In a week where the Sunday newspapers led with not one but two Apprentice led stories, you know the series is taking the nation by storm. One serious story as series 1 runner-up Saira Khan talks of reporting a wayward relative who has absconded raising the serious issue of visa deficiencies in the UK and the more salacious that apparently contestant Lorraine (the one that looks like Alan Carr in a wig) is a Swinger. I didn’t see the S originally and simply thought they had spelt “Whinger” incorrectly. Oh well. Is that news? Of course not – but it sells newspapers.And selling is what this week’s task is all about. Deceptively simple, the idea is to take the items given by Sir Alan, value them and sell them. Simple. Right? Well not if you leave the teams to be led by Philip and Ben.
Philip made the mistake of blanking Lorraine because of his personal opinions of her. Margaret described her as Cassandra. Always right – but no one is listening. Should Philip have won the task? No. They did dreadfully. Very disappointing. This simple task epitomises what business is about. Valuation, business plan and execution. Philip only escaped because Ben and his team were even worse. Margaret was certainly not impressed by Philip “This must be one of the most stupid activities they have engaged in” as the rug was hauled up and down the streets of London.
And once again Ben was involved in a terrible botched situation. He has little talent, thinks his skills are way in excess of reality and was completely and totally responsible for the team’s loss. But Noorul got fired.
The wrong decision by Sir Alan. Again? Actually no.
Noorul isn’t a salesman and I am afraid to win The Apprentice you need to be able to sell. He also didn’t do good Boardroom. Ben was digging a hole but Noorul’s arguments were weak. And although I strongly wanted Ben to be fired for having been responsible for the failure of his team, it was right for him to stay. Nice as he may be, Noorul did nothing throughout and when he did, he made mistakes.
So what about the candidates as we move into the business end of the series... Howard is emerging as a steady pair of hands. Kate the voice of reason, Philip the hot head who lets personal views cloud his judgement and Debra is argumentative but not in a good way. Yasmina is argumentative but actually quite sound. Lorraine seems to be capable at making judgement calls but sadly lacks the ability to persuade other people that she’s right. James is the Morris Dancer of the group and Mona... um what’s the point? Ben has no experience and he’s still in because a puffed up individual who thinks they are good and shouts the loudest, when all of us know he isn’t, simply makes for good telly. But he’s rubbish at business and won’t win.
And that’s it for this week’s blog! Do download the free podcast and join this week’s guests who include Nick Hewer, Lee McQueen and Emma Cox from the Sun.
More next week as the teams go up north.