundee-born businessman is famous for his merciless takedowns during interviews week of the BBC show.
He famously caught out one contestant who claimed she owned several web addresses by purchasing one of them himself pre-interview.
‘I ordered products from your website 11 days ago and they haven’t arrived,” he complained to another.
Clips of Mike’s most excruciating moments are all over the likes of TikTok.
Does his fierce reputation earned from the prime time show fronted by Lord Alan Sugar make people nervous to meet him?
Yes, he says. “When I meet new people they will, typically, after about five minutes go ‘oh, you’re much nicer than I thought.
“It’s not a bad reputation to have!
“It’s probably better for people to assume that you’re going to be some kind of tough, sober-faced individual who’s going to put them under pressure and then you turn out to be a much nicer person than it is the other way around, right?”
But his persona in the interviewer’s chair is not put on for the cameras.
Why is Mike so tough in interviews?
Mike’s job in the interviews episode which will be screened next Thursday is to grill the final five contestants seeking investment from Lord Sugar.
And he is unforgivingly rigorous. He dissects business plans. He fact checks CV boasts. Pre-interview, he will visit a candidate’s coffee shop. He will seek competition for a ‘unique’ product.
“I’m not an actor,” he explains. “Nothing’s made up. These are real interactions.
“I take the role really seriously because I genuinely want [Lord] Alan Sugar to invest in the right thing.
“If somebody hasn’t done the work required, if their business plan has mistakes in it or is sloppy, if they are massively exaggerating claims about their track record I feel a bit indignant about all of that.”
And there is no massaging of candidates’ bruised egos when filming is over.
“I never speak to them before and never speak to them afterwards,” Mike says. “We do the interview and then they go.”
Mike’s experience as an interviewer made him an ideal recruit for Lord Sugar when they met 14 years ago.
He started his career as a journalist with DC Thomson in the very building I’m interviewing him from.
His first magazine was at school in Glenrothes
His initiative in starting a school magazine while he was at Glenrothes High School, in Fife, he reckons, helped land his first job at Secrets magazine.
He then became pop editor of fellow DC Thomson magazine Jackie. There Mike interviewed the likes of Pet Shop Boys just before West End Girls became a hit and then little-known A-ha.
In his A-ha article he made a Eurovision-themed joke giving this little-known Norwegian band nil points.
“By the time the magazine came out they were at number one with Take On Me, so I didn’t look so smart afterall!”
A move to London came from a trip to Virgin Records’ press office when he was asked to join the team.
Mike missed magazines, however, and it wasn’t long before he was back in the industry.
Smash Hits editor aged 23
After being made Smash Hits editor aged only 23, he was asked to take the helm of an underperforming men’s magazine called For Him.
Relaunched as FHM, he took the famous ‘lads’ mag’ from selling 35,000 copies to over 500,000 in two and half years.
Mike’s stellar career has also included being managing director of Kiss FM, editorial director of magazine giant IPC Media and launching his own publishing company Shortlist Media.
He was CEO of the Evening Standard – his first foray into newspapers – when the pandemic hit.
At that point he decided he wanted a portfolio career and to be involved in lots of different businesses.
‘The sun always shines in Dundee’
Mike is now on the boards of Scottish Rugby, V&A Dundee and several other start-up and fast-growth businesses. He recently joined the UK Government’s Board of Trade.
He lives in Epping Forest, near London, with wife Bev and recently became a grandad for the second time.
But his work with the V&A makes him a regular visitor to Dundee, allowing him to see his father who lives in Broughty Ferry.
“The sun always shines [in Dundee]. It’s always brilliant to be home.”
He’s proud to be part of the V&A, which he feels has been a slow burner in winning Dundee people over.
“Dundonians are incredibly hard working and very self deprecating. They have that very dry sense of humour and don’t show off.
‘Dundee should be incredibly proud of V&A’
“Three years ago when I joined the board a lot of Dundonians were a little unsure about [the V&A].
“I think it now enjoys much more love and it will continue to.
“It’s a proper asset for the future and an incredible driver for Dundee’s economy.
“Dundee should be incredibly proud of it.”
It was at Shortlist Media that The Apprentice came along.
The show was filming a magazine task and Mike was asked to record a segment telling candidates about publishing.
“It think it turns out that was a kind of sneaky screen test because a couple of days later I got a call saying Alan would like to meet you.”
Mike admits he was nervous as well as excited and curious to meet Lord Sugar.
“I’d always really admired him for his abilities. As a business person I was a massive Apprentice fan long before I was involved.”
Only after around 40 minutes of questioning about his background and business, did Lord Sugar reveal he was looking for an entrepreneur to join his interview team.
The rest is history and Mike is now in his 13th season on the show.
What Mike thinks of Lord Sugar…
He says: “What you see with Alan on screen is what you get. It’s not made up.
“He’s funny, probably funnier that he looks on screen.
“And his passion is business.
“Frankly, that’s mine as well, so I could talk about that all day with him.”
…and of the final five contestants
On Thursday, Mike will be seen interviewing the final five contestants, Amber-Rose Badrudin, Anisa Khan, Chisola Chitambala, Dean Franklin and Jordan Dargan.
His verdict on what he calls a “really good final five”?
Amber-Rose: “Self confident, perhaps a little bit too self confident.
“A good contender.”
Jordan: “A really impressive young man. He’s properly self-taught. Alan really likes those young, rough people with potential.”
Dean: “He’s done well to survive the process thus far.”
Anisa: “I find her a very impressive candidate. Very composed under fire.”
Chisola: “She has been brilliant in the whole process thus far. A really credible person to potentially back.”
But, he adds: “I can also tell you that every single one of them have some proper flaws in their business plans.”
Mike has three pieces of advice for entrepreneurs with business ideas like The Apprentice candidates.
Mike’s advice for wannabe entrepreneurs
“Number one is to practise pitching it right now. If you’ve got an idea for a business, don’t just keep it in your head.”
“As soon as you start to articulate it you will start to see the flaws in it.
“The second thing is be really clear about what’s different about your business and better. What are your USPs (unique selling points)? Why is it better than the competition?
“Then the third thing is, try and fail quickly and cheaply. Accept that failure is absolutely a part of success.
“Most failures aren’t terminal for businesses, they’re just a blocker in the road that you have to navigate around.”
The Apprentice: Interviews will be screened on BBC One on Thursday April 10 at 9pm.
Conversation