Discount Store The Apprentice

This programme contains some strong language.

£250,000. It's an acorn, which we want grown into a great oak tree.

Lord Sugar's on the hunt for a brand-new business partner.

If you think this process is tough, it's just got a whole lot tougher.

Over the next 12 weeks, you are out of your comfort zone.

Ready to fight for his funding...

18 aspiring entrepreneurs.

Supply and demand, that's what this is about.

I'm demanding the answers, you better bloody well supply them.

On the table, a quarter-million-pound investment.

And a 50-50 partnership with Britain's toughest backer.

You haven't used any of your skills, any of your knowledge...

Mistake on that, mistake on this, straight in the bin.

-There, Rich! Come on!

-Let's go, mate.

It's a deal worth battling for.

You are such a manipulator.

I can see straight through you.

18 candidates...

-Hang on, ooh.

-Pedestrians, out of the way.

We're going to be...explosive.

-..12 testing weeks...

-I really don't know what to do.

-I messed up a bit, didn't I?

-Oh, my God.

..one life-changing opportunity...

You're fired. You're fired.

This is a bad call on strategy.

You're fired.

Previously on The Apprentice...

I want you to set up your own handyman business.

Garden clearances, house clearances and everything in between.

Project manager Elle laid poor foundations...

You've missed the deadline for your flyer.

-That's completely my fault. Sorry about that, guys.

-Are they meant to lean to one side?

-They're meant to stay straight.

-..and her team failed to measure up.

But now, that bit's too short.

-I don't know why, but they're wrong.

-That ain't coming off.

-Am I allowed to get away with that, am I?

-Are you kidding?

On the other team...

Always go with customer satisfaction.

..Sam struggled to keep count.

-£20 an hour.

-Yeah.

-So, 120.

-No.

-I don't understand.

-It's £20 an hour per person.

-But Brett...

Get this power washed and swept down.

..cleaned up to take victory.

Very good.

Connexus, you've had your first win, so congratulations.

-For

-Elle... It's completely my fault. Completely my fault.

-..an early exit.

-Mistake on this, mistake on that.

-There's no point carrying on. You're fired.

-Thank you.

It was also time up for Mergim.

It is admirable that you have worked your way up,

but it is with sincere regret

that you're fired.

And April made it three.

I do believe that you have been standing back.

You're fired.

CHEERING

It's just me, it's just me.

I've never seen something so brutal in my life.

Now ten candidates remain

to fight for the chance to become...

Lord Sugar's business partner.

WIND HOWLS

GUNSHOTS

Raise you lot 500.

4:30pm.

GUNSHOT

Ready?

ALL: Ooh...

For the candidates...

a day of rest.

Versatile won every single task and, when they lost,

a triple firing.

That culling was horrible.

GUNSHOT

-I'm reading about post-traumatic stress disorder.

-Yeah.

-I really understand where they're coming from...

-SAM LAUGHS

..having stress from the boardroom.

All in.

DOORBELL RINGS

-The doorbell's just gone.

-What?

Lord Sugar.

-Welcome.

-Yes.

Could you go and get the candidates

-and bring them in that room, please, yeah?

-Yeah, sure.

Lord Sugar's here, upstairs, now. Straight up.

Everyone! Lord Sugar's here!

Meeting in the living room right now.

-Lord Sugar's here, Vana.

-Lord Sugar's here.

-What's going on?

-Lord Sugar's in the...big brainstorm room.

Waiting for you and you're late.

-Good afternoon.

-ALL: Good afternoon, Lord Sugar.

So, as you know, I let three candidates go on the last task.

So, the first thing I'm going to do is even the teams up.

So, Gary, come over to Team Versatile.

Now, in the past decade, discount stores

and pound shops have taken over the high street.

These stores tempt punters in

by selling branded goods at a cheap price.

But it's the non-branded items where the margins really lie.

For this task, you're going to open up your own discount store.

I'm going to send you to Manchester

and the reason is because they have an excellent array

of wholesalers, where you'll be able to choose the merchandise

that you're going to sell.

And just to note,

businesses don't grow by sitting on the cash that they've made.

So, you're going to have to continually replenish the stocks

and, at the end of the task, I will be counting your stock,

your cash and that will be your assets.

-Is that...clear?

-ALL: Yes, Lord Sugar.

OK. Good luck

and I'll see you in a few days' time in the boardroom. Off you go.

ALL: Thank you Lord Sugar.

With a starting fund of £500,

teams have two days to spot hot sellers...

-The earphones will sell quite well.

-..and turn products into profit.

-Welcome to the team, Gary.

-Yeah. It's good to be back.

First, both budget shops need bosses.

I'm going to put myself forward, I desperately want to do it,

I love selling so much, I think I can take us to win.

I really want to...give it a go.

I think I'm the only one in the process not to be project manager yet.

I've worked for one of the biggest retailers in the UK

for the last seven years.

I really, really, really want to do it.

Gary, I would like to back you.

-Gary, I personally think you'd be good for this.

-Yeah.

Gaz, congratulations, PM, mate.

'In my industry, I am known as the postman, because I always deliver.'

It's my job as project manager to be very clear throughout the task

and I will not stop at anything until I have won.

OK, we can do handshakes later.

Heading up the other team, senior sales manager, Scott.

Has anybody been to discount shops before? Does anyone buy from them?

I would go in there and buy cups, kitchen material.

I used to go in there for all of my homeware and cleaning stuff,

cos I don't care where that comes from.

Next, choose what type of unbranded stock to sell.

We need to look at which items are going to sell at a higher price

-because those will provide us with the higher margins.

-Absolutely.

I'm personally swaying towards the electronics.

-Is everyone...

-Yeah.

-Are you happy with that?

-OK.

It's very interesting they've all shopped in discount stores

and they talked about the various items they bought,

but not one of them mentioned electronics

and they've decided to stock their store with electronics.

OK, so the products I like is the selfie sticks, portable speakers,

the portable device charger,

hand blender, the extension lead.

I feel like these are all very male-targeted products.

As a woman walking past,

I wouldn't necessarily go, "Ooh, look at all these black wires!"

'I've got some big personalities.

'I think we have to have a lot of respect,'

cos, if not, it won't work and we'll have a shambles.

Electronics generally is more something that guys are going to...

-No.

-I disagree.

-We've chosen the product, so it's completely pointless.

-It's not, Sam,

because it's a good point about looking at the potential negatives

of any product and it's something we need to be aware of.

The cheaper products is what will make you the money.

Still trying to pin down their unbranded items...

-That's something we really need to buy a lot of.

-..Gary's team.

You'll always want to pick up extra towels,

extra bits and bobs from the house, you've got gifts like candles.

If you pop in to see someone, you'll buy candles.

What do you think on the fan?

I know it's 11 quid, but we could sell that fan for at least 20 quid.

Gary, the problem with the fan is

people are going out specifically to buy a fan.

Gary's letting the others say too much

and he's not really decisive enough.

Things like the bubble gun as well,

if you're outside a shop and you're blowing bubbles,

you're going to attract people in.

He's not being as tough as he should be.

I'm just going to go through these for two minutes.

I want to get my head around these, so, if you want to just carry on

doing what you're doing, then... don't think I'm ignoring you.

5am.

The teams head north.

I'm going to be fluent in Mancunian.

-EXAGGERATED ACCENT

-Say, "Manchester".

-Manchester. And all just like...

-Man-chester.

-VANA LAUGHS

-Oh, God.

As well as sourcing unbranded stock to shift in bulk...

Gary here from Versatile,

I was wondering if I could place an order for some branded items, please.

..both teams can order branded goods...

Listerine mouthwash, 84p.

..to pull in the punters.

First of all, the energy drinks can, please, 500ml,

12 at £9.72.

-SCOTT:

-The self-tanning wipes, 20 at, um...

-bear with me two seconds. It's there, it's there.

-Yeah.

-No, no, no...

-that's...

-No, it's seven.

I'm really not convinced that our demographic

is going to buy whitening tooth gel from a discount stand.

Well, what would you put instead?

Um, if I can have a look at the...

I just need, I need it for five seconds, Selina.

The total price is £174.52.

-'Correct, yes.'

-Thanks ever so much for your help.

10am.

Manchester.

Tomorrow, teams will open discount stores

in one of the city's best-loved shopping centres.

-First...

-Hello, hello, everybody.

..hit the wholesalers to pick out their products.

Well, there's the extension lead.

Powering through with his plan to sell tech...

-We'll have the hand blender.

-Selfie sticks at the front.

..a speedy stock up for Scott.

-Speakers are here.

-And there's the power pack.

-We have everything, yeah?

-We have everything.

For the selfie stick, we're thinking around 180% mark-up.

'None of us buy electrical products from discount stores.'

However, the margins are really good and that's why the decision was made

so it's a bit of a risky strategy, in my opinion, but it could pay off.

Judging by the quality, I think

the amounts that we're selling these for are a reasonable price.

Across town...

-Shall we take this?

-..sizing up a mixed bag of homeware and gifts...

I want to maximise the money,

-but I want to get as much quantity as possible.

-..Gary's team.

They are actually good candles.

That's a nice box.

I've got 450.

Gary's team are buying a variety of items

in a bit of a scatter-gun approach.

There's going to be some toddlers with their mums that I think

-we'll probably be able to sell bubble guns to.

-Yeah.

The value of the products is actually quite low,

so they're going to have to shift an enormous amount in order to make a decent profit.

-You could do these at three for £10, cos they're cheap.

-OK.

On the other team...

Six items. One, two, three, four, five, six.

..tech stock chosen.

-Are we all happy?

-I am, yeah.

Placed in charge of figures, private tutor Sam.

Total price of £333.70.

-Let's do it.

-Amazing.

Total amount is £368.36.

-Brilliant.

-It's not.

-Is it not? Hold on.

It should be lower.

INDISTINCT

Just have a quick look at this.

Could you tell us what the total price is,

excluding the 2.5%?

I have to say, when you're buying 84 items

and you can't work out the numbers...

What we're going to have to do is take a couple of products off,

if that's OK with you.

Sam should be so embarrassed about this.

On the other team, with product range picked out...

Charleine and Joseph, I see you as two strong negotiators.

..from project manager Gary, a plan.

In terms of the target, it would be great to get

double the quantity at the same price.

-Morning.

-Morning.

-So we've purchased a range of kids' toys and some household goods.

-OK.

So we're wondering if we could double up.

So basically, in a sense, it's buy-one-get-one-free.

So have we got a deal? Can we double our stock with you today?

-HE LAUGHS

-No, no, no.

Wholesalers work on small margins and big volume.

The best I could do is a 5% discount.

If you buy that again later on, we can do 10% for you.

There's no way they can have lots of free products,

and asking for it is completely absurd.

We'll get going now.

2pm.

All the candle sets. As many as you can actually physically fit in.

The teams divide...

-Oh, come on, Dave.

-..to sell their wares.

There's only two of you, but right,

I'm going to put you in charge. Yeah? Good luck.

They've got four hours

to test their merchandise on Manchester's shoppers...

-Right here.

-Hang on, hang on, hang on.

..before restocking the hot sellers later today.

-You all right, Charleine? Yeah?

-Yeah.

The heavy candles are heavy.

-Well done, mate.

-HE GROANS

Every minute counts.

-Hi, ladies, how are you doing?

-No, no, no, Richard...

We are selling today lovely candles.

Selfish idiot.

And also body butter gift set.

You smell of roses, or even watermelon.

Ladies, I've got something you might be interested in.

If you have a little smell of that.

-Mm, that's nice.

-We can do you one of those for £5.

-Do you want one of these?

-I'll have one of them.

-One of them as well? Excellent.

Richard, because he is a little bit irritating,

he really gives you that extra edge,

because you just want to smash him all the time.

And I'll give you £5 back there, lovely, all right?

-Do that again, Charleine.

-Mate, it's all about selling the maximum,

-so all we want to do is absolutely win.

-Charleine, first of all...

At the end of the day, you snooze, you lose.

If you can sell more than him, and you see his little face

dropping down, it just gives you that pleasure.

So Richard keeps me going.

-Just be a little bit more professional, Charleine.

-Yeah, and you too.

So, if we're setting up, just give us a little hand, darling.

Guys, guys, guys, guys. We just made a sale. Come on.

I know, made a sale. Well done, guys. Going to win this.

I'm going to lead this now I'm sub team leader, right?

Pitching up at Piccadilly Gardens...

I cannot believe he made you sub team leader of a two-person team.

HE LAUGHS

..Brett, Vana and a table full of tech.

-Do you like the prices? How they're written?

-Yeah, no, that's decent.

-That's what we wanted anyway, so people can see what it was and then what it is.

-Exactly.

We're selling mobile device chargers for £10.

Limited time only.

Do you feel comfortable mis-selling to the public?

Cos you've never sold at these prices. Where was it £18.99?

-Genuinely don't know about that.

-What about this?

I can change them. That's fine.

Do you know, Lord Sugar takes honesty really incredibly seriously.

Yeah.

These candidates are misleading the public.

They've never sold these products at these prices.

-Change your pricing structures.

-Not a problem.

-Change your signs.

Yeah, not a problem.

Selfie stick, £10.

Frankly, I'm very disappointed.

Lord Sugar will be even more disappointed.

Guys, we've got selfie sticks, consumer electronics,

leads, phone chargers.

Charging through sales of electronics...

-There's your receipt, sir.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you so much. And here are your portable speakers.

..Sam and Selina.

Say cheese.

Anyone got a smartphone, iPhone?

You don't know what I'm going to say!

Still to make a sale...

# Everyone wants to ignore me. #

..project manager, Scott.

We'll do you a deal for £8. Fantastic.

-There we go.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

How you doing? You all right?

-Not interested, thank you.

-You don't know what I've got to say.

I haven't even said anything!

How can you say "I'm not interested"? Yeah, whatever.

I know Scott to be the best seller probably in this whole process,

so, if he's having a bad day, then I'm happy to write it off.

But if he's having a bad day tomorrow,

perhaps I'd be less understanding.

It is bad, but fortunately, me and Sam picked up the slack.

Imagine if we were all shit!

We have selfie sticks, chargers and all sorts of things.

Thank you for acknowledging me.

6pm.

I saw a tenner there, and you didn't want me to see it.

You didn't want me to see it. Thank you.

One hour before the wholesalers close.

-So there's one bag there.

-Thank you.

Last chance to sniff out top sellers.

-Yeah!

-Do it, man! Get yourself a selfie stick.

If I wasn't selling it, I'd be buying it. That's how good it is.

Money, money, money, money...

Time to collect takings...

Just get what you can get with that.

Number one is selfie sticks, number two is mobile power banks,

and then number three is earphones.

-So towels and paddling pools, no-no, the others are hot, yeah?

-Yeah.

Guys, see you back at base.

-You all right, Vana?

-Yeah, I'm a little bit behind you.

..and restock for tomorrow's grand opening.

-We're going to have to run.

-Whoa! Receipt book!

While Brett and Vana invest in more high-margin tech...

50, 60...

A grand total of £267.80.

..for Gary's team, it's a trolley dash.

HE IMITATES SCREECHING BRAKES

'Got a broad range of products which really appeal to the mass market.'

Four boxes of body butter.

'We've gone for the cheapest.'

One thing we are going to be tomorrow is value for money.

Manchester Arndale.

Home to over 200 stores.

And, for one day only,

Discount Haven...

-This stands out, you know?

-I like it.

It's the only yellow one here.

..and Manchester's Discount Store.

Oh, that looks nice.

Good spot, guys.

Right, shall we get set up?

First job - unpack their delivery of big name brands.

Put something here as an impulse buy.

-Yeah, got the sweets.

-Sweets.

Pushing for premium prices, project manager Gary.

Bathroom tissue - cost price £1.50.

We'll go with £3 on that, yeah?

The mint mouthwash, 86p. £2?

Well over doubling the price on that one.

Branded products should be at sacrificial prices

to entice people into the shop. They haven't done that.

They're doubling up, they're tripling up.

Fizzy drink - do you think you could get £1.50 for them?

-Definitely.

-They've got to be £1.50. They're more premium. Well over doubling.

The whole idea is to pile it high, sell it cheap.

They haven't piled it high and they're not selling it cheap.

The toothpaste, that was only 54p.

You know what? Let's try it at £1.50.

Upstairs...

Self-tanning wipes is £1. Gummy babies £1.

..setting out their branded products...

Still water £1, orange energy drink £1.20.

-..Scott's team.

-We happy with that?

Could we just make everything in this bin £1.50?

That's what I'd do. Because then you've got bin specific, haven't you?

-I'm writing the cards now, so let me know a decision.

-OK. Right.

It's not that hard. We just need to sell some products.

Whatever sells, we replenish, and then we sell more of.

They always have baskets near the front, though, cos they're little, like, grabby...

Yeah, but you wouldn't come... Think of a shop -

you wouldn't come in, grab and then go shopping.

-God.

-No, but...

Once the tables are all set up, you'd have islands in the middle.

'Everybody has an opinion,'

but when you have too many voicing an opinion, it makes it complicated.

-I just don't think that looks good.

-I think it's clear.

-Selina!

-What? I didn't touch it.

We need to get on with it and get as many people in, work as a team.

Every time I do something, somebody tries to take it over.

That's what we need to do.

Next for Scott...

So we're going to have to split up into two teams today.

..allocate roles.

Me, Selina and Sam are staying and selling,

and Brett and Vana are going out to get everyone in.

Be that as it may, though, obviously I don't want to have

anything that's going to potentially be thrown

back in our faces, just because we've been out doing the marketing.

It's going to be so vital to get customers into the shop.

I know, but, Sam, so why don't you go do it? You know what I mean?

Basically, if we are brought into a boardroom,

-everything's put down to what everybody's contributed.

-And numbers.

It is massively cut-throat at the end of it, so, for me, it's a bit of a...

I think Scott is well aware

that Brett and I are his best salespeople,

and that is why he didn't want us competing with him in the store.

-OK, good luck, guys!

-Bye.

-Have a good one.

I feel he is trying to set up who he could blame

if this task doesn't go as planned.

He put Sam, who's not even an experienced salesman,

-and Selina in the store.

-Thing is, at the end of the day, we flagged it up.

It's fucking bullshit.

Hi, sir, how are you?

Do you want to come and look at our new discount store? Sir, yourself? No worries.

Hi there.

9am - shops open for business.

Do you want me to open a few of those diffusers?

Yeah, just take a handful out and add to the presentation.

Then we've got our little beauty world then as well.

Ignoring passing trade...

What we're going to do, we're going to walk the customer journey.

..Gary shares the science of setting up shop.

Let's walk the shop, then. These have got to come inside.

I want them in the centre as well,

because it'll form an orderly journey.

It'll stop people just being like ants. So this is our toilet world.

Next the house world.

Do Jammie Dodgers go with washing powder?

Right, guys, let's sell well.

T-shirts, guys?

-Does this look all right or does it look stupid?

-It looks stupid.

Hey!

-Open for business.

-Open for business!

Discount Haven.

Teams have eight hours to tempt shoppers.

Discount Haven. You should check it out.

Right over there next to Ann Summers.

-Thank you.

-We've got some beauty products like fake tan.

We've got some Impulse body spray.

There's your drink as well, you've got your bag.

-Do you want to pop in and have a look at the discount store this morning?

-No.

-At Gary's store...

-Let me tell you what this is all about.

-Come and let me show you what products...

-Sorry.

-30 seconds.

-How you doing?

-..high mark-ups mean low sales.

Just £2. No? Are you sure?

Mouthwash £2.

-Absolute bargain.

-I'm all right, cheers.

-I'm livid.

-Is there anything you're interested in today?

Almost next door, you've got the UK's largest discounter

at prices that are a fraction of what these fools are charging.

-They're only selling for £1, are they? Where? Which shop?

-Poundland.

-Are they?

-Yeah.

-They're selling them for £1 at the moment?

-Yeah.

-OK.

I'll get the fishing rod out.

-Come on!

-HE LAUGHS

Trying to "reel in" passing trade,

marketing man Richard.

We are Manchester's newest discount store.

I've even got a T-shirt saying it, it means it's true.

'People won't just walk into a shop randomly.'

Come with me and ice skate. 'I know that'

being out the front is actually the most important thing in this job.

-You're wasting your energy.

-I've got lots of energy to waste, though.

That's why I've made sure that I was part of it.

Hiya, madam, how you doing?

# We are Manchester's newest discount store! #

-Ah.

-Also out to drum up business...

-Oh, no!

-Discount store.

-..Brett and Vana.

-Yeah, their store looks good.

It looks like they're very organised.

-It looks like their set-up is much cleaner.

-Ours is...

-They've got the cuddly toys...

-Look at Richard.

-Hiya, madam.

-BOTH LAUGH

-What is he doing?

I'm an ice skater. How you?

-What was that?!

-That was terrifying.

I can't see you two doing anything. Hallo, madam.

Mate, I don't need to, cos I'd rather not do anything than dance like that.

-That was embarrassing!

-Hiya, madam, how you doing?

He so reminds me of David Brent.

-You're walking so fast!

-WOMAN LAUGHS

-Hello, guys.

-Hello, guys. How you getting on?

-I'd say mediocre.

-Back at base...

-What I noticed about Versatile's

is that theirs is all upfront, so, when the customers come in,

they're just kind of congregating around the front area.

..a tactical rethink.

Pull all these baskets out the front and bang 'em out for a pound.

-Yeah.

-Stop keeping it in here, draw 'em in.

-OK, is this iron selling?

-Er, no.

-I think push them forward and...

If you put bland items in the front,

people will just keep on walking past.

People can't really see them. Can we just run with that strategy?

People are not buying that product.

I want that stuff in there.

Speak to me like that again... At the end of the day,

-I'm trying my best.

-All right, I want that stuff...

-That's boring.

-I would like that stuff in that.

-That's fine. OK, That's fine.

Thank you.

'Everyone thinks their ideas are the best and it has to be that way,'

but everyone's annoying me in some aspect.

Sam, you stay here. Me and yourself will go out.

And, Vana and Brett, you stay here.

-All right, we'll go and drum up some more stuff.

-Brilliant.

It's a little bit of a circus act, to be honest with you.

Right there.

-Can I show you something?

-No.

-Can I just quickly show you something?

On the other team...

-We've also got some beautiful...

-No.

-But...

Need some kitchen roll?

..with high-priced goods slow to shift...

Come and have a little look. Go on.

I think we need to do some sort of, like, bargain buy, I really do,

just to get a lot of the stuff sold.

..from Joseph, a plan to secure sales.

What about if we say £5 for the bag? Take five items all in one?

-I like the idea, we'll give it a go.

-Yeah?

-All right, cheers, mate.

-Mouthwash, a toothpaste...

-That's only 50p.

-..a can of drink.

-Cool. Jam biscuits?

-Jammie Dodgers.

-Then I was thinking the kitchen roll.

-OK.

Special offers sorted.

-Do you want one of these manager's specials for £5?

-Go on.

-Yes!

You're making the manager very happy.

At Scott's electrical store...

There you go, madam. Your receipt's in there. Both receipts. Thank you.

We have selfie sticks, portable phone chargers, hand blenders.

Just come take a look. There's no harm in that, right?

..after a staffing reshuffle, a surge in sales.

-There's that one and that one.

-Thank you.

It was very quiet this morning.

-What's your name?

-Brett and Vana have come into the store

and things have really picked up. They're great salespeople.

-Cherry?

-Yeah, well done. It's Jelly Belly Very Cherry body wash.

Try saying that after a couple of drinks.

-Come in.

-'They're charming people into the store and they're selling.'

-SAM SIGHS

-'The problem is Sam.'

He's been in the store all day,

he's had far more opportunity than anyone else to sell,

and yet, Brett and Vana have turned up

and they're already outshining him.

-Self-tan wipes? They're really good.

-Do I look like I need a tan?

-Come on!

-No, to be fair.

-Let's be serious.

He didn't have a good day yesterday, he messed all the figures up,

and he's lost his way again today.

-TILL BEEPS

-Oh, shut up! Oh!

BEEPING CONTINUES

Screw that!

Lunchtime.

We are Manchester's newest discount store.

For Gary's team, with prices down...

So we've got ourselves a deal on some oven cleaner for £2?

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Come on, then, let's get that sorted.

..takings are up.

Keep going, guys.

Selfie sticks, guys!

SHE SPEAKS CHINESE

For Scott...

We need to get loads of new stock and see what they've sold.

-Hi, guys.

-You all right?

-Yeah.

..a plan to reinvest takings in more tech.

What is it that we are selling the best of?

Portable phone chargers is the bestseller by miles.

Headphones are selling pretty well.

Me and yourself, we'll go replenish the stock.

-Can I just say...?

-Yeah, go, go.

I've been brought out of the store at the busiest time.

Now, you're taking me away from the store again.

It's the same thing you mentioned about sales.

-It's not fair, cos it'll reflect... And I sold the most yesterday.

-OK.

You did sell the most yesterday, but this morning, you didn't.

-Whatever.

-Yeah?

-It's fine.

-Guys...

-OK, all right.

This is horrendous!

Oh, my gosh!

You just humiliated me in front of everyone.

This morning, it wasn't busy here, but they've now got

the busiest time, which we're not going to get credited for.

-Yeah.

-So I don't want to be in the firing line for not selling.

Selina, all she does is complain and talk negatively.

We had to be fair to Brett and Vana. Now we're not being fair to me.

And she doesn't actually contribute, she just talks about

what she could be doing, so I'm happy that she's gone.

At Manchester's Discount Store...

-Gary?

-..a more relaxed approach to reinvestment from Gary.

As you can see, this place is getting really busy.

This is certainly not the time

for Gary to be working out what stock is required.

He should have done that much, much earlier.

Do you want these all in different bags?

-We've got two bags.

-Oh, you have?

Cash in the till doesn't earn you money.

You've got to replenish the stock frequently.

-Gary?

-Yes, mate?

-Can I have you for a second, please?

-Ten seconds.

It's pretty important, mate. 'As a project manager,'

Gary's a little lost at the moment. I can't really see him.

-Gary?

-Yeah?

-I need you again, mate, please.

Every time I turn around, he's not there or he's hiding in the back.

Gary?

Anyone want to buy any Maltesers or...body wash or anything? No?

-SELINA LAUGHS

-It's all right, I'll talk to myself.

-3:30pm.

-You all right?

-Yeah, good thanks, yep.

Armed with more stock...

I've got a strategy, which I think we need to do now.

..a positive charge from project manager Scott.

-We want to get rid of everything that we can...

-Definitely.

..for more than the price we paid for it. Even if it's a pound.

Scott has not had an easy day...

On these, just make a massive shout of the fact that they're two quid.

-Yeah, mate, I'll start promoting 'em now.

-£2! £2! Like, get rid of these.

..but he's not given up.

-He's gone off, he's replenished the stock.

-Let's really hit home.

-Let's get rid of all this and let's just keep on selling, yeah?

-Yeah.

SELINA: Hi, guys, how you doing today?

He's motivating people and he is continuing to try.

We got sweets here, two for £1.50.

Who's coming into Bargain Haven?

Come on in and have a look at what we've got. Rock-bottom prices.

Just two hours...

-I think we should go sooner rather than later.

-..till trading ends.

We need to replenish the stocks now, yeah?

Myself and David, we're going to get there and back as quick as possible.

Restocking at the end of the day,

you've got rush hour coming up to the end,

people are leaving the shopping mall.

-This is where they're going to spend the most money.

-OK, let's go.

Hopefully, it's not cost us the task.

With shelves freshly stocked...

Get rid of absolutely everything in the store.

..profits pile in at Discount Haven.

-It's £10.

-£10?

-Yeah.

-If you've got contactless, I can do contactless.

Which do you prefer, the red or the white?

I like the white better, personally.

Thanks, Lisa. Bye.

-Let's go, mate.

-Less than one hour to go.

Let's get the products out. Restocking on the toys.

So four and three, I'll bring it down to six.

Prices tumble.

Last-minute price drop!

You'd be a fool to miss out on these deals!

We've got half an hour left in our store.

We've got rock-bottom prices on everything.

That's all the portable-device chargers gone.

Eight, nine, ten. We'll call it £11.

-I'll do two for 18.

-Oh, that is a bargain.

-Right?

Guys, we've got five minutes left of trading.

-£2?

-Yeah.

-Come on, quickly, then!

Your life will change if you have this.

Nice one.

Thank you very much.

-£2, then, please, sir.

-We're literally just shutting down.

5:30pm.

OK, guys, we've finished trading.

-Well done.

-Well done.

Tonight, assets will be added up...

-Well done, guys, top effort.

-Well done.

-What a crazy shop.

Crazy shop, crazy prices.

Let's call it a day.

Tomorrow, the boardroom.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

-Morning.

-ALL: Good morning, Lord Sugar.

Well, this task was to try to replicate a discount store.

Nothing too complicated here.

Buy it, sell it, replenish your stocks -

that's what this was all about.

When I was a young man at 17-and-a-bit years old,

I just took some money, bought some stuff.

As I was selling it, bought some more stuff,

and, by the end of that day,

I'd earned more money than I earned in a month in the last job I had.

Dead simple.

Right, who wants to talk to me first?

-I'll go, if you want?

-You put yourself forward

-as the project manager, is that right?

-I did, indeed, yes.

-You, of course, work for a massive retailer.

-Absolutely.

So I wanted to focus on affordable gifts.

Charleine and Joseph did a great job

in terms of negotiating a price with the wholesaler.

They actually not only got 5% off on the first day, but what was great...

Excuse me, that wasn't the first call, was it, 5%?

-No, it wasn't what we was proposing.

-Well?

We were proposing almost, er, buy one get one free.

What planet are we all on here?

Wholesalers notoriously have very, very small margins.

To have thoughts of getting 50% off, which is what Claude told me...

It was a very informal negotiation.

-It must've been VERY informal.

-HE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

Charleine, that's exactly how you opened up -

-you wanted two for the price of one.

-Yeah, yeah, I did, um...

So, it wasn't flippant, it was serious.

-Right, moving along. You're on the stalls.

-Yeah.

And the key to this was to smell what was selling.

Um, so how did you do?

Richard and Charleine did a fantastic job,

and they actually sold out with all the products.

You went for the scented candles...

-Yes.

-..body butter and diffusers.

-And diffusers.

-Yes.

Sounds like a night in for you, Valente.

LAUGHTER

Now you're going from a stall environment out in the street

-into a shopping centre.

-Yeah. Working in shops,

I just wanted to make sure that it was slick operationally.

Good bargains at the front bring people in,

but then we wanted different worlds.

-So we had toilet world, household world, gift world.

-The toilet world?

NERVOUS LAUGH

Strategically placing stuff in the right place,

-the journey round the store?

-That's right, yes.

You sound like a retailer.

Now, here's where I don't think you were that clever.

-The branded products, OK?

-Yes.

So, if you recognise something that you're used to buying

at the front of somewhere

and you see it at a price lower than you are used to paying...

-Yeah.

-..it implies that you must have bargains in your shop

and, therefore, I will come in

-and explore the rest, right?

-Yeah. Correct, yeah.

The only problem is you were down the road to some famous pound shop

-and you were more expensive.

-Yeah. There were a few items

that we started, like, £3, £4, £5,

-and we actually reduced them.

-It doesn't take a rocket scientist

-to work that out, does it?

-No, not at all.

-Um...

-You two were pulling people in?

-Yeah, that's right.

The big thing we needed to do is actually get people into the shop.

-CLAUDE:

-It's fair to say they did whatever it took.

You sound like the most successful double act

-since the Chuckle Brothers.

-LAUGHTER

Erm...replenishing of stocks.

You waited till about three o'clock, I understand?

-And business stopped at 5:30, didn't it?

-Yeah.

Gary, it's fair to say, you missed a trick.

I get the logic and I accept that. I'll take that on board.

All right. So, good cooperation from your people here?

-They were fantastic. I can't fault 'em.

-Good. OK.

Now, let's move over to Connexus.

-Scott, you put yourself forward, is that right?

-I did, yeah.

Just because of my previous sales experience, I thought,

out of the team, I was probably best suited to leading this task.

So, yeah, on the first day, we came up with the electronics.

So we found six products.

And it was apparent with where our first location...

Hang on a minute, I think you've forgotten something.

-You went in quite prepared at the warehouse, didn't you?

-Yeah.

But you'd made a mistake at the till, hadn't you, Sam?

Yeah, we had. So I was in charge of doing the costings.

It was quite embarrassing. Sam was sort of crawling around on the floor

-with his calculator.

-It wasn't... it wasn't my finest moment.

You tutor kids, don't you, for a living?

-Yeah, I do.

-You want to get them to tutor you

-with a bit of maths, it seems.

-Yeah, maths is not my strong point.

-No.

I'm not asking you to embark upon integral calculus here, am I?

-No, it wasn't a proper...

-This is how much these things cost

-and you add it up...

-Yeah.

-..and that's it, yeah?

Right, moving along.

You're on the stalls, and how did you get on, you and Selina and Sam?

So, firstly, these two done amazing

and they were selling really, really well.

I didn't sell as great that day.

I don't know if it was my mojo, but I didn't quite back into...

-It wasn't your best day, was it?

-No, it wasn't.

-No.

-It wasn't.

And, Brett and Vana, you weren't having a good time.

I come up with an idea of highlighting the items we had

-with a "was price" and "now price".

-Yeah.

-Karren quickly rectified that.

-That's a bit dodgy that, you know?

Was 19.99, you can have it now for 9, and all that stuff.

You can't make false statements.

Something has to be on sale for at least 28 days

before you can start saying... and you were on sale for 28 seconds.

-Vana, was you part of that...

-Yes.

-..or are you going to plead the Fifth Amendment?

Hmm. All right. So, we're now on to the day at the retail outlet.

People were concerned about...

"making sure I was seen to be doing some selling."

I think the dynamic has started to change as we're going through

the process to more of individual selling rather than teamwork.

-It's started to move...

-I think we're just conscious of it now.

When you get to the nitty-gritty at the end,

there is statistics raised on your performance.

That is a very honest answer, I have to say,

because what you're saying is that

-you're preparing yourself in case of a loss.

-We've all managed to get

this far through the process and everyone's gotta self-preservate.

You should get a dictionary, some of the words you come out with.

I'm never heard of self-preservate. The point I'm making is

the thrust of this task was not about individuals' sales numbers.

This was a task of building a business and, in fact,

if the manager came into this boardroom today

and hadn't sold anything, to me, it wouldn't bother me one little bit.

Now, later on during the day, there was a discussion about

you wanting to move products to the front of the shop,

including these irons that you'd bought?

It seemed, if we put more energy in certain products, they sold,

so what I wanted to do was maybe highlight that.

Brett didn't agree, did you, Brett?

I knew they wasn't selling, I knew other items were.

Scott had said something and I said, "Look, don't speak to me like that."

It wasn't pleasant, though, was it?

No, the whole situation wasn't pleasant, Karren.

-Everyone was getting a little heated.

-There was a heated...

a heated moment of just everyone just...

-Having a go at you, Scott, is that it?

-Too many voices and stuff.

-Yeah.

-Good project manager?

-Yeah. I think it was a difficult task for him,

but, generally, I like working with Scott.

OK, well, I think we've heard enough here. Let's see how we did

and how the assets would've grown in both companies here.

So, Karren, let me know about Connexus, please?

Well, as you know, Alan, you gave them £500 to start off with,

and, at the end of the trading period,

they had cash in their till of £592.30.

And the value of their stock was £369.74.

So the total value of the business was £962.04.

Right. Claude, same thing for Versatile?

Well, Versatile also started with £500,

but they only had £497.55 in their till at close of play.

The value of their stock, however, was £1,013.52.

so the total value of their business was £1,511.07.

So you made over £1,000 in the course of this exercise.

Very good.

Well, you're the top of the asset list at the moment,

and, for this week's treat,

I'm going to send you to the top of London's most iconic building.

It's called The Shard and you'll be able to toast your success

with a VIP champagne experience.

-So, well done.

-Thank you very much, Lord Sugar.

And I'll see you on the next task.

-Thank you, Lord Sugar.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

-CHARLEINE LAUGHS

-Smashed it, boys!

LAUGHTER

So, look, you'll need to go away

and we'll come back and we'll discuss it in greater detail, OK?

-Thanks.

-Thanks, Lord Sugar.

-Oh, wow!

-Wow!

-That's awesome.

-Loving it!

-Look at that!

Can you see the house?

So where we live is right by the BT Tower there. So do you fancy,

when you move to London, getting a place around there?

-Yeah, not with you though, Richard.

-LAUGHTER

'I put my neck on the line in terms of being project manager.'

Lord Sugar said in the boardroom I was a classic retailer.

-Cheers to us, guys. Come on.

-ALL CHEER

What we say in our industry, retail's detail,

and that's exactly what I showed.

Seeing that we're the tallest building in Europe,

and then, you're the tallest amongst us,

-you are now currently the highest thing in Europe.

-In Europe.

I thought this task was about individual sales,

I don't know where we got that from. And it wasn't all about that.

-You blame Brett for bringing it up?

-I'm not blaming anyone!

It's a valid point, cos I started thinking...

-I'm the one who always says it.

-..but I'm not blaming either of you.

-Yeah, I agreed with you in the boardroom.

-Hmm.

-No, but I agree.

I think Selina is at the core of why this task failed,

because we didn't work together as a team. If it was up to me,

Selina deserves to be fired above everyone else in this process.

-This is a perfect example now...

-VANA:

-Exactly.

..of exactly where we went wrong. Just what we're just doing now.

But everyone's here as an individual,

-despite the fact I'm always the one to say...

-This is what I'm saying -

we might be here as individuals, but you're a stronger force as a team.

I think the dynamics have changed a lot in the process

and now people are very much individual.

Everyone's was trying to cover their arse, to be honest,

before we even thought about winning the task.

There were so many voices with so many opinions

and I was, like, "I don't want to be part

"of all this arguing, I just want to get out and sell."

Sam isn't interested in helping anyone else

or communicating with anyone else. If there's ever a case

of selfishness, in terms of teamwork, there it is.

TELEPHONE RINGS

-Yes, Lord Sugar?

-Can you send the candidates in, please?

Yes, Lord Sugar.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

Right, well, Scott, it sounds to me less of a pop-up shop,

more like a cock-up shop, quite frankly.

In terms of the team itself,

we overcomplicated every aspect of every part of the task.

I just didn't perform. I didn't feel good at any part of the task.

And I think the dynamics have started to change in this process,

where it's more about an individual perspective of what you might think.

The thing is, if the team wins...

-Yeah.

-..that's it, you go back to the house, don't you?

-And you come into the next task.

-Yeah.

Selina, according to Karren, you was nonstop droning, moaning to him.

-I don't think that's true. I mean, certainly, I was upset about...

-It is true, Selina.

OK, but can I just say that Brett and Vana weren't happy working

on the sub team canvassing, because they wanted their time

-to improve their sales.

-No...

-I'm not finished.

-She's asked a question...

-She said you're negative.

-She's not talking about anything else.

-I'm getting to that, Vana.

It created a real problem amongst the team, because it stopped

everybody thinking about a team but think about individual sales.

Selina was constantly complaining, moaning, being completely negative,

and she really brought down the morale of the team.

I don't think you can blame everything on me.

You guys didn't listen,

you ignored everything that Scott asked you to do.

I will back that up as well. I mean, not so much you, Vana,

I mean, you two guys didn't really listen to anything I had to say.

-Which two?

-Brett and Sam.

You can look at me how you want,

but I don't feel like you was really listening to me.

Sam, you're stuck inside the shop all day long, right?

-Yes.

-And you had nothing else to do. The only other thing you did,

you messed up on calculations yet again.

I have visions of you just going through the motions.

I have to completely disagree.

Obviously, the calculations I messed up, I hold my hands up to that.

In terms of selling, saying that I was in the shop doing nothing all day is...is ludicrous.

I think it's about attitude

-and my attitude was positive. I wanted to keep...

-Yeah.

I don't completely agree with the whole positive thing, cos I don't...

I don't actually particularly like working with you, Sam.

Where was you helping other people and team stuff you talk about now?

You're part of this as much as everybody else

and I don't think you should be passing the buck to other people.

No, I don't think so, Scott. You were so positive,

you were the one that decided to keep me in the shop.

-You had a good energy on selling.

-Yeah.

-Fair enough.

I'm trying to win this as a team as well...

-Absolutely.

-..and I want as much sales as possible.

-You just said I had good energy for the team.

-Yeah, selling.

But it doesn't mean it's about teamwork,

it's about individual sales.

But as a team, did you work? I don't think so.

I don't think there was enough of a strategy

and a lot of the decisions, I felt, were made on a whim.

I couldn't agree more fully with Vana.

I think there are two reasons for the failure of this task.

One was team energy and spirit,

and I feel that Selina is largely at fault there.

She spends a lot of her time retrospectively complaining,

which I don't think is conducive to teamwork.

And I think the second reason for the failure of this task is

a lack of strategy and I agree with Vana.

-I think...

-Well, I don't see any strategy from you either.

Sam, I'd like to speak up, actually. I'm not going to make

personal comments about other people on the team,

I do think there are very selfish people here

that don't take responsibility for things they may have done

and like to point the finger at others.

It's difficult for me to work in that environment and I shouldn't be

-so sensitive to it, but I...

-You are sensitive, aren't you?

You got sensitive in another task. You can't just go throwing a wobbly

all the time when things are not going your way, don't you think?

-I completely agree with you, but...

-It's no good agreeing with me!

It's a case of how many more times

are we going to have to put up with this trait?

Brett, supply and demand - that's what this is all about, OK?

So, look, I'm demanding the answers

and you better bloody well supply them, as far as I'm concerned, OK?

-Yes, Lord Sugar.

-You heard what these others have said.

-Now speak up for yourself, then, tell me.

-Um, to be honest,

Scott, on the first day, started with massively good intentions.

However, it didn't work and I think,

with the pressure building on Scott's shoulders,

wrong decisions were made and it failed for the rest of the day.

Scott, who are you bringing back into this boardroom?

It's quite tough, but I'm going to bring back

Sam...

and Brett.

OK. Ladies, off you go back to the house.

Right, you three gentlemen,

I have expressed my disappointment of the lack of business nous.

I'm going to have a chat with Karren and Claude.

At least one of you are going to be leaving today, OK? Off you go.

Brett, I mean, he is a grafter.

-He's a bit aggressive, a bit inflexible.

-Hmm.

And I think he can start an argument just by being by himself.

-Sam, is he out of his depth here?

-There were times when

I was watching him, where I didn't think he knew what was going on.

He openly admits that he's not very good at numbers,

which is not a good thing if you're going into business.

-Scott?

-He's a smart fella, but, for some reason,

-he did not pull this thing together.

-We can all have bad days.

The point of this process is to decide - how many bad days?

This is the second time he's failed as the project manager.

TELEPHONE RINGS

Yes, Lord Sugar?

-Yeah, can you send the three of them in, please?

-'Yes, Lord Sugar.'

Lord Sugar will see you now.

-Scott...

-Yeah.

-..why did you bring Brett back in here?

Things have to be done in his way.

If not, he does get... I wouldn't say aggressive, but he's very bullish.

So, Brett, being in the navy, I mean,

would you think, in this process, you've started a few mutinies?

To be honest, Lord Sugar,

I don't think people like to hear honesty sometimes.

Yes, me and Scott bumped heads in the shop.

I didn't like the way in which he spoke to me.

However, I still done what he had asked.

There's a certain way to deal with things.

-OK, you might not have agreed with how I spoke to you...

-Yeah.

-..but it just escalated...

-Yeah, I understand that.

-..and you said you'd smash my face in.

-I didn't say that.

-I said, "Don't speak to me like that."

-He didn't say that.

-Huh?

-He didn't say that, Scott. That's not fair.

-I never said anything.

-I was never violent.

-You said you'd smash my face in.

No, he didn't say that.

He said, "If you talk to me like that again..."

-and then it just ended.

-Yeah, it just stopped.

-It stopped.

Scott, you did make reference about moving stock and, obviously,

I did try to verbalise the fact that I don't think that's a good idea.

Yeah, OK, but what I'm saying is, especially in business,

there's a certain way of reacting to things.

OK, this smash-your-face-in thing, maybe I've got that wrong.

I THOUGHT I heard that.

Sam, I'm looking for a business partner.

-Mm-hm.

-Somebody who I'm going to invest £250,000 in.

I, and indeed Karren and Claude,

we're a bit concerned that

perhaps, you know, you may have reached the end of the road here.

I've been trying throughout this process to prove that

I do have business acumen and that I am a credible business candidate.

It would upset me if that's not coming across,

because I feel like I have been a good candidate.

Are you here to win an investment?

Yeah, absolutely,

because I really fundamentally believe in my business plan.

If I was lucky enough to get to the stage where my business plan

will be looked at, I think you'll see that it's

-an incredibly good business plan.

-Have you ever run a business?

I've never RUN a business.

I am self-employed, so I know what it is to work...

Well, you're self-employed, cos you're tutoring youngsters,

-I think in English, isn't it?

-All manner of subjects.

-I teach...

-Not maths.

Now, Scott, why shouldn't I fire you as the least successful manager

since David Moyes in Manchester?

I think, consistently, throughout the whole process,

I've put in a lot of my effort and I've achieved a lot of good things.

So have we all, Scott.

Yeah, yeah, OK, but I think that I've had a big part to play,

especially in sales.

On this occasion, I just...

You lost it. Your head's gone.

What's this "mojo" you keep referring to?

I found quite quickly that this team was going to be hard to manage.

My worry is that if you say, "I was worried about managing this team",

do you think that potentially that had a negative impact throughout,

it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Yeah, OK, but I'm not here to hold everybody's hand at all times.

Who should get fired today, then?

To be honest, with the way that it's gone at the moment,

I reckon Scott should be fired.

-Scott?

-I personally think that Sam should be fired.

-You're not here for a serious business.

-That's...

You haven't seen my business plan!

-How DARE you sit there and say that!

-All right, OK.

I think it's outrageous.

How many times you been back in the last three, Scott?

-Twice. Project manager.

-Twice, yeah. How many times you been back?

-Twice.

-And you?

-Three now, Lord Sugar.

There's statistics for you.

On this particular task, there were deliberate things set

for you to show me, grasp, pick up, but you didn't.

Scott, your performance in this particular task

leads me to think that maybe there's a lack of consistency.

It puts into doubt your ability to remain.

Sam, the last time you was in this position,

it was that close that you were going

and, to be perfectly frank with you, I...left you in the process,

because I felt, well, look, give this chap another chance.

But, Brett, I'm not sure whether I can deal with someone as blunt

and as straightforward that clearly alienates people.

It's regretful that I have to say...

..I have concluded...

..that...

Sam...

-you're fired.

-Thank you. Thank you anyway. Thank you.

I'm going to give you another chance, OK?

You two, go back to the house, all right?

BOTH: Thank you, Lord Sugar.

Throughout this process, I've been really clear that integrity is key.

Scott was taking a very deplorable tact in the boardroom

and I don't think that's a good quality in anyone.

-Why did he take Sam in?

-Obviously, he did the numbers wrong.

Scott just said he found him a bit difficult to work with.

-YOU were the one who said that a lot...

-No, I didn't. Scott said it.

-Oh, my God, Sam's gone.

-Well done, Brett.

-You all right?

You all right?

It was, er, quite brutal. It wasn't a very nice experience.

Obviously, Scott's took me back in there,

as someone's who's not necessarily classed as a team player.

No, no, no, it's not about team and stuff.

I just said we clashed heads a few times yesterday.

You're a dominant force.

Leave the last task at the door. It's happened.

No matter who much you might trust someone and think they're your mate,

it's dog-eat-dog.

Now nine candidates remain.

Lord Sugar's search for his next business partner continues.

Next time:

This next task is all about party-planning.

Two birthdays to put on...

-Is there any no-nos?

-I've got a nut allergy.

-We're having a disaster.

-You're breaking my heart.

-..20 kids to entertain...

-I don't have children and I don't like them.

We need to get the atmosphere going.

# In, out, in, out Shake it all about. #

-That's old!

-..but in the boardroom...

First rule of party-planning is don't poison the client.

..just one party pooper.

It's certainly memorable, taking Mum out on a bleedin' stretcher!

You're fired.