British plumber, Hannah Dodkin wins the Middle East Apprentice

Hannah Dodkin, 30, was working for a small property development firm in London when she decided to "expand her horizons" and enter the Arab world's first reality series, Hydra Executives. She was invited to Abu Dhabi to join the cast last February, but was devastated after being "fired" from the program in the ninth week of its 15 week run.

However Hannah had impressed the producers of the Arab world's first reality TV series with her commitment and loyalty to the Royal Group and Hydra Executives so much that she was allowed to enter the final as a wild card.

After persuading a finalist to enter into a joint venture with her, Hannah emerged as a joint winner, winning half of the £670,000 prize money.

Miss Dodkin studied a degree in Design and Art Direction at Manchester Metropolitan University before training as a plumber, which she has said helped her win the contest.

"Working as a plumber has helped me enormously to grasp the technical aspects of the real estate market in the UAE. I now have extensive understanding of the construction process here and it stems from my work on-site. It also makes me a little unique. Being a female on a building site in the Middle East is definitely more rare than back home."

The show producers are remaining tight-lipped about the second British winner in the hope of selling the show to UK television networks.

Hydra Executives was launched by billionaire real estate magnate and philanthropist Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim who plays the show's Alan Sugar figure. He pitted eight British and eight American entrepreneurs against each other in tasks similar to The Apprentice, but geared towards the property development sector.

Mr Al-Fahim, who purchased Manchester City Football Club last year, said his aim was to 'guide' the 16 contestants in 'the art of the real estate industry', before giving the winner $1m prize to start up their own UAE-based real estate venture.

Hannah is currently working for Hydra Properties as a Commercial Officer said she wanted to continue to work for the company.

"I do have a fabulous opportunity to start my own company here in the UAE now since co-winning the Hydra Executives but that will be something that grows from this point onwards. Being a businesswoman in the UAE earns you a lot of respect. I think my style of doing business – being a little understated and flying under the radar suits the industry here."

Hydra Executives was an instant success on Emirates TV last spring, and was subsequently aired again in October on Showtime Arabia, Infinity TV and European channel Real Estate TV.

The second season is currently in being filmed in Lahore, Pakistan.