Head buyer for card retailers Celebrations Group Sarah Chalkley and her assistant, Lisa McMillan, were judges in the show, where candidates had to design a card for a new special occasion.

"It was an absolutely brilliant experience," said Sarah. "Really good fun."

The company, which is based in Orton Southgate, was approached by the BBC last summer, but was sworn to secrecy until the programme was aired.

The scene was shot in an office in London, and filming began almost as soon as the candidates appeared.

"It was really strange," said Sarah. "We didn't even get our hair and make-up done for the show, which was a bit disappointing."

But what did Sarah think about the candidates' ideas (one team wanted to make February 13 Singles Day, and the other wanted to introduce cards for a National Green Day)?

"Mmmm, the Green Day idea had one obvious flaw from the beginning, ie how can you have a day promoting environmental issues by encouraging people to buy cards even if they were made on recycled paper?" she said.

"As soon as I heard it, I thought 'where on earth do we go from here'? Kevin Shaw, the project leader for this task, was so pushy, really cut-throat, I just couldn't believe his sales pitch. I have never met anyone like him before. It was actually hilarious."

But who does Sarah think will win the show?

She thought the supersmooth Raef Bjayal had it all sewn up, but following his sacking last week, is now gunning for Lee McQueen.

The teams' ideas for the new special occasion were a Singles Day on February 13 and a Green Day (a day dedicated to promote environmentally friendly lifestyles).

Sarah (34), from Godmanchester, has worked as a buyer for Celebrations Group since it was founded 18 months ago, and said the business's key aims are to offer its customers great value and choice.

As head buyer, Sarah selects all the cards that are sold in Celebrations' 287 shops nationwide – including the one in Bridge Street, Peterborough.

As well as choosing designs produced by artists, Sarah can also come up with her own designs – choosing the colour, artwork and print she wants to see on a card.

"We hope that what the Apprentice showed is how much work goes into what we do," she said. "Our industry is about helping people communicate sentiment, mixing creativity with commercial viablity.

It is important to us that our designs appeal to many different types of people."


Support for breast cancer charity

Celebrations Group is also proud to announce it has chosen Breast Cancer Care as its first ever official charity partner.

The 1,700 staff voted to support Breast Cancer Care, which will see 287 shops and staff getting involved.

The partnership, which was officially launched last month, hopes to raise £40,000 to help make a difference to the growing number of lives that are affected by breast cancer.

Staff will get involved in a variety of fund-raising activities such as the ribbon walk and Strawberry Tea, in order to hit the £40,000 target. Customers can show their support by buying Breast Cancer Care's new ribbon pin badge, which will be sold in all of our stores across the country as of the end of May – with the Peterborough store found in Bridge Street, near to the town hall.

The money raised will help Breast Cancer Care to ensure that anyone affected by breast cancer can get the best treatment, information and support whenever they need it.