Nicholas Radbourn Hewer (born 17 February 1944) is a retired English television presenter, company director (2010) and former public relations consultant. From 2005 to 2014, he appeared as Alan Sugar's adviser in the British television series The Apprentice. From 2012 to 2021, he presented the Channel 4 programme Countdown with Rachel Riley and Susie Dent.
Early life
Hewer was born in Swindon on 17 February 1944. His mother was Mary Patricia Hewer (née Jamison; 1918–1999) and his father, John David Radbourn Hewer (1915–2010), was a senior partner of Hewer, Spriggs and Wilson, a veterinary practice in the Old Town area of Swindon. They met when both were university students in Dublin. The family lived in Old Town and Hewer was educated at Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit boarding school in County Kildare, Ireland. Hewer has two sisters and two brothers.
Hewer's grandfather, John Radbourn Hewer, 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 public relations (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 used 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 its services marketplace product.
Television
Hewer and the ex-Amstrad owner Alan Sugar became friends through their working relationship. He became one of Sugar's advisers in 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 the sports presenter Jeff Stelling. On 7 December 2020, Hewer announced that he would be leaving Countdown in 2021. His final episode aired on 25 June; he was replaced by Anne Robinson.
In July 2012, Hewer presented a four-part series on BBC Two called The Farm Fixer, in which he assisted farmers in Northern Ireland in diversifying.
He also presented two BBC One series, The Town that Never Retired and We All Pay Your Benefits with Margaret Mountford.
On 28 August 2013 he was the subject of 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.
In 2015, Hewer presented a BBC Two programme called Nick and Margaret: The Trouble with our Trains with Mountford, in which they explore all the problems and insights of Britain's Railways.
Hewer has appeared on the 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, he appeared, with Mountford, in BBC's Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.
Hewer was also a contestant in The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer in 2018 in series 1, episode 2.
In 2022 Hewer and a group of six other celebrity contestants took part in BBC series Pilgrimage.
In 2023, Hewer appeared on a celebrity edition of The Weakest Link ended up being voted off in the first round.
Personal life
Hewer married Margo Spindler in 1973; they had two children and in 1985 were divorced. His son, James, briefly acted as co-director of his father's company.
Hewer has been a patron of the charity Pancreatic Cancer Action since 2015 and in 2017 presented the charity's BBC Radio 4 charity appeal during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
In July 2008 he took part in the charity driving event, the Mongol Rally, in a Renault 4, driving from London to Ulaanbaatar. 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.
