The Apprentice episode one: How did Dean Franklin get on?

The Apprentice 2025 got underway last night and we kept a keen eye on how Hornchurch businessman Dean Franklin got on.

Dad-of-two Dean was amongst the 18 candidates who kicked off their campaign to impress Lord Sugar in last night's episode one of the BBC show.

Dean is the co-owner of ADL Air Conditioning, which he set up during Covid lockdown restrictions.

The business, based in Upminster, won the best tradesperson award at the 2023 Havering Small Business Awards.

In The Apprentice season opener, Dean was put in a team tasked with selling and operating electric bike tours through the forests of Tyrol, Austria.

According to Lord Sugar, Dean had branded himself as a "salesman" in his CV, so it was rather unsurprising that he volunteered himself to work in the sub-team trusted with selling tour tickets.

However, Dean's way of working clashed with teammate Carlo Brancati.

The pair showcased differing opinions on which demographic to target their sales at. Dean opted to carefully select who they engaged with whilst Carlo went with a volume-focussed approach.

There was disagreement between Dean and Carlo in episode one (Image: BBC)

Dean's team lost the task and, back in the boardroom, fingers were pointed and criticism was voiced amongst team members.

Talking to the camera, Dean said: "I think we failed the task because of Carlo. He didn't organise anything, he had no game plan for us - he was just in the way."

The other team members shared Dean's point of view, leading to Lord Sugar even telling Carlo "it seems to me that you've got no colleagues here that have a good word to say about you".

Dean recounted Carlo's scattergun approach during the task, saying: "You approached someone 90 years of age and tried putting him on an electric bike."

Despite this drawing a chuckle from Lord Sugar, he remained less-than-impressed with the team and questioned Dean's selling ability.

He said: "Dean, in your CV you say you're a salesman - you didn't sell anything. That's bad news as far as I'm concerned. Very bad news." 

It wasn't a smooth start for Dean, but ultimately he avoided the dreaded "You're fired" as teammate Emma Rothwell was first to depart.

Next week, the candidates face a musical task as the bid to become Lord Sugar's next business partner continues.

The Apprentice is on BBC One on Thursdays at 9pm and on BBC iPlayer.