THE University of Nottingham were crowned as Sporting Apprentice winners following a nerve wracking boardroom session at Meadow Lane this week.

IN THE MONEY: The University of Nottingham claimed victory over Nottingham Trent University in the Sporting Apprentice.

Competing against an opposing team from Nottingham Trent University, the remit was to make as much money as possible through ticket sales for Nottingham Rugby's RFU Championship match against Plymouth Albion.

With a budget of just £150 each, the teams had to use all of their creative and persuasive abilities in a format based on the popular BBC show.

Sport England board member and local entrepreneur, Mich Stevenson OBE DL Hon MA, was the man in charge and he revelled in the 'Alan Sugar' role in the boardroom denouement.

Both teams were given a thorough grilling on the processes and strategies that they had implemented before the result was announced.

The teams both achieved great success, selling over 400 tickets for the event. In the end the University of Nottingham were crowned the winners, making over £700 profit on the event.

The winning team won a cocktail making session at Chino Latino, a valued Nottingham Rugby sponsor, while the losing team faced further recriminations in the boardroom.

Unlike the television version however, there wasn't any firing!  Instead, the team were able to work through what they could've done better with the help of the board members, who were happy to pass on advice garnered from years of experience.

Chief Executive of Nottingham Rugby and the mastermind behind the challenge, Simon Beatham said: "Both teams really put a lot of effort into this task and it was great to see that enthusiasm.

"I think they both realised quite quickly that this wasn't an easy task and that they'd have to be creative to achieve the results they wanted. I hope that this experience has given them a real insight into the world of business and that they have developed skills that will be useful to them when they finish their degrees."