Margaret Mountford

Margaret Mountford
Born	Margaret Rose Swale 24 November 1951 (1951-11-24) (age 59) Holywood, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Girton College, Cambridge
Occupation	Lawyer Businesswoman Television personality
Employer	Amstrad plc Georgica plc
Known for	Advisor to Lord Sugar in UK version of The Apprentice (2005–09)
Home town	Holywood, Northern Ireland
Religion	Protestant [1]
Spouse	Richard Mountford (m. 1973–1990) (divorced)
Partner	Gary O'Neil (1993–95, 1997–present)
Children	1

Margaret Mountford (born Margaret Rose Swale on 24 November 1951^{[2][not in citation given]}) is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality known for her role in The Apprentice.

Biography

Mountford is originally from Holywood in Northern Ireland.^[3] She was educated at the voluntary grammar school Strathearn School in Belfast and at Girton College, Cambridge.

Mountford has been a non-executive director of Amstrad plc since 22 September 1999. She also has many years of corporate law experience as a law firm partner at Herbert Smith (from which she retired in March 1999). She is also a non-executive director at Georgica plc.

Mountford believes that her Northern Irish background has helped her career, saying: “I think coming from Northern Ireland gives you a lot of basic level-headedness and stands you in very good stead. A lot of what’s required is a common sense approach, much of business depends on that actually.”^[3]

Mountford is studying for a Ph.D in papyrology at University College London.^[4] She chairs the board of governors of St Marylebone,^[5] an inner-London Church of England Comprehensive School.^[6]

Mountford is also a trustee for the Bright Ideas Trust. BIT was set up by the first Apprentice winner Tim Campbell and helps young people start their own businesses. ^[7]

TV appearances

From 2005 to 2009 Mountford was one of Lord Sugar's advisers in the UK version of The Apprentice television show, a role with which she achieved increased public popularity.^[8] Mountford also took part on the panel in The Apprentice - You're Fired on 27 May 2009 for the first time, during which she hinted that Lorraine would not make the final.

In June 2009 Mountford announced she was leaving the show at the end of Series 5 in order to concentrate on her Ph.D studies at University College London (UCL). She was replaced for Series 6 by businesswoman Karren Brady.^[9]

She appeared in the 'interview' episode of the 2010 series, where she helped Lord Sugar narrow down the applicants to a final two candidates. Mountford returned for the Apprentice Final in 2011 in a similar role.

References

1. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGuoO-aOUJg&feature=related]
2. ^ http://web.researcha.com/iccquery/detail/?did=8790924&c=uk
3. ^ ^{a b} Apprentice star fires up NI women, BBC News, 23 May 2007
4. ^ Margaret Mountford on her last series of The Apprentice, The Daily Telegraph, 1 June 2009
5. ^ "School Governors". stmaryleboneschool.com. http://www.stmaryleboneschool.com/about_the_school/generalinfo/general_info_governors.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-26. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Spying for Sir Alan, The Guardian, 28 March 2007
7. ^ http://www.brightideastrust.com
8. ^ Headmistress of the nation, The Guardian, 9 May 2008
9. ^ Karren Brady hired for Apprentice, BBC News, 30 August 2009

Persondata
Name	Mountford, Margaret
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 November 1951
Place of birth	Holywood, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Date of death
Place of death