There was an air of excitement about the small figure stood in front of Tom this week. He was giddy with excitement looking at the merchandise pilled high in front of him. No not one of the young consumers Tom flogged patriotic nodding dogs to; I’m talking about Lord Sugar who was truly in his element at the start of this week’s task. You could see the former van trader practically leaping for joy as he outlined the stock selling task. The only thing missing was a yellow three wheel van power sliding through the warehouse doors.
With that picture firmly fixed in your mind, it was all the more shocking to see Snoozy Suzie sent to Knightsbridge to sell linen door to door. These are the kind of properties that sometimes won’t let number 1000 on The Sunday Times Rich List through the door to use the toilet, let alone a Croydon girl with handfuls of cheap polyester. But it was a sign of things to come from a Venture team led by the useless Natasha. Harsh for sure, but Lord Sugar’s disgust at their ‘win’ was followed by the removal of any winning treat. If she wasn’t sure before, the next time Natasha appears in the boardroom she’ll need to make sure her case is packed.
As much as it was a lucky win for Venture, it was not an unlucky loss for Logic, who under the leadership of Melody floundered under the weight of ego’s and coups. Undoubtedly the stars of the task were the two remaining boys, Tom and Jim, who on opposite teams, sold well. Meanwhile Melody hit several bum notes in failing to ‘smell what sells’ and opted to ignore Tom’s success whilst fighting off a power-drunk Helen hell bent on ‘saving’ the task. It was a poor move from Helen who got the wrong strategy on the task, and has seemingly hit on another poor one in her personal quest. Quite frankly the mere act of walking into a Pound Shop and trying to sell them watches at a trade price of £25 should be a firing offence on its own.
Melody Hossaini has not been the most tuneful of candidates, but, as with Zoe the previous week, she had an air of a candidate for whom the large lady was warming up her vocal chords. This was a real surprise from Melody who only weeks ago impressed Lord Sugar with her no nonsense one woman approach to the Paris task. It seems that rather than that being the start of her ascent to the top of Lord Sugar’s musical range, it was just a case of the triangle player getting over-excited and binging too early.
For far too much of the task both teams were guilty of chasing sales at any cost. They forgot the simple truth of sales that if you sell at a price above your costs you will make a profit. Spending 4 hours of an 8 hour selling window in the back of a cab getting stock to sell for peanuts isn’t going to make anyone any money.
It all proved a task too far for Melody who, though unfortunate to leave before Natasha, had to go having been given a couple of lives already.
All of which leaves a real rag tag bunch of Apprentice candidates in the final five, perhaps more so than any previous series.
How Natasha Scribbens is still among them is something I cannot fathom. She’s lived the kind of charmed life that makes you sure you must’ve missed an episode, either that or there’s more to her ‘yeahs’ than we think. Perhaps they are somehow managing to form a protective, Teflon coated, bubble around the girl keeping her immune from any downfall.
Tom Pellereau despite his obvious confidence floors elicits the kind of twinkle in Lord Sugars eyes that belies the insults flowing from the great man’s mouth. Sugar made his fortune working with people like Tom and even if Tom can’t see it, his Lordship is weighing up if he could do it again. “Jedi” Jim Eastwoood on the other hand, despite his excellent performance this week (and it could be argued, last week as well) looks like the type of candidate who is one slip up away from going. He’s going to have to be the top performer in every remaining task to stand a chance of being the last man standing.
Helen Milligan’s less than impressive task finally allowed us to see beyond the polished organiser from previous weeks, and I’m not sure there’s enough there to win it. Having a strategy and trying to plan is to be admired on such a chaotic task. But what’s more important is to get the right strategy and not just bang on about having a strategy when it was clearly flawed. Her attempted ‘kitchen coup’ underlined a feeling that Helen’s got a little bit drunk on previous weeks successes. Whether she heeds the warning she received in the boardroom will dictate if she stays until the end.
This leaves us with Suzie, the bambi to Jim’s Darth Norn. She divides opinion like no other candidate this year, and yet despite her annoying traits, time and time again she has got to the heart of the task quickly and understood what needs to happen. Ok, she’s often failed to push this through in the face of the strong personalities she is surrounded with, but she potentially has the kind of spark, enthusiasm and energy Lord Sugar is looking for. Whether he could work with her is an entirely different question, and one that may see her falling by the wayside before the end.
Who will win this year’s Apprentice? Let me know your thoughts and vote in the poll on this page.
Star of the Week: "Jedi" Jim Eastwood and Tom Pellereau joint winners this week, Jim showed his sales strengths and Tom stepped outside his comfort zone to sell, sell, sell.
Got Lucky: Natasha Scribbens. Saved again by being on the winning team. She's like Monty Pythons Black Knight and just won't go.
Heading for a Fall: Helen Louise Milligan. Has she been found out?
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