Is Essex really the county of grafters?

Of the 18 contestants on the latest series of The Apprentice, four are from Essex. Former winner, and Lord Sugar's aide, Tim Campbell believes the county has a passion for "grafting". Is he right?

The popularity of nail bars, tanning salons, car boot sales and markets in Essex is often used as a stick to beat the county with.

But for Tim Campbell, who won the very first series of The Apprentice, they are part of a "legacy and history" of people finding any means to make their way in life.

"There's an inbuilt entrepreneurial feeling that comes from a community that has had lots of market traders; people who worked in the trades and have then built up businesses, and earning nice money," he said.

Four of the 18 contestants currently vying for Lord Sugar's £250,000 investment are from Essex.

Among the county's most successful Apprentice alumni is Ricky Martin, who won the show in 2012.

A year later, winner Leah Totton chose Loughton as a venue for her cosmetic clinic chain.

Lord Sugar himself lives in the county, in Chigwell, and based his Amstrad headquarters in Brentwood.

Campbell, 47, who won the show in 2005, knows the county well as his mother lives on Canvey Island.

He told BBC Essex: "At the very heart of the Essex community is grafting, whether you're down Basildon market or you're out in Loughton, working for clients who want to do positive Pilates.

"The reality is there is always somebody here who is in a High Street environment, which really backs the story of Britain as a nation of shopkeepers."

Current contestant Chisola Chitambala, from Hullbridge, agrees.

"When you're in Essex, there's something about grafting," she said.

"I don't know if you get it if you're from other parts of the country... but in Essex you definitely graft."

And she said people from the county had another key attribute: "the gift of the gab".

"You know how to talk, you know how to be with people and you grow up kind of being able to use that as well," she explained.

So famed is the county's approach to work and making money that the term "Essex Man" even entered the Oxford English Dictionary.

Defined as a "brash, self-made young businessman", he was said to relish chasing entrepreneurial wealth.

So is there anything in this talk of grafting? Figures suggest so.

According to the latest Office of National Statistics data from 2023, Essex has the most active businesses of any upper-tier authority area in the UK, with 71,390.

Kent and Hertfordshire come in second and third, with 68,910 and 66,605 respectively.

In 2023, Essex also accounted for 2.2% of England's overall GDP and 2.3% of the country's employment.

Finding a bargain on the markets remains a key part of life for many in Essex.

Stallholders continue to sell daily in Chelmsford, with other sales frequently held in Colchester, Epping, Witham and Dovercourt.

Coggeshall also boasts one of the country's oldest markets, dating back to 1256 when the town was granted a Royal Charter.

Thomas Skinner, a pillow salesman who gained fame on series 15 of The Apprentice, has long championed markets.

The 34-year-old - known for his "Bosh!" catchphrase - has traded at North Weald Market and across the east London border in Romford, formerly part of Essex.

Sonny Green is a car boot sale dealer, the owner of a removals company, and claims to have the biggest second-hand shop in the county.

He agrees Essex is a hub for entrepreneurial grafters.

"Especially Southend; I think we're built different around here," he said.

Part of that enterprising spirit, he said, came from Essex's proximity to the City of London.

"That grit where you can basically make it from nothing... a bit of an underdog's tale," he said.

"Some of these areas are not very affluent, but you are close to money... so that can drive us to want to better ourselves and achieve."

He thinks Essex is a goldmine for finding certain characters for reality TV show, including The Apprentice.

"I think they're after that 'cheeky chappy' character, aren't they?

"The charismatic element of the 'wheeler dealer', that sort of character."

Ann Scott, Essex development manager at the Federation of Small Businesses, pointed to some of the entrepreneurs who had recently emerged from the county.

Maldon-based James Sinclair had 15 to 20 businesses at 37 years old, including Rossi Ice Cream, she said.

She mentioned Maria Antoniou, who sprinkled crisps into chocolate bars, thus inventing "Bar of Crisps", and took it to Dragon's Den.

"She didn't get investment but she's still grafting away, trying to find a factory to produce this on a larger scale," Ms Scott said.

Zane Chiswell-Rivas also took the plunge with Essex Spirits Company.

"He started in his nan's bedroom during lockdown making spirits; he now runs a distillery and has just opened a new bar in Chelmsford," she said.

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