Apprentice winner Rachel Woolford has set two new goals after being crowned 2024 champion – signing up Alison Hammond as her first celebrity client in her gym business and getting married.
The fitness entrepreneur, 28, from Leeds has become the fifth female candidate in a row to win Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment after beating pie shop owner Phil Turner, 37, in Thursday night’s final.
And she already has a list of targets she hopes to achieve including opening a third and fourth space with her gym North Studio and eventually making it down the aisle, after getting engaged to her long-term boyfriend in December last year.
She also aims to recruit Alison Hammond as her first celebrity client after she met the presenter on This Morning a week before she was crowned Apprentice winner.
Rachel successfully convinced Lord Sugar she and her boutique business were a worthy investment despite last year’s winner, boxer Marnie Swindells, also being a gym owner.
Apprentice winner Rachel Woolford has set two new goals after being crowned champion – signing up Alison Hammond as her first celebrity client at her gym and getting married
The fitness entrepreneur from Leeds has become the fifth female candidate in a row to win Lord Sugar’s investment after beating pie shop owner Phil Turner in Thursday night’s final
Rachel already has a list of targets she hopes to achieve including opening a third and fourth space with her gym North Studio and eventually making it down the aisle
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, she said: ‘It’s an honour to have been chosen by Lord Sugar and for him to invest in my business which at the end of the day is my baby and something I have been working on for almost five years now.
‘For him to see something in me and think my business is investable is just an incredible and overwhelming feeling.
‘I am really looking forward to working with Lord Sugar for a number of reasons. He is investing a lot of money into me to enable my business to grow to open a third site and potentially a fourth.
‘We don’t have a lot of big celebrities in Leeds and Harrogate but I would love Alison Hammond to come in, she’s hysterical. I met her last week when I went on This Morning and she is so great and funny. I know Lord Sugar cycles too… I would love to get him on a spin bike.’
Rachel beat rival Phil to win The Apprentice this year after presenting her business to industry professionals from the likes of upmarket gyms F45 and Barry’s Bootcamp.
Becoming the show’s champion marks the end of a four-year grind for Rachel, who says after setting up her business aged 23, she has coped with working long hours and often missed out on spending time with friends.
She said: ‘It’s that time where everyone is going out socialising, holidaying, I have missed out on a few things because I felt like I couldn’t leave my business, it has always been my no1 priority and it has paid off evidently but when you’re in those first few years, it’s tough.
‘It was the toughest and you always question if you’re doing the right thing and those late nights, early starts, things go wrong in the first few years, and you learn from them… at the time you’re like what is the lesson from this? And six months later the lesson is apparent.’
Rachel says Alison would be her dream celebrity signing because of her ‘hysterical’ sense of humour after she met the This Morning host on the show last week
Becoming the show’s champion marks the end of a four-year grind for Rachel, who says after setting up her business aged 23, she has coped with working long hours
She hopes going into business with Lord Sugar will give her the chance to franchise her fitness studio
Celebrating her win, Rachel posed for photographs wearing a gold jumpsuit and heels as she beamed for the camera
Rachel beat rival Phil to win The Apprentice this year after presenting her business to industry professionals from the likes of upmarket gyms F45 and Barry’s Bootcamp
Rachel is appreciative of her partner, Benjy, who as a fellow business owner supports her wholeheartedly and understands firsthand the sacrifices she has made.
She said: ‘I am so lucky to have a fiancé who also has a business so knows what it takes. 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.’
As the fifth consecutive female winner of the BBC series, Rachel hopes she can inspire a younger generation of women to go into business and not be discouraged by their gender, especially when working in a male dominated environment like the fitness sector.
Boxing gym owner Marnie earned the title last year, which Rachel says further cements Lord Sugar’s understanding of the potential earning power the fitness and wellness industry has to offer.
She said: ‘The fitness industry is traditionally very male dominated within gym owners and personal trainers and instructors so I am really proud to be a woman that owns a fitness business and most of my team aside from two are all strong, powerful women and I’m so proud to work alongside them and why shouldn’t we be able to do it?
‘We’re in very different markets in terms of location, London is a whole different kettle of fish. I hear Marnie has a great business.
‘It’s great Lord Sugar has invested in fitness businesses two years in a row… he has obviously realised the industry is booming, especially since Covid, it’s had such a positive impact.’
Rachel answered questions from the likes of F45 gym owner George Crook who quizzed her on scaling up her business to multiple sites
The Apprentice winner says she is appreciative of her partner, Benjy, who as a fellow business owner supports her wholeheartedly and understands firsthand the sacrifices she has made
Rachel says she has banned certain words she feels have negative connotations from her hum such as ‘skinny’ and is relieved being ‘strong’ are the new motivations in the fitness world
Empowering women is at the heart of Rachel’s business, which focuses on delivering fitness training to a small and inclusive group in a premium workout space.
And the owner says she has even banned certain words she feels have negative connotations and is relieved being ‘strong’ and ‘muscular’ are the new motivations in the fitness world.
She said: ‘In my classes, in any marketing, in general conversation, the words ‘skinny’, ‘fat’, and ‘thin’ are not allowed and we just don’t use them.
‘Being stronger and more muscular, I could go on all day about the mental and physical benefits but it’s about changing the narrative.
‘I was never going to be this stick thin girl, it’s just not the way I was built so I’m really pleased the narrative in the fitness has changed to being about strength and being strong.’
