The majority of SME owners would not accept a job working for Alan Sugar given the opportunity.

According to research among more than 2,500 business owners by accounting software company Kashflow, 78 per cent wouldn’t accept a job with Lord Sugar from BBC show The Apprentice for a salary of £100,000.

Of those who wouldn’t work for the Amstrad founder, 23 per cent cite a general dislike for him, while 54 per cent prefer the lifestyle, freedom and independence of being their own boss.

Some 11 per cent believe they can earn more money working for themselves, while 9 per cent admit they ‘couldn’t handle the pressure’ of working for Lord Sugar.

Of those that would accept the gig, 47 per cent say they’d use the experience to ‘learn from him’, whilst 31 per cent would do so ‘for the challenge’.

Interestingly, just 4 per cent say the salary is the main selling point for them.

Founder of Kashflow Dunace Jackson says: ‘We half expected those that currently earned significantly less than £100,000 to say that they would work for him for that amount, but rather surprisingly this really wasn’t the case.’