Sutton pizza owner reaches finals of The Apprentice

Anisa Khan (pictured above) is an inspirational young entrepreneur who achieved national recognition as a finalist in the recent 2025 Series of The Apprentice.

Anisa has also achieved business success outside the show. Her unique vision to combine two of the world’s most popular cuisines, Italian and Indian, has met with six-figure success.

One such dish that has proved a big hit with both customers and critics is her, ‘Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza’, which combines bold flavours with a national favourite.

When asked how her life has changed since her journey on The Apprentice, she said: “My life has completely changed! Especially after the interview episode, there has been so much demand for Bombay Pizza – and I’m just trying to keep up with demand!”

When asked about her proudest moment on the show, Anisa commented: “My proudest moment was getting through to the final. Just being able to show my Pizzas. Although I couldn’t use my brand name, I had to call it Zaal Pizza – I was proud to have it on national TV with millions of people watching.”

However, not all of the attention from being on the show has been positive, with some online trolling. Anisa reflects: “I think it’s part of the nature of being on a TV show and in the public eye. Just because someone said something online doesn’t mean it’s true.

“I’m quite confident and grounded in who I am. When I get negative comments, I don’t let it affect me too much because I know it’s not true. However, if it is true, it’s just something that I can work on.”

Despite receiving some unfortunate online negativity, the show’s main personalities were incredibly supportive: “I’m so happy that both Lord Sugar and Baroness Brady gave me such great compliments, they mean a lot to me.”

Although Anisa came runner-up in The Apprentice, her Indian / Italian pizza concept has been a big hit. When asked just what made her concept so special, she answered:

“Consumers always want something new. Because at Bombay Pizza we have such a depth of knowledge, it’s easy for us to create new items, create new pizzas for people.”

When asked about the foundation of her success, she answers: “The foundation is hard work, and whatever I do, I give my all into everything – which I think is finally paying off!”

Anisa has had quite a life journey – going from a food-obsessed student at the prestigious London School of Economics to coming close to winning one of the UK’s biggest shows and business success.

“My family have been running Indian – Bangladeshi restaurants for 50 years now. In a way – Curry is in my blood!

“I grew up around the food industry, and so to me, it’s very homely and normal. I was also very academic growing up, and it made sense that if I got good grades I should go to a good University.

“That’s why I went to LSE. I always thought of food as a side hustle, something to make some money from. It got to a point where I was working in both corporate and my food business and I realised that if I wanted to do something well, I should pick one.

“I gave myself one year to see if I could make a profit or go back into corporate. Within that year I ended up on The Apprentice. So now my life has completely changed – it was a bit of a gamble, but it paid off!”

Anisa’s early life and her heritage played a big part in shaping her career and business success: “I was born and raised in South London, but my parents were both immigrants from Bangladesh, and my Grandad as well.

“My family have been running restaurants for nearly fifty years.”

This family aspect was a real driving force for Anisa: “My Dad is a big role model for me. Watching him as I grew up, I knew that at one point in my life, I would also want that.”

Anisa’s success has meant that she is seen as a role model for aspiring South Asian women: “I’m proud that I was able to go on The Apprentice and become a finalist. I’m so happy that people see me as a role model.”

Asked if she felt this put her under pressure: “Of course, there is pressure to continue that. The way that I see it is that I have done well so far in life, I just have to keep the momentum up and try and make everyone proud.

The pressure is good in a way, as it pushes me to be even more successful”.

As a role model, Anisa went on to give her advice to South Asian women who have ambitions to enter the world of business but face cultural or familial resistance:

“My biggest advice is to just do it! You don’t need someone’s permission to do business. For example, when I first started my business, I got some backlash from my family. They told me that I was silly doing pizzas!

However, now that I was on The Apprentice and doing well, they tell me that they are proud of me. I would say that if you have an ambition, if want to make things happen, the first step is to just do it, and then the success will speak for itself!”

Another interesting factor in Anisa’s success is her background as a national Kabaddi player. Kabaddi is a traditional South Asian contact sport, and it matches her personality:

 “I am extremely competitive, that’s why I love Kabaddi so much!”

Despite her successes, Anisa’s journey has not come without its challenges:

 “The beginning was hard, starting something new, there is a lot that you don’t know. But I’m proud of myself for learning as I went along.

However, the biggest challenge for me is happening right now – business demand has reached such a new high that it’s difficult to supply right now, but I’m working hard every day just to get it done.”

Looking to the future, Anisa describes what she sees on the horizon for her:

“After the show, I’ve had just so much interest – I have had investors reach out, I have people interested in franchising, I have had the big players in the pizza industry interested and offering collaborations.

“Right now, I am on a pause, to consider what is best for me, I want to expand out. This year you will see a second Bombay Pizza!”