Linda Plant

Plant was born and raised in Leeds in a poor family; her mother worked on a market stall and her father was a tailor. She left school at 15 or 16 (accounts differ) to work full time on her mother’s stall, which sold hosiery, handbags, and costume jewellery. Working markets in places such as Dewsbury in Yorkshire, as a teenager she drove the family business’s expansion from one stall to 14. She later said the market stall gave her the best lesson in life, “you can’t learn it at a university.”⁠[1][2][3][2][3][3][3][3]

On December 16, 2015, Plant made her debut on the BBC business reality show “The Apprentice” as one of four interviewers who question the remaining candidates and advise Alan Sugar on who is best placed to win a business partnership with him and a £250,000 investment. She had known Sugar for more than 20 years: when he ran Amstrad and she ran a knitwear company, the two often met in places such as Hong Kong and Korea. She said she was very excited when Sugar called her with the opportunity, and that her task was to expose weaknesses and find the right candidate for him.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

She has since become known on the show for her uncompromising interviewing style. She said her brief was to examine candidates’ business plans and ideas, find the loopholes, judge whether they were worth a £250,000 investment, and be tough. As of April 2026, she remained one of the four interviewers in the show’s interview stage.⁠[3][3][4]

On November 30, 2025, The Venture RoomThe Venture RoomThe Venture Room is a UK entrepreneurial media brand centered on the YouTube channel @theventureroom. Through long-form interviews with founders and street interviews such as “Asking Millionaires How They Got Rich?”, it presents entrepreneurs’ stories and advice to aspiring business owners, and runs an entrepreneur community and brand partnerships.Open the full entry released a street-interview video filmed in London in which Plant was one of the interviewees. She said on the program that she made her first million by building one of the biggest knitwear brands in the country; that she came from nothing and, without a single qualification, was the first woman to take a business from a market stall to the stock market; and that she left school at 14, started working at 15, first sold her knitwear brand at 29, bought it back at 32, and then took it to the stock market, building and selling an electronics company in between.⁠[5][5][5][5]

She said her mantra is “yes, you can,” and that “age is no barrier to success” — one should never think oneself too old; to be good in business, one needs passion, drive, and resilience.⁠[5][5][5]

Plant later opened her own retail shops and wholesale business and founded the knitwear brand Honeysuckle. She said the step that made the brand take off was a deal, struck at a time when women were not treated as equals in business, in which she secured the rights to import sweaters from Korea at a reduced percentage on sales; afterwards every major British retailer came to her stand, and Honeysuckle became a major supplier of knitwear to the UK high street. Her company later floated on the London Stock Exchange; she describes herself as only the second British woman at that time to float a company there.⁠[2][3][3][3][1][6]

She also co-founded an electronics import company, which she sold for “a substantial profit,” and was named Northern Business Woman of the Year. She later moved into interior design and property, running Homerun, which provides interior design for high-end London properties whose clients mostly live abroad.⁠[1][1][6][2]

Plant founded the Linda Plant International Academy (LPIA) and, as of April 2026, was its chief executive. The academy runs full-day, face-to-face interactive sessions in which participants work on their own businesses in real time, practicing negotiation and testing their unique selling points, and leave with a clear USP and a 90-day action plan. She also offers a personal mentoring service called “Mentoring Beyond the Boardroom,” speaks with young people in schools, and gives talks at corporate events and conferences.⁠[4][7][7][7][6][6][8]

On starting from scratch: “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, and you don’t have to be first — you can be second and still be good. Look at what people are spending their money on, and think about how to align that with your skills.” (at 18:19 in the video)⁠[5]

On choosing a business: “It has to be scalable; if it hasn’t got scalability, you can’t build it. Try to start with something that doesn’t take a lot of investment, start small, build income, and once you have income, move into assets.” (at 18:29 in the video)⁠[5][5][5]

On selling: “My top tip is learn how to sell. If you believe in something, you can sell it; if you can learn how to sell, you’ll never go broke. When you’re selling your product, you’re selling yourself.” (at 18:45 in the video)⁠[5][5][5]

On connections: “It’s not what you know but who you know. Connections are crucial; someone you meet may not be in your realm today, but I always believe in building relationships.” (at 19:19 in the video)⁠[5]

On learning: “ABL — always be learning. Nobody knows everything; be humble enough to admit you don’t know it all, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.” (at 19:39 in the video)⁠[5][5][5]

Personal website: https://lindaplant.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[6]

Linda Plant International Academy: Official website: https://lindaplant.com/international-academy/ (opens in a new window).⁠[7]