Dr Margaret Mountford is a British lawyer, businesswoman and television personality best known for her role in The Apprentice.

She was educated at the voluntary grammar school, Strathearn School in Belfast, then at Girton College, Cambridge. Returning to education later in life, she completed her PhD in 2012 at University College London. Margaret spent a number of years as a lawyer with Herbert Smith, before taking on roles as non-executive director at Amstrad and Georgica. She chairs the board of governors of St Marylebone, an inner-London Church of England Comprehensive School.

Margaret also chairs the Bright Ideas Trust. BIT was set up by the first Apprentice winner Tim Campbell, and helps young people start their own businesses. She was the chair of the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2016.