It's time to stop moaning about the banks and start your own business, Alan Sugar has declared, after launching a new series of The Apprentice in which he will set up a new joint venture with the winner.

The thrusting entrepreneur hired by Sugar at the conclusion of the latest BBC 1 series won't merely be a minion in the boss's technology-to-property empire -- as has been the case with previous winners of the reality television show.

"It's useful to start blaming the banks for all the doom and gloom we have here in the marketplace," he said. "When no one is helping you, you've got to help yourself."

Sugar will form a 50/50 partnership with his apprentice, which will advance the winner's own business idea. He will inject £250,000 of his own "capital and value" into the new company. His new business partner will share in the profits -- and possibly be liable for any debts if the company fails.

DEBTS

"They won't be liable for any debts because there won't be any," claimed Sugar. "I will be choosing a person capable of running a business. I'll be there to steer it onto the rails if it's going in the wrong direction. We'll have to shut the business down if it doesn't work."

Sugar is joined once more by Karren Brady and Nick Hewer as he whittles down the team to one eventual winner.

Over the series, the contestants will be set tasks such as designing a mobile phone application, creating a new pet food and launching a magazine.

The abrasive Sugar, famed for his "You're fired" catchphrase, criticised an "expectancy culture" in which young people demand wealth and fame without putting in the hard work.

He said: "Everyone's moaning about the banks not helping them doing this, not helping them doing that. The tasks [in the new series] will show them how someone can start a business on their own."

Sugar said he had decided to change format for the show's seventh series to avoid becoming bored with his role. He denied that the new twist could turn it into an imitation of Dragon's Den.

Speaking to the contestants, Sugar set out the deal: "Don't expect me to be doing all the work because I'm not looking for a 'sleeping' partner. I'm not Saint Alan, the patron saint of bloody losers."

A trained actress is among the contestants battling to work alongside Sugar in the new series.

The Apprentice returns on Tuesday, May 10 at 9pm on BBC1