Yesterday the 2010 series of the Apprentice finally came to an end with Lord Sugar declaring Stella English to be the winner of the much coveted six-figure-salary job at his organisation.

She faced stiff competition from Chris Bates in a task which saw the finalists design and market a new alcoholic drink, with the help of some of the losing contestants of this year's series.

The task proved to be a test of stamina beyond that so far inflicted on the contestants, forcing them to come up with a concept, brand, design, TV advert, 20 minute pitch and of course the drink itself in just three days.

Chris went for a pomegranate-based drink in a bottle that looked like the yet-to-be-completed Shard building at London Bridge. Meanwhile Stella aimed to modernise and feminise bourbon with a new and catchy brand called "Urbon Bourbon".

The gender of drinking unexpectedly came to the fore in the task, with Chris' drink taking some criticism for being a pinkish colour that would put men off drinking it. Chris originally wanted a clear coloured product but sent Liz Locke and Shibby Robati to make the drink.

Liz was all in favour of making it pink and asked Shibby if he, as a man, would have felt comfortable drinking it. Shibby held the drink while attempting to look manly and then said "pink is the new blue" and Chris's fate was sealed from then on. One can't help but think that if Christopher "1950's House" Farrell had been there instead (he was doing the same job for the other team) things might have been different.

Stella also got questions about whether her bourbon based drink would be able to attract female buyers, she countered by saying that she could imagine herself drinking it in her hoped for country mansion. However she later conceded that she was not actually that interested in spirits and would have been more at home with wine.

When it came to the pitch, which took place in front of a large audience at a top grade London hotel, both Stella and Chris proved their critics wrong. Stella has in recent weeks been portrayed as cold and corporate, while Chris was marked down as intelligent but monotonous.

Their pitches were both intelligent (there were no absurd claims that we saw in early episodes such as "the age of the beach towel is over") and humorous and Lord Sugar had a tough time deciding between the two.

In the end Lord Sugar appeared to make his decision based, not on the task, but on the candidate's performance to date and their backgrounds.

While conceding that Chris was immensely talented, Stella already had the experience and the training that Chris still lacked. In addition Lord Sugar was impressed by her humble beginnings and her determination to make something of her life after what seems to have been a tough start.

So it was that Stella was told "You're hired" and for a few moments her "cold and corporate" front was washed away by tears of joy.