Two popular visitor attractions take centre stage on BBC's Apprentice

Shrewsbury Prison and Blists Hill Victorian Town are both locations featured in tomorrow night's episode of The Apprentice.

Lord Sugar's latest group of wannabe business moguls were whisked into the county last summer to film at the two major tourist attractions – with both becoming the focus of a tourism-based challenge.

Tasked with hosting immersive events at the popular sites, viewers will see the teams battle it out for ticket sales as they book entertainment, source local food vendors and promote their events locally, with the most profitable of the two coming out on top.

With confused convicts and a potential dining disaster on the cards, the episode is set to keep viewers on the edge of their seats as the competition hots up in the boardroom.

Joel Campbell, chief executive of Shrewsbury Prison, said they had been delighted to welcome the show – not the first occasion the prison has starred on TV.

He said that it had been a different experience watching other people trying to run the business – and seeing the decisions they took.

He said: "Allowing people to run our business for the day is obviously interesting because they do it quite differently to us.

"There were some 'oh my god' moments where we thought 'how are you doing it like that'.

"But it was a fun process and a fun couple of days watching them put it together, because our role is an advisory role so we do what they ask us to do."

Asked if there were any budding future prison attraction operators within this year's Apprentice crop, Mr Campbell said: "There were a couple that stood out – their personality definitely stood out."

Now he will be sitting down like the rest of us to see how the episode goes, not having been given a chance to see it in advance.

He said: "We see it the same time as everyone else. We don't even know whether Lord Sugar will say Shrewsbury or 'Shrowsbury'!"

Abbie King, chief operating officer at The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, said they were delighted at the chance for the attraction to feature in the national spotlight.

She said: “We’re incredibly proud of the industrious history of Shropshire – a county that has long been the catalyst for so many pioneering business people. That’s why we were delighted to have had the opportunity to play host to Lord Sugar’s latest line-up of entrepreneurs as part of the current series of The Apprentice.

“Our mission as a trust is to highlight the history and heritage in our region and having the chance to be part of flagship, primetime programmes like this is a fantastic way to put The Ironbridge Gorge and the wider county on the map on a national scale.

“We know only too well the challenges that the tourism industry has faced in the wake of the pandemic and particularly now that we find ourselves in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis so we’re excited to see how the contestants handle this week's tourism-themed task and can’t wait to see how everything pans out in the boardroom!”

The full episode will air on BBC One on Thursday at 9pm.