Blank Canvas The Apprentice

In business, times are tough.

Investment, hard to come by.

I am a winner. I'm a fighter, I don't give up easily.

I've got what it takes to go the distance in business. To be the best, you've got to beat the best.

When it comes to business,

I can be like an animal and I will literally roar my way to the top.

Determined to win the backing they need, 16 ambitious applicants.

They call me the master puppeteer because I have a habit

of pulling people's strings and getting them to do what I want.

I am a control freak.

I would call myself the Blonde Assassin

because I let people underestimate me,

just so I can blow them out of the water.

To get funding they're after,

they face the fight of a lifetime.

When it comes to business, I'm like a shark,

I'm right at the top of the food chain.

I'm somebody who will take whatever I want, whenever I want it.

I truly am the reflection of perfection.

On offer, 40 years' experience

and £250,000.

I've got a product for Lord Sugar that we can take international.

I believe it's going to be huge and I mean business.

I run a company that turns over £3.5 million already,

but I'm not ready to stop there and I firmly believe right now

that I will be Lord Sugar's business partner.

Putting his money on the line...

the boss.

This is not about the job any more.

I'm the investor and you are going to make me some money.

From market stall to market leader,

Lord Sugar is a global success story.

Willing to invest when others won't,

now he's on the hunt for a new business partner.

This is about me investing £250,000

and I'm sitting here, thinking which one of you has got the ability

to run a business in which I'm going to invest.

Start the car!

It'll be their plan...

All we need to do is impress them with the product and the pitch.

-You ignored me and said, "This is the product, get behind it."

-Guys, guys, guys!

..his money...

I put you into a piddly little business

and you've made a complete mess of the figures.

GLASS SMASHES

..but to get it, a punishing selection process.

-Argh!

-Oh, my God!

Basic business principles went right down the drain on this thing.

16 potential business partners...

These retailers are huge.

I'm liking that, mate!

That's good. That is good. That's clever.

..12 tough weeks...

It's the same thing happening again.

We have an opinion and you just don't like it.

You was completely out of control,

you didn't even know what was going on.

..one life-changing opportunity.

To me, this is not a game.

It's into business with The Apprentice.

You're fired. You're fired.

This is my boardroom and, by the way, this is my money.

You're fired.

8am...

..the boardroom.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

Good morning.

ALL: Good morning, Lord Sugar.

Welcome into this boardroom.

Now, a lot of people ask me what would I be doing at your age?

Where would I be?

I tell you where I'd be, I'd be that side of the table.

This is a great opportunity for you.

This is not about a job any more

and just to be perfectly clear about this, I'm not looking for a friend.

If I want a friend, I'll get a dog.

I'm looking for a partner.

The Marks to my Spencer.

The Lennon to my McCartney.

This is about me investing £250,000 into a business with one of you.

And I'm expecting you, as the so-called entrepreneurs,

to make the money for me.

So, in a way, you're lucky.

You lucky I'm not over that side of the table

because, I'll tell you what, I'd win.

Now, I've had a look at some of your business ideas and,

here's the point, business ideas that I'm not interested in

would have been thrown out a long time ago.

You're here because I'm interested.

You claim to be entrepreneurs.

Many of you are in business already

but I need you to stand up and show me what you lot are made of.

So I think we'll get down to business now.

So let me tell you about the first task.

It is like starting from a blank sheet of paper.

I want you to start your own print business.

I'm going to ask you to go out and buy blank material,

could be T-shirts, could be mugs, it could be mouse mats,

and then you're going to have to brand up those items

and sell them to the public.

The team that has made the biggest amount of profit wins,

the team that hasn't will lose,

and in that team, one of you will be fired.

I will be starting this off with girls versus boys.

Nick will be following the girls,

Karen will be following the boys.

Don't underestimate them.

As ever, they are my eyes and ears,

there's not much that they will miss.

Now some of you may come here with preconceived plans

of how you're going to play this thing out.

Let me give you a warning,

don't try and hide because we are not playing Where's Wally? here.

I'm not looking for Lord Lucan.

I'm looking for somebody who is going to put themselves forward

and show me that they've got the aggression, the nous,

and the business acumen to be my partner.

-Is everything clear?

-ALL: Yes, Lord Sugar.

You look like you're sweating over there. You're not nervous, are you?

-No, not at all.

-No, no.

-You sure?

-Yes.

Right, I'll see you back here in the boardroom and a couple of days time.

Today, teams must print onto products.

Tomorrow, sell them on the streets.

-Boys, I'm Tom. Nice to meet you.

-I'm Adam.

-Hiya, I'm Maria.

-Hi, I'm Jane.

-Nice to meet you.

-Katie.

That was mad in the boardroom, wasn't it?

-Surreal, wasn't it?

-Such an experience.

But before the battle begins, time to big-up their backgrounds.

-What do you do?

-I've got my own bridal boutique.

-Wow!

-What about you?

-I run a fine wine company.

-Good man.

I'm in risk management for a financial firm.

You can be the figure girl, doing all the figures. That's my weak part.

I got myself from the Communist block of flats in Bulgaria

to the top of a skyscraper

at the heart of the financial City of London.

I'm shrewd, adaptable, and have that raw business potential.

I've founded and run two businesses,

a coffee business and technology business. Yeah.

Sales basically is what I do.

'Enthusiasm is a huge asset of mine'

and I believe it's caught and not taught.

'I do believe business is'

actually very, very simple

and it's made complicated by idiots.

I manage pubs and restaurants. I've done that since I was about 15 so...

I'm a great businesswoman. You will never find anyone like me.

'I'm a bit like Marmite,'

you either love me or hate me.

It's going to be one of the two.

-How about you, Ricky?

-I work in the recruitment industry.

I'm a recruitment manager for the scientific sectors.

By day, I'm a business superstar

and by night, I'm also a professional wrestler.

When I'm in a group with men, I am the alpha male of that group.

I'll try not to annoy you.

I think Lord Sugar saw the potential in me, just sat opposite the desk.

He felt that charisma coming from me.

Waiting in London's Bayswater, a four-storey town house.

For the next 12 weeks, it'll be office and home.

Oh, my God!

Oh, wow!

-Way-hey! It's beautiful, innit?

-It's nice, yeah.

-Is that a pool?

-It is!

-No way!

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-I'm Ricky. Nice to meet you.

-How are you doing?

It's never-ending, this, innit?

Big enough to fit all our egos in, that's for sure.

Before they begin, both teams need names.

I was thinking Phoenix because if we have trouble in the next few weeks,

we'll have to rise from the ashes, rise from the flames.

-I think Phoenix is a great name.

-Phoenix.

-Phoenix it is, guys.

Team Phoenix. High-fives! High-fives!

Something came to me, a bit random, in my dream last night...

Sterling.

Because I think it symbolises...

It's strong, we are making money, that's what it's about.

-It's just a strong word, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

That's what we are.

-Right, Sterling? I'm voting Sterling.

-OK. It's sorted.

Next job, pick leaders.

Is there anyone that wants to be the project manager?

Anyone screaming out?

I don't want to be project manager

because I'd be best used selling on the stall, that's where I'll shine.

-Guys, this is shocking.

-We're going in to win.

I think we can win the task, guys,

is anyone at this stage willing to put themselves forward?

I'll put myself forward if nobody wants to do it.

I don't really want to do the first week's task, but I will do it.

-Congratulations.

-Top man!

-Nice one.

-100 percent support from the rest of the team.

-OK.

Running the boys, technology entrepreneur, Nick.

My mind does work a bit like a computer.

I rank almost everything in my life, bit like an Excel spreadsheet.

I think business is all about logic

and I can think of solutions to complex problems quicker than others.

Let's go. We'll start with project manager first.

For the girls, a volunteer...

I would like to put myself up as project manager.

..Gabrielle.

I'm an architect.

I also literally just opened up a new print and design store.

All right, I think we'll go with you.

Is there anybody else that has anything to compete with that?

I'm happy.

-OK.

-Right, we're sorted.

I'm not the usual kind of candidate.

I'm kind of a bit quirky, and being an architect,

I'm very creative.

I love to look at things differently

and use my creativity to make them a success.

OK, let's go.

Both teams have catalogues of unbranded products.

-In here we've got phone covers...

-No!

-Fridge magnets?

-Nope.

-Little T-shirts?

-Yep.

-So T-shirts is number one.

-I think a bag with a nice design.

-I think a bag's a shout.

I think the teddies are quite a good idea.

Actually, I quite like the idea of a teddy bear.

-Small bears or big?

-Small bears.

-Big bears are going to stand out more.

-I think the smaller bears.

Just go with the figures that we've got. Smaller bears?

In making the decision, big bears.

We need to work out material cost, printing price and sale price

so we can work out a margin.

To add value, all the products need printable designs.

We haven't really discussed what the design will be, have we?

The design comes second, just the product now.

I think the design and the brand are all quite important.

Maybe it could be something different, a bit zany, a bit funky.

First of all, just work out the margin. It's about the margin.

Ladies, ladies, ladies! You want to really stand out.

You want to be like, "This is the T-shirt for you."

Hold on a second, how much is this going to cost us?

At the end of the day, it's about making the margin.

ALL: To Phoenix! Phoenix!

Midday.

Both teams split.

Half to buy at a warehouse

and half to a print studio.

For the screen print on the T-shirt,

we are looking at maybe three animals, monkey, lion and a penguin.

Targeting families, the girls' design team has an idea for kids.

We are looking for quite obvious cartoon style.

The penguin is really easy to draw, just like that,

face over there, feet on the side.

Sketching the designs, business development manager, Jade.

I would describe myself really as a salesperson

but I have a real creative edge.

-Aw, I actually quite like it.

-I think it's lovely.

The screen prints are actually going to be all the drawings that I drew.

I think it looks good. Our team thinks it looks nice.

It's our kind of little animal family, I'd say.

-It looks like it's drawn by kids, for kids.

-Aw!

I'm quite good at doing kids' drawings.

THEY LAUGH

North London -

a warehouse packed with unbranded products.

Don't spend more than £200 on bags.

Yep, no problem at all.

The boys, shopping for blank items

on a tight budget.

I can give you 100 bags for £100, that's the best I can do.

That's fine. OK. All right.

Next, the girls.

On the look out for kids' products...

You have a T-shirt, a babygrow and bibs.

..but with no numbers to go on.

-How many?

-I was thinking if we do 90 T-shirts, that's right, innit?

No, 80 T-shirts and 30 bibs.

Look, Gabrielle is the team leader

so I think she needs to be in on the decision.

Hi. How are you?

We are slightly unsure of exactly what we can buy.

Do you want 80 T-shirts or 90 T-shirts and 30 bibs?

We're with the designer now.

So what would you like us to do?

Um...

It's really important because otherwise we'll be over budget.

As soon as I find out, I'm ringing you straight back. Is that fine?

We're just going to have to make a decision.

Yeah, that's fine, I've no problem with that, let's go with that.

£280, please.

Bought blank for printing, toddler T-shirts, bags and bibs.

I think Gabrielle is just losing control.

There's a lot of things that have been brushed over

because she's a creative person.

She's an architect. She can draw, that's it, she can draw buildings.

4pm.

At the boys' design studio...

15 at 50p is £7.50.

..figures are still the focus.

-Hello, guys.

-Hello, guys.

We just want to clarify, what does the logo say?

Is it a name or is it a design? What is it?

We haven't come up with the idea yet.

We're still trying to get the numbers together. Cheers. Bye.

They haven't done it, they've been there all day.

-They've got time constraints.

-They've been there all day.

With the clock ticking...

Guys, we've got half an hour. We need to do this quickly.

..and tourists as the target, they wheel out the old favourites.

It's got to be a bus or taxi.

What I would do is, very simply,

"THIS IS A" and then a picture of a London bus.

What about, "IS THIS A?"

"THIS IS A." You've got it down, don't over complicate it.

The boys have thought about the cost of the printing plus the margin,

and they've kept the design really simple,

but what's different about this? Nothing's different.

Guys, what about that? Phone box. Or not even... No text, just a phone box.

The phone box, the red London bus, come on.

There's got to be more imagination involved in this process than that.

-Is everyone happy?

-Fantastic.

The buying boys are back.

We've gone for a Union Jack on the T-shirt for the teddy.

-On the bags, we've gone for a big London bus with a logo.

-Yeah.

So we've really thought out the box, yeah?

Both teams have till midnight to print their products.

If we get all the teddies... We've got a lot to do.

Real man's job, this one, isn't it?

Once designs are transferred to screens, printing can start.

-That's how it should look.

-Yeah. I'm happy with that.

-Van Gogh eat your heart out, that's what I say.

-Let's do it.

-Oh, wow!

-Aw!

Isn't that clever!

39 to go!

SHE LAUGHS

Gabrielle's girls get cracking

on a range of kids' clothes, bags, and jigsaws.

Oh, my God!

It's literally just like that.

Gabrielle put herself up as project manager

because she's in the print business.

And now, her expertise is beginning to show.

Good stuff!

But the one that's disappointing me is Katie, she's keeping very quiet.

Ladies, is everyone working?

So she'd better start getting involved

or they'll sense weakness and turn on her.

-Where is she? Katie!

-Katie!

I'm just getting really annoyed because we are doing everything.

If you're waiting, can you start packing?

I'm not waiting, I'm putting this stuff in.

It's takes as long as it takes.

As products pile up,

still no plan how to claw back profits.

40 bibs... 0.10, and this is just not the best time to be doing sums.

Anybody in business knows that your margin and your pricing is key.

If we lose for the sake of £10,

it's down to her.

-Plus the £50. You sure you added £50?

-Yes.

OK, we need to work out what we're going to charge people.

The boys' studio.

Freshly-printed, patriotic bears...

-Lovely!

-Looking good?

-Yeah! I like it.

..and bags, waiting for red buses.

Ruined it!

-I can't work out what we are doing wrong.

-Not enough paint that time.

-Put it in! We'll sell it to a gullible tourist.

-Yeah.

Urgh!

The printing on the bags has been a little more difficult

than we first envisaged because it's not a machine,

we're doing it by hand so the quality is different for each one.

At the moment, that's a bit of a concern because,

will we be able to sell them at full price?

Oh, man! That's knackered that!

There's no point wasting it, we might as well print on it.

What can we do with that?

Ah, there you go!

Midnight.

If it was me heading up the graphic design,

I think I'd have done a bit more. THIS IS A bus?

I think it's terrible but it's done now.

Today, teams must sell their printed products to the public.

Here come the dream team.

Setting up stall on London's South Bank, the boys.

Along the back you've got 1011 so that one is wrong.

Back... Just leave it there.

Next, a pep talk from project manager, Nick.

Right, try and hit £325 each for sales today.

We're going to make the most profit if we sell the teddies at £15.

That's where the real massive margin is going to be.

Just before we move on, this is purely from my experience,

I'm based heavily in sales myself...

Chipping in, sales manager Stephen.

If I asked 20 of my friends right now, right now,

would they buy a bear for £15,

I'm struggling to pick anyone that would buy that bear at £15.

That's the situation. So I'm saying,

I would have the group come to a lower price than that right now,

if I was to give my input.

'Stephen stood right next to the team leader,

'he took control of the meeting.'

I think if I was project manager, I wouldn't have had that.

I think Nick was doing a grand job. Why Stephen stepped up, I don't know.

In terms of starting point, we are agreed on £12, yeah?

I've made a decision.

For now, we're sticking with the original price.

£15 for that.

Briefing over, half the boys hit the streets.

-The bottom line is we have to shift this.

-Of course.

Greenwich Market.

Fixed pitch for the girls' boutique baby stall.

To push up prices,

the girls plan to print children's names on T-shirts...

These are literally all the boxes that you're taking.

..and take half their stock to London Zoo.

What we're thinking is, let's put "day out at the zoo" on them.

What do you think of that?

I think, "I loved my day out at the zoo" would really sell.

-Love that idea!

-Let's not waste time because it's quite far away.

The later we take, the more traffic we're going to encounter.

I agree but we just need to see how we go

and we can decide to leave if it's taking too long.

Why are the other team still here? They should be gone!

You are wasting time! I know how to do this.

The idea was to take some "I love London zoo" there.

-That was Gabrielle's decision.

-You should go. You're wasting time!

-Just go!

-That's not the point.

10.50am.

Finally, it's off to the zoo.

Where we were slowed down is that

people insisted on staying and waiting for the press

to personalise T-shirts before we go to the zoo.

No, no, no, no!

We were giving it 20 minutes

because it was going to give us that extra margin.

St Pancras International.

Look at the little teddies!

Touting teddy bears to tourists, half the boys.

Can I just show you this teddy bear we are selling today?

-He's a lovely bear. Have you felt him?

-Yeah.

-These are £15.

-I don't have pounds.

Would you like to take Jack home?

Can you see Jack in Paris, on the Champs Elysees?

I don't think so, no.

The bears aren't selling.

I am going to question the price of these bears.

I'm going to make a decision, just give me a yes or no.

We are going to drop the price of the bear.

Are you happy taking responsibility for that? If so, go ahead.

Let's not worry about responsibility,

let's get on with selling these products.

Try and get a higher price, but OK.

The idea of selling a teddy bear for £15

is something that the general public and the tourists haven't taken to.

Nick is trying to cover himself

but that doesn't interest me.

I'm just interested in winning this task.

Lunch time.

At the girls' stall, the kiddie clothes are selling.

-Let me just get you some change.

-Thank you.

Lovely ladies! Come over. I love you, thank you!

Would you like to enter your pin for me, please?

You look lovely.

Jade, who studied graphics at college,

came up with some very charming free sort of illustrations of a lion,

a tiger and in-between them, a very worried-looking penguin.

I think her design is smashing

and it's not me alone who likes them, the mums like them.

Why? Because they're buying them.

This one. That's no problem.

Products with a personal touch are proving popular.

For personalisation, we add an extra £5.

-Could we have Will, Ed, Cath?

-Yes.

Lovely! Look at that, isn't that cute?

That suits your eyes.

I hope you enjoy that, Rory!

How far would you say we are off now?

Gridlocked, the rest of the girls.

Just checking how you guys are doing.

We've been stuck in traffic this whole time.

Right. So you've just got to the zoo now?

We are still driving. We're going now.

We're still in the car.

Just to clarify, you've not actually reached the zoo yet?

ALL: No!

OK.

At last, London Zoo.

With half the day gone, the girls prowl for parents with prams.

-We have to just take it in turns, OK?

-I'll handle this one.

-Hello! How's your day going?

-Good, thank you.

Can I interest you in some products that we made?

They are our own design and we're selling them today.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

Leading the hunt, risk management analyst Bilyana.

Could I interest you in our organic cotton hand-pressed T-shirts?

Are we not taking this in turns?

Just £6. Your favourite animals.

I keep spotting a family and then she runs up and does it so...

No, that's not fair. We are taking it in turns.

She needs to cop onto herself.

It's the funky zoo crew.

She's talking to kids that don't have money on them.

She's wasting our time. We can only go one at a time.

You just had your sale, so you need to give the next person a chance.

-That was an amazing opportunity, though.

-No, it wasn't.

Kids don't have money on them.

We decided we would take turns

to use everybody's strengths in sales but Bilyana is definitely

sort of diving in there and taking over other peoples' sales.

Good afternoon, madam. How's your day going?

Sorry, we are accosting you.

Would you like a jigsaw, honey?

We don't want to be behaving like animals in the zoo.

-We have a lion...

-Hey! Let's have a look at this!

We've got a jigsaw going on here.

My God, I feel so stressed! Should we go in Penguin Beach?

The South Bank.

These were £6, they are now £5. These were £15, they're now £10.

-A pair.

-A pair? Fantastic!

With prices dropped, tourist trade is brisk.

Thank you very much. Nice doing business with you.

Hi, guys. It looks like we might sell out in the next hour.

Get hands to the pump and go and sell what you've got.

We'll get rid of this lot.

Running out time, the boys look for bulk sales.

The unique perspective of these are the branding on the front.

Doing the deal, refrigeration entrepreneur Azhar.

I'll do 20 at £3.

20 at £3.50. Take the whole stock, £3.50.

-Done.

-That's a good mark-up.

-Fantastic. You're a gem. Come on.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

There is a daddy with a little baby over there that I want to attack.

At the zoo, sales refuse to take off.

-Look at that, it goes with your dress perfectly!

-No, thank you.

All right, thanks a lot.

We are not selling great at all

and stress is beginning to come across in the group.

Try and calm down. These are baby products.

We were on one side and you run over.

So it's not like we are ignoring our own advice.

Just stop bickering. Come on. Where are we going?

Hi, everyone!

'I know this area quite well

'so I already have a couple of shops in mind.'

I think we should leave the zoo and go

and try to make some sales to the trade.

You know the shops round here. Are they very posh?

-That's what I'm saying.

-OK, we'll go on your local knowledge.

Guys, a serious point.

This is not just the short road, this goes on a good mile.

We are not near any shops, do you think there's shops down here?

I know where the shops are.

You're sure that this very long street, that I remember,

is not a very long street?

No, I'm sure.

-OK, let's run.

-Yeah.

Greenwich.

30 minutes to go.

-We are ready to go sell everything.

-Let's go!

Gabrielle's girls run for the retailers.

Every single item £2.40...

-£2.20 and that's...

-Deal!

Deal. Let's shake on it.

So £163.20, please.

Get rid of it! You have to get rid of it! 12 minutes!

50 pence a bag now. Last few bags!

Thank you very much, sir.

We need some change fast, fast, fast!

I don't know where I'm going here. Where are we going?

Bilyana, where we going from here?

We've got some products here that we want to show you

and see if you're interested in buying.

We can do a really good deal for you.

The same pattern that in the T-shirt is in the jigsaws.

We've also got some bags.

I wouldn't give you an answer today. I would have to think about it.

We only have a few left and we're prepared to give you a good deal.

You have the pet store next to you, you have the park,

these are going to go so well.

THEY ALL TALK AT ONCE

They've been going really well today at the zoo.

I don't like buying under pressure or stress.

Let's go, guys. We are wasting time.

Girls, I really don't appreciate that.

It's not a good idea to come in and barricade someone.

-You put her under tremendous pressure.

-I genuinely apologise.

Can I just offer again my sincere apologies?

We were too pushy and I'm really sorry.

Did you realise the last thing that you said?

-"We're wasting time, onto the next one." One of you did.

-I did.

5pm.

Lord Sugar's first business test is over.

Did you sell everything?

ALL: No.

If the other team have tried as hard as we have

and sold as hard as we have, we've won this.

But for the boys, an unhappy customer.

Basically, these have marks on.

There's 10 and they all have imperfections.

You've got stains here, stains here.

You've got ones that are really, really faded

or overprinted and messed. It's so unprofessional.

I do apologise. I can assure you,

it's not our intention to sell you any seconds or returned merchandise.

They've sold some of their product that quite frankly

deserves to be nowhere other than the bin.

They think they can get away with it

but they haven't got away with it.

And now, they are in the embarrassing situation of having to refund

a customer's money and go away with their tail between their legs

and, quite frankly, that's where it deserves to be.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

-Good morning.

-ALL: Good morning, Lord Sugar.

The idea behind most businesses is very simple

and you couldn't get nothing simpler than this.

I told you to go and buy blank items

and then you added some value to it and hopefully you made a profit.

We'll start with the gentlemen's team.

You came up with the name Phoenix, I understand. Whose idea was that?

That was my idea, Lord Sugar.

In life as in business, you're going to face some adversity along the way

and if that situation arises, we'll be rising from the ashes.

OK. It's not a bad name, I suppose.

-So project leader?

-Myself.

Anybody else put themselves forward other than you?

No, we had an embarrassed moment when none of us put ourselves forward.

I'm not sure how long it lasted for but I decided to put myself forward

because we needed a project manager.

I read in the CVs,

Azhar, you said you'd be project manager of all the tasks.

Stephen says, "I'll put myself forward," and they all went shtoom.

When it came to it, you did it, that's right?

That's right. I'm happy to be project manager on any task.

I think before you got the words finished,

"I'll do it if no-one else will,"

everyone had jumped up and congratulated you, Nick.

Right, so anyway, bearing in mind he stuck himself in the deep end,

how was he as a team leader?

I've got a lot of respect for him stepping forward.

He stepped up to the mark.

OK, so what were your products? Have you got them over here?

-He's called Jack.

-Jack the bear. Nice Jack.

I see. Don't look like much thought

has gone into the design here, does it?

-That's it, the bus, is it?

-That is it, yeah.

You spend a lot of time talking about profit, costs, margin,

and the design very much was the second focus.

I am embarrassed about the design.

The design team wasn't too heavily taxed, let's put it that way.

You spent all your time talking about margins, instead of design.

What was your margin philosophy?

-We were selling him for £15...

-What, that? For £15?

You weren't in Bond Street, by any chance?

We weren't in Bond Street, no. We dropped it very quickly to ten.

That's a very good margin,

but the woman you sold some bags to rejected the whole lot, in the end.

There was an issue with that.

Of course, you can have the greatest margin in the world,

but if the end punter doesn't want to buy your product,

-it's meaningless, isn't it?

-Yep.

Let's move over to the ladies' team.

I understand that you got yourself a team name called Sterling?

-Yes, that's correct.

-How did that come about?

I actually dreamt it the night before.

My friend gave me the idea in a dream.

Right. Sounds very professional(!)

GIGGLING

Sterling, then. Sterling, it is. And your team leader?

-That was myself.

-Right, Gabrielle.

I saw on your CV that you're going to open a print firm afterwards.

This task was a really good experience.

Anybody else put themselves forward to be the team leader?

When somebody's got that expertise,

why wouldn't we let her take the lead?

I preach that all the time. The person who is an expert

in the particular task should put themselves forward, fair enough.

Good team leader or not?

I think she was probably a little bit flustered

by the fact she had lots of very strong women underneath her,

which thought anyone would be, even the guys.

-OK, so these are the designs, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Who did the design, who did these things here?

-It was Jade.

-What is it, your own graphics?

-Our own design, yes.

-That's very good!

-It's very good.

I hand drew it and then we just scanned it into the computer.

Really? That's good!

You can have that one on us!

THEY LAUGH

So these were your designs.

How did you get on with the selling? Everybody sold?

What I delegated to everyone was actually to sell.

Jane had a bigger job than that in the sub team.

She was to relay back all figures back to me...

I wasn't actually officially put in charge of the sub team.

I had taken over, because nobody had done anything on the finance side.

-You took charge, is that what you're saying?

-Well, basically.

It just needed to be done.

You know what? I think it's time now for me to get some numbers.

-So, starting, Nick, with the ladies' team.

-Yup.

Team Sterling. Total sales, £690.60,

minus the total spend of £475.80.

That gave them a profit of £214.80.

£214 profit.

And Karen, for the boys?

Total sales came to

£1,015.60

and you spent £399.40 in printing and products,

-leaving your profit of £616.20.

-£616.

-Well done, guys.

-Well done.

Well, it's very good. Very good for the first task.

I've laid in an art-inspired reception for you back at the house.

So help yourself to canapes and cocktails

and I'll see you on the next task. Off you go.

-Thanks, Karen.

-Thanks, Nick.

-Thank you, guys.

THEY LAUGH AND CHEER QUIETLY

Well done, guys.

ALL: We did it!

Well, I think you need to go away

and discuss this amongst yourselves,

because at least one of you will be leaving this process today.

ALL: Thank you.

One, two, three, Phoenix!

Well, boys, we won our first task and we got a night on the tiles.

THEY LAUGH

We pulled in the same direction.

They had eight people that went in eight different directions.

-That's what won the task.

-Yeah, we got a really good bond.

Some serious bromance going on.

THEY LAUGH

-To Team Phoenix!

-ALL: Team Phoenix! Cheers!

I'm so sorry that we are all in this horrible position,

but you just didn't do enough.

Some decisions weren't made quickly enough.

On the second day, we didn't leave early enough for the zoo.

I kept saying, it's an hour away

and if we catch traffic, it's going to take even longer.

-On the second day, we were held back...

-You're speaking up now?

Now you've got something to say?

Yes, because I'm really angry. I'm not speaking, I'm shouting now.

Shut up!

'The team lost because Gabrielle

'didn't take critical decisions fast enough.'

We voted her based on her expertise in the field,

'However, she didn't come across as an expert at all'

and I think she should be fired.

'If I'm dragged back in, I will fight'

very, very strongly,

because I know that I am not to blame for the failure of this task.

'I'm really gutted'

to be going back to the boardroom. I really believe

'everyone tried their best, but I guess in the boardroom'

I'll actually find out who was responsible.

PHONE RINGS

You can go through to the boardroom now.

Well...

I trust you've had a chat amongst yourselves

and each of you have some kind of idea in your mind

as to what has gone wrong. Where do you want to start?

From my point of view, the guys were very focused on their margins.

They were focused on how many products they were going to buy

and what they were going to make. We didn't do that.

That's called strategy, Jane.

I know that and I'm saying we didn't do that.

So you're saying it was a bit of a free for all, was it?

No, it wasn't. It was left and I did it.

Pricing strategy was sorted out after we done the design

and once we knew how much we had,

so really there was no set strategy.

-No strategy, is that what you are saying?

-None.

I do admit... The first couple of hours... It was mental for me.

I think our problem was sales.

Our mark-up obviously wasn't high enough.

We could have pushed it higher.

There was 93 items

out of your 250 left over.

-Yeah.

-40% of what you decided to make.

Do you have 40% of your stock left over in your restaurant every day?

-Not in any way, shape or form.

-Do you ever have 40% of your stuff left over?

-No.

-No.

The Greenwich mob sold £440 worth.

The London Zoo team sold £225 worth.

There seems to be a period of non-selling

-due to great distance and location.

-There was a trudge across London?

-Yes, there was.

NICK: They got to a shop and attacked the shopkeeper,

who was so affronted by their sales approach,

that she wouldn't buy anything.

She couldn't stand being cornered by a pack of baying hyenas.

I was absolutely adamant to Bilyana that this was a long walk.

Bilyana was pretty adamant she knew the shops and she knew

they would buy them and we pushed on that point, including Jane.

I sent Bilyana to London Zoo was because she knew the area very well.

Right, I think it's my time to say something now.

On the second day, I was sent to the zoo

because I really do know the area quite well and I promise you,

I took them to the closest available shop.

Well, the closest available shops to the Regent's Park Zoo

is down the road in Camden Town.

No, Camden Town is further. It's further from London Zoo, Lord Sugar.

-But anyhow...

-I drive past it every day. Anyway...

Yes, exactly, anyway.

The majority of the problems are definitely the result

of bad management, initially.

What happened was, some decisions weren't made quickly enough,

so we were held back at Greenwich Market, because Gabrielle,

backed by Jane, was keeping us there, because she wanted to have

some items personalised before we go and sell them to the zoo.

These 20 minutes were critical in terms of catching lunchtime traffic

and being delayed even more...

Just as critical as the 20 minutes we spent walking across a park?

I kept saying that it takes an hour to get to the zoo.

We were caught in traffic, we ran out of time.

Bilyana, I've looked at what your background is.

It's all to do with financial services with risk management.

Were you focused on margins or what?

I understood the importance of the margins and I sincerely thought

this is not something to get involved in straight away.

We have three women with businesses.

If I was experienced in finances,

I would be straight in there

to prove I can do it and I'm good at what I do.

Risk analysis, if that's your speciality... Can I just...

..Primrose Hill was very risky to go,

but you still insisted that we went.

OK. Jade, you did the design. Is that right?

I did the design, I did print, I sold,

I think that I was a key member in the team.

Who didn't pull their weight, in your opinion?

It's really hard to say who didn't pull their weight.

I wasn't with Katie, so I don't know what she did.

OK, Katie, what did you do?

Well, I was a fantastic team player. I got involved at every point.

I made lots of sales, I got my hands dirty at every point...

You made lots of sales?

I did sell, but people jumped in on my sales.

I thought you were sort of missing, really.

I struggled to get a word in edgeways a lot.

For me, I'd put my professionalism probably above putting my neck

on the line, I suppose, because I'm not going to shout over people,

in order to get my voice heard. It's just not what I want to do.

Look, ladies, we could go on all night here.

You know the next part of this process.

Gabrielle, which two people are you bringing back in this boardroom now?

Bilyana...

..and Katie.

Right, OK.

You five ladies go back to the house and I'll see you on the next task.

ALL: Thank you, Lord Sugar.

OK, look. I'm going to have a chat with Nick and Karen.

I'd just like you to step outside for one more moment.

When you come back in here,

one of you is leaving the process, OK?

Well, a fiery bunch of ladies there,

in particular, Bilyana.

Clearly she's rubbed them up the wrong way but, on the other hand,

she's got some excellent credentials.

-She's not here to win a popularity contest.

-Exactly.

-She's here as a businesswoman.

-Yeah.

And Gabrielle, well, she seems

a very nice, kind of, pleasant girl,

but some of the people are saying that she didn't give any direction.

That's the price, that's what you have got to sell it for,

this is the margin I want.

And Katie, well...

I think it's you that is not quite sure what she's been up to...

-Slow off the blocks.

-..and you're my eyes and ears.

She didn't have the force of character to break through, actually.

PHONE RINGS

You can go through to the boardroom now.

Well, Gabrielle,

you've brought in Katie and Bilyana. Erm...

I think it's reasonable for you to explain why, first of all.

OK. Erm...Katie because maybe you did pull your weight,

but I myself did not see that and I'm just going on what

everyone else has told me.

-And Bilyana, making everyone waste a lot of time.

-OK.

So, Bilyana, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to work out that

there seems to be a, kind of, general despondency towards you, OK?

Now, I'm a very fair person, and I have seen enough times in this

boardroom people trying to gang up on someone, in order to place blame.

I'm too long in the tooth to fall for all that nonsense.

There's got to be a reason for it. Have you got any idea what it is?

Lord Sugar, I'm so pleased that you picked up on that straight away,

because I felt that throughout, I have been increasingly sidelined

for totally the wrong reasons, but most of all, the main reason is

I wasn't as loud as some of the others

and was consistently making good points, but failing to enforce them.

Lord Sugar, as you can see from my title, I'm in risk management.

My role within the bank is - analyse the risks and do something about them.

-Right?

-This is exactly how I approached this task.

Bilyana, you're sitting there talking like a city strategist

where this is two-bob outing.

Go and buy a bit of stuff, print your name on it

and flog it to people in the street.

That's what really annoyed me...

This is not a takeover of Goldman Sachs here.

-This is simple stuff, right?

-I completely agree.

I think it was a no-brainer

and Gabrielle failed to take time critical decisions. I was worried

about her management skills, I was worried about her decision-making.

Why were you worried about her?

Because she wasn't taking the important decisions fast enough.

-She wasn't leading the group.

-I was very much in control!

I never had an argument with anyone, I made sure that everyone

that was under my eye worked to the very maximum.

They worked to the best, they worked till there was blood, sweat and tears...

I was part of that team from day one so you are contradicting yourself.

And that was fantastic, but...

That was fantastic, however, you can't use also as an excuse,

"I've got a small voice, nobody listens to me!"

I have a small voice, but everybody respected me,

everyone that was under my eye at least listened to me,

however you... All I hear is just excuse, excuse, excuse.

What's your excuse for everything that you did?

You said to me you knew the area. I made about £210 going to the shops.

You could have made the same if you actually stood up to what you said you did!

I think I've got the picture here. I've got the picture.

Sales were time critical, Lord Sugar

and we were held back from the beginning...

-I've got the picture.

-..and we were held back later on.

-Stop, stop!

Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.

Katie, I haven't heard much from you and earlier on today

you said to me that you're very professional

so if there's three people already talking to someone, I keep quiet, keep away.

-Have you heard that broken record before in here?

-Once or twice.

I can't tell you the amount of times I've heard that from people

who sit back sometimes and do nothing. You say here that

the biggest mistake is to try and hide behind others.

You say that in your own resume.

-I agree that this that completely.

-It's vital to be strong.

I absolutely swear I was not hiding, there's no way I would do that.

Why shouldn't I fire you, then?

What I want to say to you, Lord Sugar,

is give me another chance, give me an opportunity,

I will prove to you that I'm a worthy business partner.

I'm a great negotiator, I'm used to creating products and getting them to market.

I've got so much that I can bring to this process.

So who do you think is responsible for the failure of this task?

I did find that Gabrielle took some time to make decisions,

but I also have to say, Bilyana, that I have found it very difficult to work with you.

Bilyana, why shouldn't I fire you?

Lord Sugar, you shouldn't fire me because I'm a complete self starter

and I have achieved so much from my humble beginnings.

I came to this country, aged 17, on a scholarship that was initially meant to be for one year.

Not only was the scholarship extended, but I was made head girl

-and given the responsibility of running a...

-Good, good. Listen.

Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen!

I don't want to hear about your life, your previous life.

Lots of people have great stories to tell me,

I don't want to bring out the violin and listen to your sob story.

Tell me why I shouldn't fire you in respect to this task?

I said that opening line, because I wanted to illustrate whatever

I get my hands on, I have an impact.

Who should be fired, then, in this task?

I think Gabrielle was a bad manager in the first task.

She didn't take time-critical decisions,

she didn't delegate and she didn't show that expertise.

I admit, I wasn't quick on the ball in the beginning.

Give me another chance, I will be project manager again,

two, three times and every single time, I will be better and better.

-You already had your chance!

-No, no, no! I will take the chance again.

I've heard enough here today.

I don't need any more intervention from anybody.

Gabrielle, you did work hard and you showed a lot of passion,

but there's been lots of talk from the other people

about the lack of direction and this task was deliberately

designed to be simple. It is not rocket science.

Katie, as I said to earlier on,

people have been in this boardroom many times

telling me about, "I don't like to override this one, I don't like to override that one",

and sometimes those people's actions cost them dearly.

And Bilyana, well, you have clearly got the capability of doing something,

but you have not given anybody any credit for doing anything.

Including taking some blame, but if you give me the opportunity...

-I don't wish to hear any more.

-I'll prove that I'll be a solid project manager!

I'm not listening anymore now.

I've had enough of listening to you.

I'm telling you what the situation is, whether you like it or not.

It is a difficult decision to make in this first task,

because I don't know any of you, OK?

And so the person leaving today may feel

they haven't had enough time to show themselves, but that's tough.

That's what this process is about and I did say at my introduction

that I don't want anybody to hide.

And on that basis...

If you give one more chance to be...

-No, I'm sorry.

-Gabrielle had it and she failed.

You don't do yourself any favours.

I'll show you.

I don't think so. I don't think so.

Bilyana, you are fired.

That's a shame, but thank you for the opportunity.

It was a toss up there, Katie.

You asked for another chance and you got one,

but we will be watching what's going on.

Go back to the house.

Thank you.

It was a very, very close call, but Katie, I don't know,

I think the balance was I did know about Bilyana,

which is unfortunate for them, that their demeanour can be their demise.

I feel the decision wasn't fair

and I don't think my performance cost us the task.

I think Gabrielle deserved to be fired more than me,

but my business plan is excellent so I'll just move on straight away.

Tell you what, Bilyana did me the biggest favour in the world, because she buried herself.

I owe her a drink, to be honest.

Who do you really want to come back, out of the three?

-I want Gabrielle to come back.

-Gabrielle?

There were mistakes made, but she's a strong candidate.

We think Katie is probably going to go home, don't we?

Oh! Oh!

THEY CHEER

-I'm still here!

-Is there anyone else?

Am I not enough?

THEY CHEER

I'm not going to lie, that was probably one of the most stressful moments of my entire life!

'15 candidates remain.

'The fight for Lord Sugar's quarter-of-a-million-pound investment has begun.'

Next time...

What you're going to do is design a new gadget.

It's amazing! Why has nobody thought of this sooner?

'Creating the next big thing...'

Basically, we've invented the bin.

'..turns out to be a numbers game.'

If you were to order a million units...

That's a £9 million order.

'But in the boardroom...'

It looks like something you put nuclear waste in.

'..meltdown.'

Basic business principles went right down the drain on this thing.

You're fired!

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