Nick Hewer

Early life

Hewer was born in Swindon on 17 February 1944. He lived in Old Town, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College, an exclusive Jesuit Boarding housel, located in County Kildare, Ireland. His mother, Patricia Hewer (née Jamison), and father, John David Radbourn Hewer (senior partner of Hewer, Spriggs and Wilson, an Old Town veterinary practice) had met when both were university students in Dublin. He has two sisters and two brothers.

Hewer's grandfather, John, began as a vet in Swindon in 1912. His maternal grandfather, Oswald Jamison was High Sheriff of Belfast during the 1920s.

He secured a place to study law at Trinity College, Dublin, but his parents could not afford the fees for him to go there.

Career

Hewer moved to London in the 1960s. aged 20 to join a PR consultancy as a trainee. Within six years he had joined the board and eventually bought out the owner, becoming the sole shareholder. His PR company was hired by Amstrad to represent them in 1983. He spent 21 years in the Amstrad management group. He sold his PR agency in 1998.

Hewer's status as a businessman and public figure has been utilised in various ways; for example, in 2012, he was one of many celebrities to help promote the change in the UK pension scheme to automatic enrolment. In 2013, he worked with Vista Print on their “Build Your Small Business Campaign”, and in 2014 worked with Bark.com to promote their services marketplace product.

Since 2014, Nick has been a brand ambassador for Norwich-based ISO provider QMS International. On their acquisition by Citation in 2015, Nick also became a brand ambassador for the Citation Health & Safety and Employment Law service.

Television

Hewer and ex-Amstrad owner Alan Sugar became friends through their working relationship. He became one of Sugar's advisers on The Apprentice on BBC One. On 18 December 2014, Hewer revealed that he had decided to leave the show after the tenth series, believing it to be "the appropriate time".

On 9 January 2012, Hewer became the new host of the Channel 4 game show Countdown taking over from Sports presenter Jeff Stelling.

In July 2012, Hewer presented a four-part series on BBC Two called The Farm Fixer, where he assisted farmers in Northern Ireland in diversifying.

Hewer also presented two BBC One series The Town that Never Retired and We All Pay Your Benefits with Margaret Mountford.

On 28 August 2013, Hewer appeared on an episode of BBC One's, Who Do You Think You Are?.

In July 2014, Hewer co-presented a BBC One documentary series with Margaret Mountford called Nick and Margaret: Too many Immigrants? which researched the impact of and attitudes towards immigrants in the UK.

Hewer has appeared on panel shows Would I Lie to You? (2011), Ask Rhod Gilbert (2011), Have I Got News for You (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016), Room 101 (2012) and Big Star's Little Star (2015).

In December 2015 Hewer appeared, alongside Margaret Mountford, in BBC's Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.

Personal life

Hewer married Margo Spindler in 1973, but they were divorced in 1985 after they had had two children (James and Kate).

Hewer has a house in Lot-et-Garonne, in southwest France, and one in Northamptonshire where he lives with his partner Catherine.

In July 2008, Hewer took part in the charity drive event, the Mongol Rally, in a Renault 4, driving from London to Ulan Bator. He raised over £12,000 for Hope and Homes for Children. He wrote a series of blogs about his journey for the online travel section of the Daily Telegraph.

Hewer is a supporter of the Labour Party. While appearing on Question Time in 2017 he stated that he has supported the party since Harold Wilson, but was critical of the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Milliband.

On 2 November 2012, Hewer received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Kingston University in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to business and entrepreneurship".