Bianca Miller, Finalist in the hit BBC series The Apprentice, gave Harlow College Business students a masterclass in entrepreneurship when she visited the College on Wednesday 4 March.

She held two 45 minute workshops focused on the importance of personal branding and how best to market yourself when setting up a business. Students had lots of opportunities to ask questions about the challenges and pitfalls of business and the central message of the event was the importance of determination, ambition and self-belief.

It was these same qualities that enabled Bianca Miller to claw her way through to the final, despite some notable setbacks and a disastrous interview in the final stages. Despite losing out to Mark Wright in the final episode Bianco held onto her dream and made it a reality, setting up her own business The Be Group.

Bianca Miller said: "My main aim today was to speak to the students about personal branding and that it’s possible to set up a business from scratch from a young age and still make it in the market. It’s crucial to understand how important your personal brand is and how you market yourself will be part of that journey.

"My visit to the college has been really good. I went to a very small school with a sixth form of just 35 students so for me this has been amazing.

"The students have been great. The College has some really intelligent students and I really look forward to seeing them become whatever they want to be – whether that’s the next generation of entrepreneurs or if they decide to get a job and thrive in that environment – whatever they choose, the world is their oyster and I really hope that they achieve their goals."

Charlotte Creagh, Assistant Academy Manager for Vocational Business, said of the event: “The aim of the workshop was to create a greater awareness of the importance of branding in such a competitive industry and having Bianca Miller from The Apprentice run the workshop made it a more engaging experience.

It was also to demonstrate to those learners not going to university that work experience, volunteering or starting their own business is an important and viable alternative. Basically, the message was, aspire high, dream big and unlock your potential.

“The students responded really well to Bianca – they were all very keen to find out more about the journey of setting up their own business and also about life after the Apprentice TV show.”