Flip It The Apprentice

This programme contains some strong language.

I'm not looking for sales people. I'm looking for someone who can start a business with me.

Heading to London, 16 of Britain's entrepreneurial elite,

keen to start a company.

I'm going to inject £250,000 into a business - your business.

And you're going to run it.

On offer, a 50/50 partnership

with the nation's toughest investor.

If you're going to sit in the office for three hours and do nothing, or three weeks or three months,

I won't be a very happy bunny.

Passionate about new money-spinning ventures, Lord Sugar's on the hunt

for a winning business partner.

If you see someone in this process that you think is superior, you may as well go home!

We can do it!

It's a deal worth fighting for.

This is heavy!

16 candidates...

-Don't you understand me?

-You don't understand me.

On and on and on and on.

..12 tough weeks...

DOG GROWLS

-Ted, pack it up!

-Ted, chill out!

..one life-changing opportunity.

You're fired.

You're fired. I don't think I could go into business with you. You're fired.

Previously on The Apprentice...

I want you to create a new brand of biscuit.

..it was crunch time!

Something's gone wrong and you need an emergency biscuit.

Half-baked ideas...

It's a biscuit within a biscuit.

So what you'd do is split the biscuit up like this.

..led Zoe's team...

Proper biscuits.

..to Bix Mix.

Snap and share. Because I love you, you can have the chocolate half.

-I love the plain one.

-Really? OK.

On Helen's team...

Our new biscuits. Special Stars are what children are all about.

..tea-time treats for kids.

We want to be positioned with the mass market of biscuits.

So go big or go home.

In the board room...

-We are back in business here.

-..records crumbled.

You have got yourself an order for 800,000 units.

Giving a ninth win to Helen.

That is the launch of a mega product.

For the losers, battle commenced.

Your style is to try and slate other members of the team.

-That's an absolute lie.

-I do not lie!

It was deja-vu for Tom.

You keep talking about all the things that should have happened, shouldn't have gone wrong.

-It's like a broken record.

-Indeed, Lord Sugar.

-But a slip from Zoe...

I signed off the theory of the product. I'd not tasted the cheap horrible chocolate.

You spotted it straightaway when it came back.

-You said, "We're dead in the water."

-There was no feedback about the product when it came back.

-..and she faced the crunch.

-As team leader, you should have been in the factory. Zoe,

-you're fired.

-Thank you.

Zoe became the tenth casualty of the boardroom.

Now six remain

to fight for the chance to become Lord Sugar's business partner.

-PHONE RINGS

-6.00am

Hello, good morning.

'Good morning. Lord Sugar would like you to meet him at DPR Wholesalers in Enfield.

'The cars will be there in 20 minutes.'

Guys, the cars are leaving in 20 minutes. We're going to Enfield.

Ten weeks in and everything to play for.

You can make friends along the way, but you want to beat them.

That's the way it is.

-Helen, you might make it through this process without ever losing.

-That's the aim!

This is it. We're drawing to a close, guys.

I'm just really happy that I've made it this far. You should be, too.

North London. A wholesale warehouse.

Here, traders and retailers stock up on goods to sell to the public.

From chandeliers...

..to sponges.

There's profit to be squeezed from every product.

-Good morning.

-Good morning, Lord Sugar.

This place brings back memories for me. Or something like this.

This is where I would start off my business,

buying merchandise, going out and selling it,

coming back two or three times, sometimes in a day, replenishing the stocks.

I've got you an arrangement of goods over here.

The original retail price of that stuff was £1,100.

I've managed to get it for 250.

I expect you to sell that stuff as quick as possible.

And smell which item is the best seller.

Come back to places like this and buy some more. And just keep going.

So this £250-worth of value here will grow.

At the end of the two-day period,

you'll have some stock over, which is fine.

We'll count the value of that stock and the money in your hand

and at the end of the task, the team that has the greatest amount of assets left

will win.

The team that doesn't will lose, and in that team, one of you will be fired.

So I'm going to mix the teams up again.

Susan, come and flip over to Venture,

and Helen, you flip over to Logic.

This task might sound very simple to you.

Well, it is very simple because it's the simple principle of business.

Turning your money over, increasing your assets.

I don't want any excuses from anybody.

You, for example, have got through this in the last ten weeks by the skin of your teeth.

Enough with the innovator, designer and all this stuff.

You're now in the thick of it, all right?

And if you nod your head any more, I'll put you on the back seat of my bloody car!

Everything clear?

-Yes, Lord Sugar.

-Right. Good luck. Off you go. There's your gear.

Starting with £250-worth of wholesale goods,

the teams have two days to build up the value of their businesses.

Wallets, watches and purses.

12 different sunglasses. Not different, but 12 sunglasses that are different.

-A pressure washer.

-A nodding bulldog for your car.

To do this, they must reinvest their takings in their most profitable products

and continue to sell them.

A duvet set.

We've got the prices. Put those somewhere very careful.

Cash and the wholesale prices of any remaining stock will be added together.

The team with the highest total wins.

Some of these goods are really bad quality. I don't think they'll sell. It depends on the location.

I would like to be PM for this task because I haven't been PM since task one

and I think I should take responsibility and step up.

-Is everybody happy?

-I'm completely behind you.

-Thank you so much.

Lord Sugar is passionate about this task. It's close to his heart.

So I put myself forward although I don't have direct expertise

to do with this. But it's about good management

and I can deliver on that.

On the other team...

I would like to put myself forward as project manager. This is what my parents do.

Operationally, I feel I'll be stronger.

Two volunteers.

I have more experience operationally in terms of managing the process.

I'm very good at picking up what can sell and what doesn't sell and I'm very good at selling.

Bear in mind this is a product business.

It's completely different to services. It's not managing people.

-It's managing a process.

-This is what I'm involved with, so I'd be the strongest project manager.

-You seem to be judging it on passion and so on. We'll go with Natasha as project manager.

-OK.

I'm 100 per cent behind you, but I'd like you to trust my judgement with some of the products.

I respect that. I'm glad you're in this team.

The key is spotting one or two items that are going to sell. That's it.

Their market - the whole of London.

Could we please go to Hackney Central.

Targeting tourists at Covent Garden, Jim...

-You could maybe do with an umbrella? Have you got one?

-No.

..and project manager Natasha.

Put it up there till we see.

I think it might rain. Come on in underneath it.

-That's a great umbrella.

-Would you sell it for a tenner?

Um...

-I want £12 for it. Have you got £12?

-I've got a tenner.

-I'll take the tenner.

-All right.

-Good deal.

First umbrella sold for £10, folks.

A nodding dog. He nods away.

-That's £7.50, please.

-Lovely. Thank you.

-Take good care of him!

-Yes.

-And give him a name?

-Yes.

-There we go. Have a good day!

-We wanted a nodding dog.

-They're fabulous.

£7.50.

Thank you very much.

They're selling very well. They've sold their three nodding doggies

to three unsuspecting people of appalling taste.

Get some more! Woof, woof!

You can walk with real purpose with an umbrella like that and point out landmarks. Big Ben!

There's the Houses of Parliament. And a crazy Irishman selling umbrellas!

-£10.

-That would be excellent, madam. Thank you so much.

The bulldogs have gone. The umbrellas are going well.

-And we've had a couple of sales on the wallets and sunglasses.

-Yeah.

So we've got £72.50.

Stupid guards are in the way! Oh, my God.

Are they doing more walking?

Sent door-to-door, Susan hawks duvets and towels in well-heeled west London.

My name is Susan, from a company called Venture House Gifts.

'The people are not here. I am the cleaner.'

No problem. Thank you.

OK. That was the cleaner.

Can I just ask you a quick question?

Hello?

Why is no-one home?

All these streets are exactly the same.

That was completely unsuccessful.

No-one's interested cos they're rubbish products.

On the other team, heading for London's East End, Melody...

There's a few shops here.

..and Helen.

I think if we're clever, what we can do is speak to retailers to say

we can pick up products tomorrow at a discounted price,

would you like to place an order today.

But they must have wholesalers in place already.

-But what we can do is undercut that price and deliver those things to you tomorrow.

-Deliver them.

-So they're getting a service as well.

-Yeah.

-Direct to the door.

To test their strategy...

Hello, sir. Nice to meet you.

..the girls try some pricey-looking watches from their palette of products.

The ladies' watches are £50.

However, we want to give you a good profit margin, so we'll reduce that to £25.

-No.

-Are you sure?

-I can't sell them in this shop because it's a pound shop. Everything's a pound.

Oh, dear.

-Right.

-At one point I thought he was going to go for it there.

-I did, too.

Let's keep going.

The first thing we've got is a duvet set in a lovely chocolate colour.

-No, it's not our line at all.

-That's not. OK,

the second thing is a towel set.

It's quite a good product to go with that.

-Again, it's not our line at all.

-You're not interested?

We were thinking would you like to take a bulk order from us

to save you a trip to your wholesalers, save delivery costs and so forth.

-We don't have any delivery costs. All our wholesalers come to us.

-They deliver direct to you?

The whole point about retailers is they go to the wholesaler to buy their products. That's what they do.

So why are the girls trying to target retailers and not the public, where they make their margin?

-So is there anything we could do for you?

-Not really.

-You're fine.

-Fine.

I'm wondering if it's a good idea.

Hi, there, everybody. We've got some special offers for today only.

There's a lot of interest in the bulldogs.

Sent by Melody to the bustling South Bank, inventor Tom.

He's got the Union Jack on his back. Who's interested in a bulldog?

-Five pounds.

-Five pounds?!

Oh, dear, you're very good at this, aren't you?

Lord Sugar made it pretty clear that if I don't do well in this, I'm going home.

Sales is not my natural arena. It's not what I'm best at.

But I think I can do a good job and I hope to prove a point.

-Hello, sir.

-Can I have a nodding dog?

-Yes, have you got £7.50 for me?

Thank you.

You like the doggy? I'll give you two for £12.

-Do you have any pound coins?

-I have.

-Have you?

There's your doggy.

And now we're sold out of doggies. Hey, bye!

I seem to be selling all right!

Tu achetes une umbrella?

Covent Garden.

Pour l'homme. Grande!

Mid-afternoon.

Tres sophisticated!

See?

-Oui?

-No.

In his briefing this morning, Lord Sugar made it absolutely clear this is all about reinvesting.

Smell what's selling best and go and buy some more. They've given no thought to that.

And time is pressing on.

Natasha.

I know you know this. We're already good at selling.

We're all really passionate.

I think you need to step back and think about strategy for what we need to buy tomorrow.

-We haven't selected a wholesaler.

-Correct.

But you understand why we haven't?

-No.

-Why do you think that might be?

-Cos we don't know what products we're selling tomorrow?

-Correct.

-How are we going to find out?

-We're going to speak to Susie.

-Ask her what's going to sell?

-See how she's doing. Based on what we've got left, we can make a decision.

Just keep up with it.

MOBILE RINGS

-Just a wee bit of strategy?

-No need to panic.

-I'm not panicking.

-You're coming across like you're panicking.

-You sound defensive.

MOBILE RINGS

Oh, my God!

-Hey, guys!

-Hi, Susie. How's it going?

-It was completely unsuccessful.

I had so much confidence in selling door-to-door. I've sold one duvet set for £18.

I have not stopped at all.

Right. OK, fine. Right.

So you're not being defensive?

No, I'm absolutely fine.

-So we just continue to sell these?

-I'm happy for you to chip in the responsibilities as well.

-Are you OK?

-I'm fine. Honestly, I couldn't be...

I'm delighted with what we've sold. That's the good thing.

Hackney.

Still chasing orders from retailers, Melody and Helen.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-There's a king size duvet in there.

-I sell something similar to this.

Brilliant. That's really good.

We only have nine of those left available now.

I'm interested in these if they're the right price.

Nobody sells cheaper than me. I am the cheapest.

-Sure.

-If you'll take nine of these, the lowest price I can sell it for is £10.

-I can't go any lower.

-I'll take them off you at £8.

-I can't, sir.

-If I went any lower than ten, it's not worth it.

-We'll go for that, then.

-Brilliant.

-So £90 for nine duvets. Thank you so much, Chris.

-Thank you.

If you had more of these, I'd have given you a good order.

How many would you buy if we came back tomorrow?

Just to see how it goes, I'll try 30 pieces.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-OK?

-Absolutely.

-Well done.

-The key thing about this is we've got a potential order for tomorrow.

OK.

6.00pm.

Both teams have yet to reinvest in stock.

-Hello?

-Hello, guys, how are you doing?

We're good, Tom. What's up?

Just to say that I've gained £133.16.

We've sold 130.

So we've got about 250.

We've now got 292.50.

-Plus 62. Which is...

-£354.50.

-Yeah.

I have sold out of the bulldogs.

OK, Tom. I'll make a decision at the wholesaler based on that.

-The umbrellas sold, the wallets sold.

-Nodding dogs.

Smell what sells. The nodding dog.

We'll take 20 dogs, please. Thank you.

Bulldogs in the bag.

Susan is sent to restock their other best seller.

-£130.

-Thank you very much.

But then takes a punt.

Hello!

-Do you have any pearly bracelets?

-Yes, freshwater pearl.

I'd like to take a couple of these.

Oh, my God. I'm such a magpie!

-They're very pretty.

-I'd go for a few more of these. They really are popular.

-Yeah?

-I really appreciate your advice. Cash?

-Perfect.

-Thank you very much.

-Take care. Bye.

We're going to the general wholesaler.

He doesn't sell duvets.

So we'll have to make the trip to get duvets tomorrow.

With £100 less to invest, project manager Melody and Helen.

What are we getting? How many flasks?

-We've got the flasks, we've got the travel kettle.

-Yeah.

A travel iron and a travel hairdryer.

Why are we selling travel things? That's horrible, Melody. Horrible.

-It's got two plastic mugs.

-Would YOU buy that?

-I don't see two mugs here.

It hasn't got two mugs.

Mugs might have swayed us, but no, put it back.

'I feel like Melody isn't taking charge at all. She isn't organised,'

doesn't seem to grasp the concept of what we're meant to be doing.

-Digital alarm clock.

-Yeah.

It's a really good product. It's got a digital photo frame. That's 5.49. 20 of these.

I wish I'd put myself forward as project manager. I want to keep a clean sheet.

I'd have had a strategy and been organised and got on with things. At the moment, we're floundering.

-This might be a good idea. Mobile phone emergency charger.

-Mm-hmm.

-Thank you.

-Thanks. Bye.

9.00pm.

Hiya, Tom.

Hi!

-This is the stock we've bought.

-What have we got?

-This is it.

-We spent a third of our budget on these?

-That was Melody, that one.

That I certainly would find a bit of a risk.

-I'm a bit confused by the randomness.

-Yeah.

One thing I said was that the nodding dogs were really popular. It's a shame we didn't get more.

'I absolutely worked my socks off today'

on that stand and I'm really pissed off that the money I created has been spent unwisely by Melody.

Upstairs...

Jim and I picked up 20 of these bad boys.

..Susan's gamble gets an airing.

They are gorgeous bracelets.

I understand Lord Sugar didn't put any bracelets in the palette,

but I've actually sold these before.

I know that they sell.

7.45am.

Every single person that goes past your stall has to buy something.

I can sell anything to anybody. You know I'll give it my best.

-Good morning!

-Good morning.

Before we start, I was thinking - I didn't get much sleep last night - going over everything.

I know, Melody, you're an exceptionally strong sales person.

So I was thinking is it best if I take over as project manager.

Today needs really strong strategy and organisation.

I appreciate that. In order to suggest that you want to sort of take the lead,

it would suggest to me that you have a really amazing strategy.

-I just think I would be able to give a better overview while you're actually shifting.

-OK.

No to that, because I'm project manager

and I want to take lead of this and take responsibility as that's what I put myself up for.

That's it.

Ten hours for the teams to increase their value

by selling and reinvesting in more stock.

Hammersmith.

Sweet, sweet, sweet. The energy is high. This is a good location.

West London.

Emergency phone charger, sir.

It's really cheap. It goes for iPhones, Nokia, any phone.

With a stall of random, untried products,

Melody and Tom.

£10, please.

We're selling the best thing yet, a digital photo frame and alarm clock.

Brilliant alarm clocks. You can have a digital photo in the clock.

-You want this one, don't you? 15 quid. You can't go wrong.

-No, I don't want that.

Oh, come on!

Digital alarm clock radio.

Anybody interested?

No?

London's financial quarter.

Excuse me, sir, I'm selling three products, really, really cheap.

-No, thanks.

-Are you sure?

Putting Melody's stock on the market, Helen.

Excuse me, sir. I've got some products... Oh, right. Thank you.

-Excuse me, guys, I've got some products for sale. A bike light.

-Sorry.

-A mobile phone charger...

Excuse me, sir. Excuse me.

I've got some products to sell here.

-How much is the phone charger?

-It's ten pounds.

-It's really good if you get stuck.

-What if the battery runs out?

-You could change that.

-£10?

-Yes.

-I'll have one.

-Thank you!

Yay!

-He's good, isn't he?

-Very good looking. Moving himself.

They're magic.

Taking a bow at Shepherd's Bush, top products from yesterday, restocked...

Yes, sir!

..and already selling.

-What's your name?

-Ali.

-Jim. There's the money already?

-Yes.

-What's this for?

-The nodding dog. Where are you from?

-Holland.

Are you? It's orange for Holland as well!

-This is actually the Dutch national umbrella.

-Oh, right!

How you doing, ladies? Come to Papa!

I'll do you a deal right here, right now, for 25.

-I wouldn't pay 25 for it. You've only got one colour.

-You misheard me. I said 20!

I'll package it up nice, put it in a bag. Even give you a hug and a kiss.

-Go on, then.

-You're a superstar. Thank you so much, Emily.

I'll say this much for Jim. He's not a shy boy!

I've never seen such an abundance of baloney.

He's good fun. People like him. And I quite like him now, for the first time.

-Will we do a group hug?

-A group hug!

Thank you so much! Have a great day.

Everything must go!

Sir, do you want something else to carry?

At posher Portobello Market...

Good morning! How are you?

For your loved one, maybe?

Having reinvested almost £100 in untried jewellery,

Susan sets up shop with project manager Natasha.

-How much did you spend on this lot?

-They costed £1.50.

-And you're selling those for £5.

-Yep.

Hello, ladies. Would you like to see our gorgeous bracelets?

£20 for all four.

-That looks gorgeous. Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

17 and you've got a deal.

-16.50.

-17.

-She said 17!

17. We're done.

This is for you. Thank you so much. Have a brilliant day. Thank you.

They're normally £6 each, but I'll do them for £5 just for you cos you're so cute!

This one.

-Looks gorgeous.

-Thank you.

-Bye!

-Is this all our bracelets?

-All of them.

-Are you sure?

-You need to tell me what you've sold.

-It's in there already.

No, only as far as the wallet. You've made other sales.

Natasha's feeling frustrated. She hasn't had as many sales as me.

-Natasha, you're not selling!

-Susan...

-We can be selling now.

Don't argue. Carry on selling. I'll put this away and come and sell. No problem.

Excuse me!

'I've been working my butt off selling products and Natasha is doing nothing.

'I know for a fact I've sold ten times more than she's sold.'

I think that's putting her down.

-Eight pounds.

-Let him have it for a fiver.

-My decision. I'm the boss.

-A fiver.

I'm feel I'm being quite a hard project manager.

In this task. I'm being very directive.

It can put people's noses out of joint, but it can bring the best out in people.

Would you mind, next time I'm making a sale, don't jump in with a fiver.

-Susie, stop being such an angry person.

-I'm just telling you how I feel.

-Stop embarrassing yourself.

-I'm telling you how I feel.

-Brilliant.

Mid-afternoon.

We've got enough money to reinvest. I'm really keen on reinvesting.

Lord Sugar said smell out what's selling well.

The item that's sold best today is the mobile phone emergency recharger.

-Hi, Aaron, it's Helen from Logic. We spoke earlier.

-'Hello. How are you?'

With 30 duvets to find to fill yesterday's order,

Helen calls a linen supplier.

I'm about to come to your wholesale.

'We've closed already for today.'

-You've closed for today?

-'Yes.'

Oh, no!

Hi, Helen, how's it going?

Not brilliantly. I phoned the linen wholesaler and they closed at two.

So I've managed to find someone that does them.

Yeah?

The one I'm going back to is the one we started off at.

-That's miles away!

-It's a bit far, yes.

-Miles.

-Far.

-That's a bit of a disaster.

-We're going to make £3 on each.

-Helen...

-Or should I stay here and sell the rest of the stock I have?

I don't really know what you'd like me to do.

My view is I want you to still go to the wholesaler. It's a risk, but that's what reinvestment is about.

Right.

'For some bizarre reason that I genuinely don't understand,'

they're fixated by the duvets.

They want to do a four-hour round trip to go and buy the duvets, take them to Hackney

to make a very small margin and I just don't understand the logic behind it.

While Melody's team abandon selling to reinvest...

Hi, there. Here we go.

I've got £70 here, sir.

..Jim...

-I'm here for a good time, not for a long time!

-..and Susan...

My gorgeous bracelets. I can't go home until I sell them!

..keep selling. Project manager, Natasha.

-Hi, Jim, how you doing?

-I've got to 175, approximately.

-Fantastic.

We're running at pretty much exactly the same. 174.65.

-But what are we reinvesting in?

-We're still carrying plenty of stock.

Here's the deal, Natasha.

We can't be conservative. We need to reinvest in stock. Do you agree?

We spent quite a lot yesterday. We gambled and we invested quite a lot.

This task is about reinvestment. He said it yesterday.

If we reinvest in any stock, we'll be carrying too much stock.

Stay where you are, Jim. Stay there.

This is a reinvestment task. Smell what sells. Go and buy some more. Sell that, too.

With your margins, you build up your profit, your stake.

Natasha, I think, has failed to understand what this task is about.

I'm distressed to see her make such a Horlicks of it.

Emergency phone charger!

Restocked and back at their pitch...

Emergency phone charger!

..Melody and Tom.

Have it in your bag, plug it in, £10.

Thank you very much, ma'am. How many would you like? Two more?

£30, there we go. Four phone chargers, that's £40.

Brilliant, thank you!

Running low on goods, Jim files a stock report.

-Hi, Jim, how you doing?

-I've sold as much as I can.

Sure I've sold another £50-60.

But I need to go and buy product and try and sell it,

because I'd rather try and fail than get fined and ridiculed

by Lord Sugar, because he gave us one directive and we haven't stuck to it.

Jim, let's try and get to the end of the task working as a team, yeah?

We can discuss anything else in the boardroom.

So I haven't got a problem with you going to reinvest

and buy some clear umbrellas.

Jim's panicking because he feels we're being too conservative.

She really hasn't got a grasp of this task at all. I feel for her.

She's all passion, all guns and bluster,

but no direction, no conviction, no clue.

How many wallets have we got left?

I see past the bravado and the passion, and there's nothing there.

It's unfortunate. There's nothing there.

20, 40, 60, 80, 200.

After driving across London to buy duvets,

it's back to Hackney for Helen.

Hi, Chris! I'm stuck in traffic. We should be with you very soon.

-'I've already closed!'

-Oh, have you already had to go? Right.

That's a shame.

A stock-take at 6pm will tot up the teams' assets.

Every penny will count.

-Thank you very much.

-There's 20.92. I'm in a massive hurry.

I have 23 umbrellas, and ironically 23 minutes left.

Ladies, would you like some bracelets?

End-of-day prices of just £3!

Got some great things here,

great things towards the end of the day.

If you want to take the towel,

I'll work out an even better price for you.

Thank you so much, have a good day. Give me five.

Sorry, madam.

SIGHS

Six o'clock.

What a painful way to finish a task.

Trading over, assets frozen.

I'm totally happy with what I've done.

I'm just not happy with the fact that Natasha didn't listen

to my warnings earlier.

I purposefully put my neck on the line for this task.

I reinvested yesterday.

Lord Sugar wants us to make cash, and I've made cash.

'Natasha has been all over the place with regards strategy.'

She doesn't know anything, she was an awful project manager.

I think I put myself forward this morning as project manager

because I thought we needed a clear strategy for today.

I felt I knew how this day was going to end up, and it's proven me right.

Helen asked me earlier today

whether she wanted to take over as project manager. I thought that was insane.

I'm not going to know how the other team has done,

but hopefully I've done my best as project manager to ensure we've done the right thing.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

Good afternoon.

ALL: Good afternoon, Lord Sugar.

Well, this task is all about going out, selling, reinvesting,

turning your money over. Smelling what's selling. That's the bottom line.

And I hope from what I'm going to hear, you signed on to the plot.

Logic.

Team leader, Melody. Yeah?

I hadn't been team leader since the first week,

so I thought it was my time, really, to take responsibility.

Yep. And was she a good team leader?

-No, she was a terrible team leader.

-Right.

There was no strategy, our planning session basically

consisted of Melody giving another long-winded speech

with no substance or information in it whatsoever.

We didn't know what we were doing.

What strategy are we talking about here?

Because I went to the trouble to actually stand there

and spell out to you exactly what this task was about.

Yeah? I was speaking English, I hope. So you should've got it.

So what's the strategy?

The strategy was, should we sell to the public or should

we sell to retailers? And also, on the second day...

Helen, hold on. Take me back to basics here.

This is all a margin game.

Buy something for a pound, and sell it, hopefully,

for £1.50 or £2 and you make a profit.

OK? Why are you going into retailers?

-They can go to wholesalers like you can also!

-Yes, yes.

-What do they need you for?

Lord Sugar, if I may, I can explain myself.

As team leader, I suggest you do.

After the first shop, we realised they were wanting to buy at wholesale prices,

we want to sell at retail prices, however, the retailer we went to,

it worked out because he then placed an order.

-Placed an order?

-Well, he said, "If you bring me more stock tomorrow, I can buy."

Also, Lord Sugar, I made sure every single sale

we made was above the wholesale prices.

Did I hear that you went into Poundland?

-We went into a pound shop.

-Do you get the plot there?

It says in the front of the shop, "We sell things for a pound."

Even I worked that out.

I worked that out, that nothing you had there could be sold

to somebody for them to sell for a pound.

Lord Sugar, following your pep talk in the morning, I took the risk of going...

I'm happy to go to the South Bank on my own and try and sell, sell, sell as hard as I can.

I don't believe it's my greatest strength, but I believe I can do it,

and I had something to prove to yourself that I could, and I sold very well on that day.

You sold things like a nodding dog.

I sold all three of them within half an hour. They were the bestselling products.

-I take it you replenished them, did you?

-No.

-Er, Venture.

-Project manager, yep.

-Yeah. Natasha.

Put yourself forward or what?

Put myself forward strongly, I felt really hungry for it.

I wanted the opportunity to grab it operationally.

Susan, I understood your appraisal of my selection of merchandise

was not very good.

You felt I'd provided you with a load of toot.

If it was, why did you go to Kensington?

Well, the products I took with me,

the duvet covers and the towels, I thought it could be sellable

to homes, but in my honest opinion, I don't think I did a very good job.

-No, you didn't, you sold 18 quid's worth.

-Exactly. I honestly really tried.

Duvets in Knightsbridge.

So at the end of the day, you had taken a lot of money,

and you went off buying some more stuff.

-Correct. We bought nodding dogs.

-You found some more nodding dogs.

-Correct.

Next day, Susan and I went to Portobello Market,

and Jim went to Shepherd's Bush.

-Jim sold brilliantly.

-Did fantastic.

-I don't know whether you just kissed the Blarney Stone

or whether you swallowed it whole, but it was a tour de force, as they say.

-I think I'm charming and resilient, and wouldn't mind...

-Modest, also.

Well, you do get a lot of knockbacks,

I would just keep on going like a nodding dog.

So you're doing well, he's sold brilliantly,

so what did you do about replenishing stock the next time?

-We were carrying a lot of stock.

-So did you reinvest?

-We did.

How much did you spend?

-Too late, just over £20.

-20 quid?

-I made a decision.

-Are you having a laugh or what?

-No, I made a decision,

because I went heavy on day one with the reinvestment.

I was like a broken record, "we need to reinvest,

""we need to reinvest", but if you've got a dominant personality

who keeps saying "Jim, we need to shift the stock we have, that's all I want to hear,"

-it's very difficult to push treacle up a hill.

-I tried to explain to you when I set this task.

There's no shame in having any stocks left over at the end of the day

because what we're doing is replicating a business, yeah?

I started you off, you go out, replenish your stocks.

You go and buy more stuff, you replenish your stocks.

Buy more stuff because you're smelling what's selling. Then go to bed that night

and you've got stock left to start the next morning. It just so happens we had to draw a line in it here.

I'm not bothered whether you had some stock left over!

-I do understand that, but I also...

-22 quid?

Replenishment, that's a total waste of time as far as I'm concerned.

This is all about courage, really, whether you've got the balls

to know and smell what's going on in business.

This is what I'm looking for amongst you lot here,

-and you've shown no courage, quite frankly.

-We didn't sell the stock.

I don't care what the figures are now, you knock 100 quid off from a fine as far as I'm concerned.

OK, Karren, let's get some numbers here. Can you tell me about Logic?

OK, well, Logic's total sales and stock was £1,204.

Their total purchases were £476,

which made the total assets £728.

-Nick.

-So, Venture, total sales and stock totalled £1,154.

Purchases £303, but then we have the fine.

Which brought the assets in at £751.

OK. Even with the fine. £751 plays £728.

You won. OK?

-You won.

-I understand what you're saying, Lord Sugar.

It's not a great win.

I have to stick by my rules because I'm an honest trader, you've won.

But there's no balls, no guts, no reinvestment.

I tell you what, I had a treat lined up for you,

you were going to go by helicopter down to Goodwood and ride in some vintage cars, but forget that.

Just get back to the house and I'll see you on the next task.

-One of you will be going today.

-Thank you.

For the winners, a hollow victory.

If I was going to review my own performance, I think I had a good grip on day one.

Day two, got to the market,

and Susie, I'll be straight down the line with you.

You couldn't have stressed me out more. I felt I was managing a child all day

because of the way you were acting.

You were stressing, you were getting moody.

The reason I was stressed out with you is cos I didn't see you sell as hard as I did.

I just feel like you're saying this purposefully to shift

-the blame on someone else for your mistakes.

-I'm being factual, Susan.

I couldn't trust you to just get on and do the job.

So you're telling me the reason we couldn't have the treat,

-the reason you missed the point as project manager, is because of me.

-Taken to the extreme.

Yeah, absolutely. Because we're a team.

Understood.

You just can't handle the pressure.

Realistically, duvet man has got us, you know, has nailed us,

because we wasted time on it.

'I've got a lot riding on this task.'

I've been warned by Lord Sugar,

and I feel Helen and Melody have really let me down.

We've lost the task, but I did everything you wanted,

everything expected of me.

'Melody didn't understand this task at all.

'She seemed about ten paces behind me and Tom.'

It's very difficult to respect your leader and follow them

-when she hasn't got a clue what she's talking about.

-At the beginning of the second day,

you asked me whether you could take my job.

I let it wash over me and we carried on.

You were very resilient, to give you credit.

It is very difficult

when the people you're managing don't believe in you at all.

Yes, we've lost this task, and yes, I was project manager,

and yes, I made some mistakes.

I needed the support from my teammates

and the support just wasn't there.

So...I'm not going anywhere.

PHONE RINGS

-Hello?

-Could you send the three of them in, please?

Yes, Lord Sugar.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

Helen, we haven't spoken much in the last ten weeks.

You've never been in a position like this before.

That's right, Lord Sugar.

I heard there was like a, kind of, for want of a better word,

on day two, a coup in the kitchen, where you actually

wanted to take over. Is that right?

Yes. I felt Melody lost control, she seemed to be floundering a bit.

Very unusual thing.

It's actually never happened before, from my memory. Someone actually saying, "I wish to take control."

I basically stayed up all night worrying about it

and thought I might be better to run the task. I should have put myself forward from the beginning.

-What would your plan have been?

-I wanted to get massive orders from retailers,

not little ones like we did do.

I think I've shown in the past, in previous tasks,

I do tend to go for the big orders and take a bit of a risk.

Helen, do you think these retailers have just arrived from the moon?

What chances would you have

unless you were manufacturing something yourself

or finding something that a retailer couldn't have got themselves?

When did you get the plot that going to retailers wasn't on?

She didn't, obviously, cos she's still saying that's what she would've done.

-Melody, you positively embraced what Lord Sugar is calling the retail strategy.

-That's partly true.

Tom, on day one, you had the nodding dogs, you sold them very quickly.

-Was your reaction? "Should we buy some more?"

-I phoned the others to say what was selling well.

Why didn't you get more nodding dogs?

Because I didn't want to prioritise a wholesaler just for nodding dogs.

I wanted to prioritise a wholesaler for electronic items,

which actually turned out to be quite good,

-as we ended up with products that sold well.

-How did you know the electronics...?

The whole principle of this thing is to replenish what you know has sold.

-Yes.

-You were supposed to smell what is selling!

I've absolutely sold my socks off in this task, Lord Sugar,

and I feel really let down by both Helen and Melody.

Firstly, they didn't listen to me about the nodding dogs,

and make an order for those or find a buyer.

Secondly, they wasted time on the first afternoon

going into pound shops and other retailers.

Next, they became obsessed with what I was told was

a full-on, definite order for duvets.

Talk me through this duvet deal.

He placed an order for 30.

I found a supplier but then they'd closed

by the time I could go to them.

So then I found another supplier...

In order to fulfil this fool's errand,

Helen had to go all the way back to Enfield,

which meant that on the second day, Helen

only spent about two, maybe two and a half hours actually selling.

-Yeah. You wasted half the day running back and forth.

-That's right.

You are the clever businesspeople that put themselves forward here.

I'm not even going to go with how much the petrol cost

to go backwards and forwards.

But I'd have said you would have wiped out the 30-odd pounds.

I don't wish to upset you further, but the retailer was closed.

-What, when they got back?

-Yes.

Which of you three brain surgeons here allowed this to happen?

-What I want to make...

-Tom, you'll plead the Fifth Amendment,

saying you knew nothing about it.

I'll plead that, but I'm also going to say that I am personally responsible

because I didn't completely yell it down as soon as I heard about it.

-You said we should make the order!

-You've not done much yelling down in the last ten weeks, have you?

-Correct.

-How many times have we discussed, you and I,

that you kind of whispered your idea to somebody

and they didn't take no notice of you?

Exactly. Exactly.

And that leaves it to you two here, then.

I'll make it clear that before I left Canary Wharf, I phoned Melody to say,

"Are you sure you want me to go to this retailer? We won't make a lot of margin from it,

"I think I'd be best staying here." Melody said, "Yes, go."

-And my...

-I wasn't involved in that conversation.

And my... Well, you were, actually. You were right there, next to me.

The point that I want to make, is that Helen -

who put herself forward as project manager over my role -

hadn't checked what time this wholesaler closed.

-You were in charge, this is your strategy, your plan.

-Absolutely.

And I had a strategy. However, if you are going somewhere,

perhaps it's not much to ask from a person who wanted to take my job

to check what time they shut.

Lord Sugar, it would be naive of me to come into this process

and think that I could never make a mistake.

The first day, I take responsibility for the fall.

For that, for the first day, I believe I should be fired,

if you're just looking at the task.

However, I think that it's a bit unfair for everyone to suddenly be like,

"Oh, we had all these grand plans. You're a rubbish project manager."

And no-one came with any grand plans, no-one had a grand plan.

-That's it!

-Well, I had a grand plan.

-The problem was...

I had a plan and Tom talked you out of making some complete disasters as well.

-We went to retailers, which was an issue. It was your idea.

-You went to the pound shop!

That was one shop, it took us five minutes, the guy said no and we left.

That certainly didn't take four hours, which is what it took you and your mistake.

I'm going to go through some more stuff with Karren

and also consult with Nick a little bit.

Would you step outside? And I'll call you back in shortly.

Helen has shown, over the past ten weeks,

that she's a very good organiser.

But this retail session took their eye completely off the ball.

Tom... I don't know. He... It...

It's constantly the nodding hindsight man, really.

You know, he has tried to do things that don't actually come naturally to him

and on selling on this task, he was good.

Melody...

I mean, look, maybe somewhere amongst all of that jabber,

she may be talking a bit of sense.

I think if you went into business with Melody,

your board meetings would be a very, very long affair.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

-Yeah, send the three of them in again, please.

-Lord Sugar will see you now.

So normally at this time in the process here,

I start to take into account what I've observed in the past ten weeks.

Melody.

Yeah.

Pushing this task to one side,

tell me what makes you a deserving person to remain in the process.

Lord Sugar, some say, "The best things in life are free,"

but I say, "The best things in life are earned."

The first week, I took the greatest risk that there is,

put myself forward as project manager in the first week,

to manage people I'd not met before, made very important decisions

and that's what I believe won us the task.

-In the second week...

-Was it?

No, it wasn't. It was my idea to do fruit salad and I ran the factory.

Listen, it's my turn to speak.

OK, I take your point that you put yourself forward

on the first task in this process.

Got that, agree. You know, you got some brownie points there.

In Paris, for example, I made all those appointments, bar two.

You made the appointments in Paris, Melody, but kept them to yourself.

However, you were the highest salesperson.

Lord Sugar, listen...

the point is this - there's not many people who,

at the age of 26 can say they've got 13 years' experience

in the business that they're in.

-I started the work that I've been doing at the age of 13.

-13 years? That means you were 13?

-Yes, Lord Sugar. I began...

-What was it, milk, then?

Well, I was in...

I set up one of the world's most successful democratic bodies.

Lord Sugar, the project that I was involved with last year

was on the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day.

I wouldn't be here if I didn't think...

Yeah, all right. OK. Got it. I've got it. I've got it.

Helen?

I think, in the last ten weeks, that I've obviously proved myself,

cos I've won every single task.

Well, you've been in the winning team. You haven't WON every single task.

You think you won every task?

I've been instrumental in each team for winning the task.

On a couple of the tasks, I brought record-breaking figures

into the boardroom, so I've made a lot of money.

It's a bit of a disadvantage now, cos I haven't had a chance to talk to you.

I've read your CV and you're basically an assistant,

aren't you, to a senior director?

I'm an executive assistant to a chief exec, yeah.

And you say in here that one of your biggest regrets

is waiting till now to set up a business.

That's right, yes. I've always to...

-Have you always worked for someone, yeah?

-I have.

The point is, you don't spring out of bed one Monday morning saying,

"Oh, I fancy starting a business, I'm going to do that."

-No.

-You have to have an idea and, more to the point,

you have to have some experience.

So I come back and ask you, what is your experience?

I was at the top of one of the biggest PRCs in the North.

I know how businesses are run.

You won't need to babysit me or listen to speeches.

I can see where a business is going to go to

and I have experience of working for successful businesses.

Yeah.

Tom... Now, you're a bit of an innovator, an inventor.

You've made stuff, had a product, had a business and all that stuff.

If I was just to read, on paper, what you're all about...

you're kind of right up my alley.

It's products, I'm a product man, always have been.

But in the last ten weeks, you've sat there...

-Mm-hm.

-..telling me, after the event, you've seen problems.

-You've seen problems today.

-And I've seen solutions too late.

-For that, I apologise.

-So is that a fault of yours, then?

I know that you've commented on sometimes I get rolled over,

but I really believe in myself and I really want to stay in this process.

I have a huge amount to show you.

I believe that Helen and Melody have shown their business naivety in this task.

But then when you realise that Helen has never actually started her own business,

works for a very successful CEO as a support,

but has never started her own business,

and Melody runs a business which, unsurprisingly,

is all to do with talking.

It's not actually. It's not.

To be honest, none of us really understand what you do, Melody.

That's disrespectful.

-This is an amazing opportunity.

-I know it is. Don't have to tell me.

-You don't have to tell me, I know.

-I sacrificed a huge amount...

This is the opportunity of a lifetime for someone, yeah?

That's why I've got to be so careful as to who gets it.

I'm showing my passion, Lord Sugar. I'm showing my core of steel.

Hmm.

Well, listen, you three.

You've given me a bit of a dilemma to consider here.

Melody...

I have difficulty in understanding what you do.

I have difficulty in understanding, frankly, what...

we're going to do, if we ever had a business.

Helen, this...

retail strategy thing was wrong.

It was totally wrong, could never have worked -

there was a flaw in what you were talking about.

The most simple principle of business and you make a big mistake.

Tom, I don't know how many times - I sound like a broken record now -

how many more times I've spoken about "your last chance", "you're not showing yourself".

Whether this is the last time...

that we're going to see each other in this process

very much depends on how much weight I give to the fact

that you did try to show me something that you claim not to be good at, and that is selling.

Mm-hm.

That's to your credit.

The person that's going today, that doesn't necessarily mean

that they're a failure in any way or form.

It means... they're not made for me, really.

And on that basis, I have to say that...

it is with regret...

Melody, that you're fired.

Thank you, Lord Sugar. Nick, Karren.

Well, we have a woman of exceptional ability there, I think.

But it is a cruel process here.

-Of you go, back to the house. I'll see you on the next task.

-Thank you, Lord Sugar.

-Thank you.

Lord Sugar and I won't be going into business right now,

but perhaps our paths will cross again

and then I can really tell him what I do, which is more than just talking.

GASPS

Hell's bells!

Hello, Suze.

You are absolutely invincible.

-How many times have you been in the boardroom?

-Three in a row.

Tom was slightly naughty,

so I'm still learning to forgive him on that one.

It's the final five.

It's a hell of an achievement. Congratulations.

Yeah, well done, guys.

In the fight for Lord Sugar's quarter-million-pound investment,

five candidates remain.

Next time...

Your task is to create the next fast-food restaurant.

..London gets two more restaurants...

Too much cheese.

I already had my idea of having traditional...

Oi, I'm not finished, Natasha!

Didn't Columbus discover the potato in America?

..some tough customers...

-Service!

-A bit slow.

It's a bit messy.

..and no tips.

The stuff must be good. It must taste good, it must look good.

You're fired.

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