Apprentice star Katie Bulmer-Cooke shares success with Sunderland students

 The Wearside entrepreneur was due to host a business enterprise day, which is being held as part of the Work Discovery Sunderland programme.

 It follows last week’s Work Discovery Week, which saw about 1,000 young people from city schools involved in work-related activities.

 Katie, who won the title of UK Personal Trainer of the Year in 2012, became a household name when she appeared on The Apprentice in 2014.

 Since then she has become a leading figure on the UK’s fitness and business scenes, speaking and lecturing at conventions, offering a business consultation service and drawing on her own experience to help young entrepreneurs start their own businesses.

 Now, she has linked up with Work Discovery Sunderland to host an enterprise day at the city’s Stadium of Light today, where she hopes to inspire students looking to head into the world of business.

 She said: “I’ll be starting with a talk to get them motivated and then will be giving them some tasks all centred on running a business.

 “I really enjoy working with young people and I think that while education is massively important, the ability to go out there and generate an income for ourselves is something everyone should have.

 “I think some business knowledge makes people a lot more employable, along with good, solid qualifications. I believe it’s worth putting some time into helping encourage entrepreneurial success, and that’s what the day will be all about.”

 Howard Kemp, co-chairman of the Business Schools Task Group which runs the Work Discovery Sunderland programme, and headteacher at Farringdon Community Academy, said: “It’s fantastic that we have managed to attract Katie to host an enterprise day and shows that the activities stretch far beyond Work Discovery Week itself.

 “Her business success is down to her hard work and motivation, and she really is a positive role model to young people, thanks to her energetic and enthusiastic approach.”