Karren Brady: The life and career of Lord Sugar's everlasting aide on The Apprentice - from business beginnings to Baroness

Karren Brady has become as much of an iconic part of every series as Lord Sugar, and this series is no different. The businesswoman returns to the boardroom alongside Tim Campbell to help Lord Sugar make his decision on who should be given his lucrative £250,000 investment.

The West Ham vice-chairwoman has become a mainstay on television screens thanks to her appearance on the hit BBC show - but how did she get her start in business? Here’s everything you need to know about Baroness Brady.

How did Karren Brady begin her career?

Brady began her career in media, initially starting as a trainee at the advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi. She eventually moved to the LBC, where she worked as an advertising account executive and caught the eye of publisher David Sullivan, who eventually gave her a job at Sport Newspapers.

She became a director of the publishing company, which owned Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, at only 20 years old. Brady became managing director of Birmingham City FC in 1993 after persuading Sullivan to buy the club and let her run it.

Karren Brady’s career in football

At the age of 23, she took up the role at Birmingham City FC and, following the team’s promotion to the top flight in 2002, became the first woman to hold such a post in the Premier League. She left Birmingham City FC in 2009 after Sullivan and club chairman David Gold sold the club to Carson Yeung for £81.5 million.

In January 2010, just months after she left the post at Birmingham, Brady was appointed as vice-chairman of West Ham United after the club was bought by Sullivan and Gold. She has remained in post since her appointment and oversaw major events at the club, including the historic move to the London Olympic Stadium.

Outside of her work in sport, Brady was also appointed as chairman of Bauer Media Group’s Kerrang! and was also a non-executive director of Channel 4. She resigned from Channel 4 to take up a position at Simon Cowell’s record company Syco. She was also a non-executive director of Taveta Investments Ltd, which own the Arcadia Group, but resigned after seven when allegations were made about the behaviour of former Arcadia Group chairman Sir Philip Green.

When did Karren Brady join The Apprentice?

Brady made her first appearance on the BBC’s flagship programme in March 2007, when she appeared as a celebrity contestant on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. She appeared as a guest interviewer in the fourth series of the main show in 2008 and again in the fifth series in 2009.

Later that year, she was confirmed as Lord Sugar’s new aide after the departure of Margaret Mountford in the fifth series. Brady has remained on the show since.

When did Karren Brady become a Baroness?

Brady previously spoke about her interest in a career in politics. She spoke at the Conservative Party Conference in 2013 about supporting small businesses and her support of ex-Chancellor George Osborne’s fiscal policies. In the same year, she was appointed as a Small Business Ambassador.

In September 2014, Brady was given a Conservative life peerage in the House of Lords and became Baroness Brady, of Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster.