HIS leadership and sales skills led to two victories as project manager in The Apprentice.

But former Warrington businessman Neil Clough was fired from the hit BBC1 show  tonight, Wednesday, after his business idea was slammed by Lord Sugar’s hard-nosed advisors.

The 33-year-old told the Guardian that he was ‘gutted’ to miss out on the London entrepreneur’s £250,000 investment for his online estate agency plan.

But Neil said he wanted to thank everyone in the town who was rooting for him.

The former Woolston High School pupil said: “I’ll never forget my roots. I think Warrington is a great place and I’d like to thank everybody for all their support.

“The support has been absolutely amazing and I’m sorry that I let people down at the final hurdle but I did give it everything I had.”

Millions tuned in to watch Neil compete against other candidates Francesca MacDuff-Varley, Jordan Poulton, Leah Totton and Luisa Zissman in the semi-final.

But Neil’s estate agency idea, where vendors do their own viewings and processes online, was criticised from the outset by Lord Sugar’s aide Claude Littner.

Claude said: “You’ve been in sales and so you probably can sell your house. Many people do not have that kind of skill.”

Neil, who grew up in Wessex Close, added: “I think the most frustrating thing for me was when I could see how disappointed Lord Sugar was.

“He basically said to me: ‘You’re the right man for me, you’ve just got the wrong plan. If it’s a job I’d give it you now’.

“I’m absolutely gutted I didn’t win. Being somebody who prides themselves on trying to win everything I do I’m finding it difficult to deal with.”

Neil, whose mum Sandra lives in Padgate, had three stints as team leader bringing home two victories and his strong sales skills caught the eye of Karren Brady.

He also brought a smile to people’s faces with soundbites like ‘born winner’ and ‘sales orgasm’.

The regional manager of Goals Soccer Centres now lives in Hale with his wife Catherine and said he got his competitive streak from his dad Bill, who died when he was 18.