An entrepreneur from Huddersfield has made it to the final of the BBC’s The Apprentice but has come under criticism for kicking her sister out of their joint business.
Harpreet Kaur, 30, is the co-owner of Barni’s Desserts, with a flagship store in Huddersfield and a kiosk in the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds.
On the show, she has the joint-best record of winning tasks and will come up against Kathryn Louise Burn who is after the £250,000 prize money in her family pyjama business.
The semi-finals saw the four potential winners of the show interviewed by leading businessmen and women about their business plans and then a final board meeting with Lord Sugar before the deciding episode next week.
When grilled by businessman and personal friend of Lord Sugar, Claude Littner, pulled Ms Kaur up on the fact that she is not the sole owner of Barni’s Desserts and that her sister, Gurviner, owns half of the business.
Mr Littner said: “I am concerned with some of the things you have written on your CV. I am the owner and founder of my own business, I have done this, I have done that, I have done absolutely everything’.
“But that is not true, is it, because you’ve got a 50/50 partnership with your sister, so everything you have put forward is a lie, it’s a lie.”
Ms Kaur replied: “It was absolutely no intention of mine for it to come across as a lie, everything that is on there, I have personally done.”
In the boardroom, Lord Sugar also asked Ms Kuar about her sister’s stake in the business.
He asked: “What are you going to do, chuck her out?” Harpreet replied: “She’s prepared to step down.”
Lord Sugar continued: “How can you just tell somebody that you no longer own 50% of a business that Lord Sugar is investing in that is going to be worth 20, 30 50 times more in five years’ time?”
“That’s not a problem Lord Sugar,” Harpreet said. “I’ve already had that conversation with her on a personal level, she’s my sister.”
Growing up in Birmingham before moving to West Yorkshire when she was 11, Ms Kaur comes from a family of entrepreneurs, with her mum and dad, Jas and Pete, owning a small business, Waring Green Store, in Brighouse, Calderdale.
Ms Kaur describes herself as growing up in a “loud Punjabi” family but found herself often huddled in a corner with a book and being very shy compared to her brother, sister and parents.
The entrepreneur attended Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School and Huddersfield New College before starting a degree at Leeds University. Keen to kickstart her career, she began working or Barclays at 19, and finished her degree via The Open University.
The dessert restaurent offers a menu packed full of a variety of sweet and tasty desserts, from crepes to waffles, sundaes and chocolate on tap.
Barni’s Desserts is currently undergoing a rebrand which is expected to launch soon after the finale of the Apprentice. The business also offers a selection of sweet goodies that are available online to purchase.
The final episode of The Apprentice will air on Thursday, 24 March 2022.
