Sir Alan Sugar, the enterprise czar, has come under fire from the boss of Marks & Spencer for setting a bad example with his television persona.

Sir Stuart Rose said the management techniques promoted by Sugar on The Apprentice, the BBC show, were no longer tolerated in most workplaces.

The executive chairman of M&S, regarded as one of the UK’s most successful retailers, said business leaders should set “the right tone” by fostering teamwork, rather than humiliating employees with the “hire and fire” approach popularised by Sugar.

“If people think business is all about how it works on The Apprentice, they are in for a surprise,” said Rose. “If I ran my business in that way I’d probably have my P45 very quickly.”

Rose said it was important for entrepreneurs to set a good example, not just as business leaders but also as human beings. “It’s terribly important for people like chief executives to be role models, not just in business but to show there is another part of life,” he said.

“Just as we mustn’t demonise business we mustn’t stereotype business and suggest the only way to run it is to hire and fire or do down colleagues. It’s about teamwork, it’s about diligence, it’s about being as full a man as you can be.”

Gordon Brown, the prime minister, recently appointed Sugar as enterprise czar. Last week it emerged that Sugar was facing an employment tribunal for alleged sex discrimination and bullying, brought by a senior female executive at one of his firms. Sugar categorically denies the allegations.

Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal Democrat peer, has written to the House of Lords appointments commission asking for Sugar’s peerage to be put on hold until the case is resolved. Speaking anonymously last week a member of the commission told Channel 4 that there were concerns about Sugar’s appointment.

“There have been cases in the past where we have delayed the appointment until we are satisfied. This present situation falls into the same category,” said the peer.

Sugar, the son of a tailor from Hackney in east London, left school at 16 and sold electrical goods from a van. In 2007 he disposed of Amstrad, the firm he founded in 1968, selling it for £125m to the broadcaster BSkyB.

Sugar said: “It’s true Stuart has a very different business style to me. He has done a great job in changing the face of M&S and fending off the low-cost competitors.

“Funnily enough my grandfather used to tell me that I reminded him of Michael Marks, the founder of M&S, who started the business on a stall in Leeds.

“Maybe my style was applicable in those early days.”