A CIMA student has put in a promising performance as a contender on hit BBC show, The Apprentice.
24 year-old Howard Ebison (pictured), a retail business manager from Derby, UK, bravely volunteered to manage the first task set by Sir Alan Sugar and his team won.
In the series Howard will compete with other Apprentice contenders for a six figure salary job working for Sir Alan Sugar by completing a new task each week.
According to the BBC website, Howard is 'an enthusiastic businessman who thrives in managerial positions'. He's an award winning dancer, self-trained musician and area manager of 10 pubs.
Howard now describes himself as family-orientated but also ambitious. He hopes to set up his own consultancy specialising in customer service one day.
Howard says: 'I am a credible businessman who wants to go far. If I don't go far down this route I shall go far down another route.'
Howard has already generated some lively comments on the BBC website. One poster says: '24 and still not CIMA qualified...never going to make it. I never went to Uni and I was still qualified at 23. However it is the best accounting institute as it is in the real world not some pie in the sky auditing firm, so he should know what he is doing. Perhaps at last we will have someone who does the costing and makes a profit.'
Howard's business skills are not the only thing that's been attracting attention on the BBC site, with one poster highlighting his 'hypnotic blue eyes' and 'insouciant pout' and another calling him 'gorgeous'.
See the story and all the comments here.