SELLING fish heads in the slums of Colombo and helping organise a film premiere were two of the tasks undertaken by a Lancashire man who took part in the Sri Lankan version of The Apprentice.

UCLAN graduate David Howarth, 32, put his business skills to the test in the show, which features six aspiring entrepreneurs from the UK and six from Sri Lanka.

The series was organised by the British Council, which aims to open up markets overseas to British companies.

It was filmed throughout September, with David returning home this week after having what he described as a “fantastic and educational experience”.

David, who lives in Worsthorne, Burnley, and is doing a post-graduate course in creative business in Preston, said: “As soon as we arrived at the airport, the camera crews were following us.

“We were split into teams and had a number of tasks to do.

“I was at the fish market at 5am one morning having to buy fish.

"We sold them out of a van with no running water or toilets and later went to the slums to sell fish heads for soup.

“On another day, we had to shift 300 tickets for the Sri Lankan premiere of Piranha 3 and later run a restaurant.”

David, who heard about the show through an advertisement, now has plans to link up with one of his Sri Lankan counterparts to import cosmetics produced by the ancient craft of ayurveda.

He also has his own business selling a product he has invented, which allows vertical blinds to be held together decoratively.

While in Sri Lanka, he also found time to travel a little and do a work placement with muti-national IT company Virtusa.

As to whether he won the competition, David is a little more reticent, saying only that “in the final show, I was on the winning team”.

The programme will be screened on Sri Lankan television from November and the winner revealed in January.