Member Article

The Apprentice winner tackles Escape Live experience in Birmingham

Former winner of The Apprentice James White endured some of his most nerve-wracking moments since waiting for Sir Alan Sugar to say ‘you’re hired’ during a unique team building day-out.

James, who was named joint winner of 2017’s competition by Sir Alan Sugar, took a group of staff from his Birmingham based company RT Recruitment to the Escape Live venue on Henrietta Street as part of a team building exercise.

After winning a £250,000 investment from the entrepreneur and BBC star Sugar, James has spent 2018 building his business, increasing staff from one to 17, winning clients across the country and forming plans to expand in 2019.

Right Time Recruitment, based on Hagley Road, works across the UK to find the right employees for a wide number of IT, Finance and Accounting companies.

Using their intuition and problem solving skills, a team of five staff took on the Time Machine challenge at Escape Live, which they managed to complete in just under an hour.

James said: “It was great fun for the team and it really is a good team building exercise.

“It is a bit like the challenges on The Apprentice, you have to work together for the greater good, you have to let people use their skills to help you all move forward and the only way to succeed is by working together.

“It wasn’t quite as big a challenge as sitting across from Sir Alan but the pressure was really on. It certainly got the pulse racing!

“In the end I think we smashed it and everyone really enjoyed taking part.”

James had been predicting a win this year for milk entrepreneur Camilla Ainsworth, who was eventually beaten to the title by swimwear designer Sian Gabbidon.

Escape Live’s Time Machine, where players have to find their way back to the present day, is one of four games at Escape Live’s Birmingham venue, alongside Dr Wilson’s Office, which is based on a detective theme; Room 13, which has a horror twist and The Lab, where players must stop a toxic gas leak.

It opened in 2015 and the business has now expanded to Coventry, Stratford-upon-Avon and Essex, with a growing reputation as a go-to place for team building days, as well as days out for families, friends and couples.

Will Amott, Venue Manager at Escape Live Birmingham, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome James and the RT Recruitment team to take on the Time Machine challenge.

“They managed to get it done in a good time so they must have been working well as a team. Had they failed to get out in the hour, I was tempted to go into the room and tell them they were fired – but I am not sure how well that would have gone down! Fortunately, the managed to escape.

“I think it’s a great activity for businesses big and small.

“For staff it is a really fun experience, while bosses can see the value of boosting team morale and increasing productivity.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .