Affordable Luxury The Apprentice

This is not about a job any more. This is about me

investing £250,000 into a business with one of you.

Heading to London, 16 potential business partners,

all keen to kick-start a company.

I'm not looking for a friend. If I want a friend, I'd get a dog.

I'm looking for a partner.

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

On offer, a 50-50 deal with the nation's most demanding investor.

I put you into a piddly little business

and you made a complete mess of the figures.

Willing to bankroll new business in tough times,

Lord Sugar is on the hunt for one winning partnership.

That first few lines there was you digging a bloody great big hole.

Shameful, really.

-Start the car.

-It's a deal worth fighting for.

Your gift ideas now. The last five!

16 candidates...

Some hair clippers, some beard trimmers.

I feel physically sick.

..12 tough weeks...

They want that tan as soon as they can.

One life-changing opportunity.

You're fired. You're fired.

This is my boardroom and, by the way, this is my money. You're fired.

Previously on The Apprentice...

Your next task, it's all about

the new fashionable daily-deal website.

The teams had one day to clinch cut-price deals.

Is there no way possible at all we could do the 35% off,

plus the complimentary tea and coffee?

Jade's team hunted out high-end trade...

The 50% rate is a far higher discount than we have ever done.

..but made a meal of negotiating.

-You put a deal to me.

-I could work it out if it's round numbered.

-I can't run a business like this.

-On the other team...

-You wouldn't be able to do any discount?

-I wouldn't even give you 10%.

-..it was rough for Ricky.

-Just wanted to clarify that, crystal clear.

And for Gabrielle and Stephen, pain.

Splitting headache.

I've got to be honest with you, Ricky, I'm feeling a bit of pressure.

In the boardroom...

So, Phoenix win by over £8,000.

..a clean sweep for Jade.

-Well done, and I'll see you on the next task.

-Ricky hit out.

I think both of you are at fault. If I had to say who is stronger at fault, yourself.

Stephen battled on...

I'm a fighter, and will go on. Gabrielle, for, you're not demonstrating a fight.

I'm not looking, you know, for a friend. Gabrielle, you are fired.

..but with Gabrielle gone, had nowhere to hide.

There was an air of panic.

You told me you were going to win, you didn't win. You lost.

You're also fired.

Now, five remain to fight for the chance

to become Lord Sugar's business partner.

One week to go.

Last chance to win a place in Lord Sugar's final.

PHONE RINGS

-Hello.

-'Good morning, this is Lord Sugar's office.

'Lord Sugar would like you to meet him at the Burlington Arcade, in Piccadilly.

'The cars will be with you in 30 minutes.'

Burlington Arcade, in 30 minutes.

Burlington Arcade in half an hour.

This could be the last early start for us, couldn't it?

Maybe for you.

It's weird to be the last member of Sterling left.

I'll be keen to see if Lord Sugar has just me on my own against the hit team -

I think it'll be a winning combination.

Hopefully they'll stick Jade with you, mate.

If you ask any of us, at the beginning, "How far would you like to get,"

you know, you can't ask fairer than this - getting the opportunity to be in the final.

-ADAM:

-This separates the men from the boys today.

I think it's going to be about getting your hands dirty, this task.

Tucked away in the heart of London's West End - Burlington Arcade.

For almost 200 years, home to the finest in luxury retail.

Good morning.

ALL: Good morning, Lord Sugar.

Welcome to Burlington Arcade. This is a famous arcade.

I suppose you would say the original shopping centre.

Now, we are in recessionary times at the moment,

but there's still a great market for luxury products.

The key is, they have to be AFFORDABLE luxury products.

Your task, this week, is to create an affordable luxury product range,

and then you will be presenting to industry experts -

and here's the bad news - and me,

what your business model is all about.

Now, Ricky looks a bit stranded there.

So, Tom, go over and join him.

-Adam, you're going to be project manager of Phoenix.

-Fantastic.

-OK?

You decide amongst yourselves who's going to your project manager.

The team that comes up with the best idea, and business plan,

will win, and in the losing team, one of you will be fired.

-OK, everything clear?

-ALL: Yes, Lord Sugar.

Good luck. Off you go.

From chocolate to cosmetics,

premium products with affordable price-tags

are a retail trend that keeps on growing.

Each team must create a luxury product range,

turn empty shelves into prototype stores,

and then present their plans to industry experts and Lord Sugar.

I'm very keen to take the lead on this one.

First job for Tom and Ricky, decide who will lead.

I feel like this is my time - third time lucky. I'm going to win this.

I feel like you and I are a lethal combination.

Yeah, well, I'd be more than happy to put myself up for it,

but I think time is the essence,

so I'm happy for you to be project manager.

'It's extremely important for me that I win this task.'

We're one step away from the final. I'm that close to getting

a bit of paper out and asking Lord Sugar to sign it. I won't let that slip through my fingers.

With Ricky running it, next, choose a market.

Male grooming is increasingly popular these days.

I think of all the boys in the house, as well,

it's something that's been quite common between all of us. It's definitely a market we can get into.

I love a bit of cosmetics for men, so that's a product range I like.

Ricky and Tom have gone for male grooming.

They're the right sort of age group to know all about that sort of thing.

And looking at them, with their, sort of, hair-gelled quiffs,

they obviously have a personal interest in that particular sector.

It's an interesting route to go down,

cos I think you can either go down the heritage route, or we go more modern.

Look at a lot of fashion at the moment, even yourself, with the way you hold your hair,

-that is a kind of in-style at the moment.

-Yeah, I agree.

-Agreed.

-Yeah.

In charge of the other team, market trader Adam.

Good task, exciting, a lot to it.

Name, identity, logo, packaging.

Any ideas?

I'm feeling really confident, really happy to be chosen as PM.

I'm very good with managing people, knowing where their skill sets lie.

It's a big task, but I think we can win this.

The biggest market looks like the confectionery market.

-That's what I'm thinking.

-I'm keen on confectionery.

-I like the sound of home-made hot chocolate,

and then a glass display counter with individual chocolates.

Do you know what I think you've hit on there, which is very valid, is hot chocolate?

One of my businesses on the outside is a coffee company,

and we do sell hot chocolates. I think it is a massively under-served market.

Where do we want to go on this?

I want to go down the road, I think, of chocolates,

white chocolates, hot chocolate.

I think what's also important to remember, we are trying

to create a brand that says one thing, and it's a clear message.

I'd like a bit of everything.

Chocolate chosen, Adam's next decision - who does what?

Nick, I'm going to go with you on...

We're going to research a business model, we're going to do the brand identity together.

I feel that's the main part of this, really - creating a brand,

creating something that can go on, a moving-forward business model.

Jade, I'm going to put you, on your own, to create the product range.

-Yeah.

-You know what a nice chocolate is.

-Oh, yeah. I'm happy to go there.

Come up with some really nice chocolate for us, which I'm sure you can do, yeah?

OK. Let's stay on the phones, and I'll see you soon.

I feel, as project manager, I have to be with the product.

You'll think about the business model, I'm going to be looking at the products.

We both need to be thinking about a name for this now, a brand identity.

I think that name could be make or break.

Plans in place, both teams divide.

-Good luck, mate. See you later.

-You too.

Half head for factories, to produce premium products.

-ADAM:

-'What's your ETA on the chocolate factory, Jade?'

That'll take a good hour and a half, two hours, I would have thought.

-What about using the word "dapper"?

-I do like the word "dapper".

The rest stay in London to create affordable luxury brands.

My best efforts are probably going to be Debonair, Afterclub,

and The Grooming Guild.

I wrote down, "New Tradition -

-"traditional grooming for the modern man."

-OK.

I also had Man's Choice.

My only concern with Men's Choice is it might sound a bit like,

you know, an adult magazine.

Yeah, it sounds a bit cheap, doesn't it?

11am.

For Tom, at a luxury salon for men....

-Hi there.

-Nice to meet you. I'm Tom.

-Hi, Tom. Jason Shankey.

..face time with an expert.

In the last year or so, there's definitely been an increase in, kind of, heritage,

traditional male grooming products getting out there on the market.

You've got the old-school style chairs

with the traditional hot shave - has that been a good way to market shaving products, and let people

-test them before they buy?

-Very much so. We have a number of channels to market.

First and foremost, we have our own salons,

and in the salons we can use it on our customers,

and we find that gets the best results, in terms of sales,

-because once people experience a product, they become real fans.

-Absolutely fantastic.

While Tom brushes up on male grooming,

on the other team...

-Obviously there's chocolate, so Chocolike...

-Yep.

-Quite clever.

..a brand-name brainstorm for Nick, and project manager Adam.

Chocoloco, Lovely Chocolate, Chocstop.

What's important to remember is that we are creating a luxury brand.

Things I have written down, Cocoa-Co, Cocoa-Cho, Cho-Cho-Cho.

-Sounds like a train.

-It is a bit like a train, but it's like a chocolate train.

We could call it Chocolate Bar, as in "chocolate bar",

and Chocolate Bar, do you know what I mean?

The bar. The fact that we could have a counter,

in the style of maybe a bar.

You could personalise the chocolate, again,

like a bar, you could order it at the bar, a chocolate bar.

PHONE RINGS

-Hi, Adam.

-'Hi, Jade, you OK?'

-Yeah, good, thank you.

'At the moment, we are struggling for a name - there's no two ways about it.'

-So, what names have you come up with?

-Sweet Thing.

-'Sweet Thing.'

Like Sweet Thing, like Wild Thing, you know, Sweet Thing.

I just think Sweet Thing is quite cool, quirky. That's my favourite.

'I think that would be really good.'

First stop for the boys, a high-class chocolatier.

And a chance to get a taste...

-That's beautiful.

-..of their chosen market.

So, obviously, the main focus for yourself is chocolate.

What chocolates do you do? What flavours have you combined?

We do a ginger, a lavender, a mint. I think mint is always good.

We do a lemon.

-What's the most popular, out of the chocolates that you do?

-Salted caramel.

It's beautiful. I really like that.

-KARREN:

-'Adam and Nick had a wonderful opportunity to meet a businessman

'who's created a fantastic, bespoke shop,'

to help them put together their business model.

'What have they spent their time doing here? Tasting chocolate.'

They failed to grasp the opportunity.

-Jellies?

-There is a trend towards jellies,

especially high-end jellies.

-It's pate de fruits - it's a bit different to a jelly. It's got a much fuller flavour.

-Wow.

That's fantastic.

Lunchtime.

East London.

Tomorrow, teams can test their concepts

on a cross-section of consumers.

Today, each team gets an empty space...

I believe this is what they call a blank canvas.

-This is the entrance to your salon, here.

-So this is the door?

..and an interior designer, to help create their retail vision.

We're doing male grooming products. We want to look back at a kind of

luxury style, so we're looking at heritage, tradition.

At the moment, we're thinking charcoal grey, dark woods.

We're thinking, very sharp, very bright.

-Colour schemes, we're thinking, baby blue.

-PHONE RINGS

Excuse me, one second.

Hi, Jade, we're just with our designer.

Just to let you know, I have to confirm

'the product range. This is what I'm thinking. tell me what you think.'

Marshmallows, hot chocolate, and then chocolate discs.

Like really thin plates of chocolate.

Yeah, well, I really want to go for the jellies.

The guy we spoke to, the market research, said jellies were, like, top seller. He's doing really well.

My opinion is that we should leave out jellies,

but I'm happy to go with them.

-I don't think we need it.

-Jellies are the new big thing, though.

It's going to be... It's going to be big.

'The product range is not bad, er,

'but where I think Adam and me have disagreed'

is the inclusion of jellies.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea to include them,

but it could maybe detract a little bit from the focus of our task.

-I don't think we need them, but if...

-'I don't think we need jellies, either.'

I think we should go with all four. They do all tie in together -

they're all sweet, you know, and it's... It's nice.

Some people don't like chocolate, so they can have a jelly.

In Kent, a factory.

Sugary specialist in all things sweet.

JADE: It's like heaven!

Moulding Adam's jelly and chocolate range, Jade.

I always wanted to have a sweet shop. I think every little girl who's slightly...podgy did.

Mmm!

That's like one big creme brulee. Oh, that looks very brown.

Hold on, it's on fire!

Hampshire.

A cosmetic factory.

Making up male grooming products, Ricky.

It's going to be too fruity for a masculine product.

The products we've come up with are a lathering shave cream,

we've come up with an after-shave balm, and a face moisturiser.

I very much want to look at anti-inflammatory properties,

the revitalising skin protection.

Once you've shaved, you can have an after-balm, and then moisturise.

So all the products complement one another. I think it's a winning product line.

I feel like my hand's getting a bit more youthful when I'm doing that!

Products finalised, but still no brand name.

PHONE RINGS

-Hey, Tom.

-One last throw of the dice, that you might want to give out is using the word "gentry".

Maybe I'm being silly, but I don't know if I completely get "gentry".

So, should we stick with what we've got? New Tradition.

New Tradition. Er...

-You don't like it, do you?

-It's just not very, like, creative.

'What about, like, Modern Gentleman?'

I really like that, I think it works very well actually, mate.

On the other team...

-My thoughts were, a stencil cut-out of a heart.

-Yeah.

..drawn up by Adam and Nick, but suggested by Jade...

Possibly have a stronger T and a stronger S.

The identity for their brand - Sweet Thing.

It's a confectionery brand, overall, but there is a focus on chocolate.

-PHONE RINGS

-Hi, Jade.

Just a quick one, cos I'm in the middle of making all this stuff now.

The jellies - I can make them alcoholic.

I was thinking I can make spiced pear cider ones,

and peach schnapps, and call them drunken jellies.

-I don't think we'll go drunken jellies. What do you think, Nick?

-No.

-I don't like it.

I mean, Adam, you're the one who really wanted these jellies, so what are your thoughts on that?

-I think drunken jellies sounds quite cool.

-I don't like drunken jellies.

-OK, come up with a different idea then.

-I'm a bit worried about our brand.

We've got so many different products that seem very random.

What shall we call it? So, jellies...

-OK, er... Drunken Jellies, yeah?

-OK, cool.

It's as good a name as any, mate. What's on the table?

They're meant to be doing branding.

I thought they could've come up with a few names,

but it seems I've done all the names all day, and the product.

-Pear cider.

-That'll give you an idea of the two together.

-Oh, my God!

That's really strong.

'I don't really know what they've done.'

Yeah, I reckon I'm pretty much running the show.

On the other team...

-Go with the white, like that. I think it makes it stand out more.

-..in charge of branding, Tom.

Bring that down a little bit,

so we've got the line carrying on afterwards.

Do you think it's too boring?

The PM, Ricky, has taken himself off to the factory,

where he's concocting the product.

Everything else is down to Tom.

Design, the inspiration, the packaging, the branding.

My only concern, looking at it, is it's a bit boring - it's a bit safe.

That task is absolutely pivotal.

Get that wrong, and people will turn up their noses.

Yeah, are you happy?

6am.

Today, the teams must open their stalls to selected shoppers.

This is the dummy run, Rick.

This is our opportunity to get it right,

-listen to the feedback, make changes where...

-Yeah.

Where we need to.

It's a chance to fine-tune plans ahead of tomorrow's pitches.

I think our brand is indulgence, luxury, ethical, and fun. Yeah?

We've targeted it at females, 15 to...old.

9am.

Three hours to go before doors must open.

There you go. So, obviously,

this is your shop front, Jade, yeah?

-Is good, isn't it?

-It does look good.

Oh, I've already got paint all over my hands.

So, Tom, are you used to manual labour? A bit of painting?

I've never painted before.

Let's just get it done as quickly as we can.

The better we can make it look, the quicker,

the more time we can spend on the fluffy stuff, making it look nice.

So there are all the jellies - fantastic.

For Adam and Nick, first chance to try Jade's Sweet Things.

-Very nice.

-Beautiful. These are the hot chocolate spoons.

Your milk comes out your urn, and you drop it in

and stir it till it makes a lovely hot chocolate.

-These are...

-Ah, the discs.

The salted caramel with the honeycomb.

What have you decided on your recommended retail price?

-2.99. It's tripling your money. What do you think, Nick?

-4.99.

-Would you pay 4.99 for them?

-You know, maybe you're right - maybe 2.99 is nearer.

So, what is the pricing strategy, as it stands now?

That is selling for, at the moment, you're thinking, 2.99 or 4.99?

Exactly. Exactly.

At Tom and Ricky's store...

This is our moisturiser.

I think it's subtle - exactly what we're going for.

We didn't want to go for flowers and meadows, and feminine.

Yeah, I think we've got it there.

To promote Modern Gentleman,

traditional wet shaves from a trained barber.

The retailtainment is about getting people involved,

showing people the traditional way of grooming yourself.

It's also about showcasing our products, so it's perfect. Matches brilliantly with what we're doing.

That's exactly what I want.

-That's nice, we want people this evening to come here, to feel the experience.

-Yeah.

Adding punch to Sweet Thing...

-SHAKER RATTLES

-Exactly - listen to your ice.

..a cocktail expert, booked by Jade.

The idea is, that in-store, if you're popping in to have some sweets,

you can pay £5, whatever it might be, for a little cocktail

and the sweets, and we'll tell you which ones complement each other.

Mmm! That is amazing.

2pm.

Anxious wait for the first customers.

Last-minute touches done...

-Brilliant.

-That looks well, mate.

-Good.

..doors open.

Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Modern Gentleman. Please come in.

Here to sample the team's ranges,

a cross-section of potential customers.

Hi. How are you doing?

But hidden in the crowd, sent by Lord Sugar for a sneak preview,

a scattering of industry experts.

Welcome to Sweet Thing, giving you a full chocolate flavour.

Hopefully the most chocolatey chocolates you've ever tried.

-Quite nice, actually.

-Oh, good.

-These are called Drunken Jellies. Do you like the name?

-Yeah.

-Have a little bit of this with it.

-That's nice.

-You like that?

Just stir it. It'll just melt into the hot chocolate. We are planning to sell these in supermarkets.

This is very, very nice. I love it. I could sort of gobble it all up all day.

Overall, are you impressed by it? Would you go into the shop?

-I like the drinks element.

-I would.

-OK. Does anybody need a top up?

At Modern Gentleman...

..a more sober affair.

You can just smell it there, on my hands.

-This is our shaving cream.

-It smells nice.

Where are you hoping to retail?

We're going to start quite exclusively, from the start.

We're going to look to roll it out, but not too ambitious.

We're going to be a small shop, positioning ourselves within London.

Well, Ricky and Tom,

where they're very strong, I think, is on the analytical side.

On the business side.

What we don't want to do - it's a luxury product - is throw it everywhere and anywhere.

When it comes to being creative, they really are pedestrian.

The retail space seems to have hardly anything on display.

It was their view that they should go for a minimalist look,

and they certainly achieved that.

It looks as though it was a closing-down sale or something.

On the other team...

I'm Adam. Welcome to Sweet Thing. Hi.

..Adam's treats are hitting the spot.

-That's really good.

-Yeah, do you like that?

-Very nice.

My first impression was that it was

really warm and very friendly. The atmosphere that they'd created.

-What do you think of the shop window?

-Quite exciting, actually.

-Quite vibrant and quite different.

-Ah, fantastic.

The hot chocolate was my favourite, but that's overtaken it, definitely.

I thought it was very classy. I really like the colour

and the labelling - that was really bespoke, really nice.

Mate, we've done it. We're definitely getting more of a clear vision now.

Hotels, supermarkets. I like it, mate.

I think the more arms to this business, the better.

At Modern Gentleman...

I'm just going to pop you there. If you want to sit back.

I'm just going to lean you back slowly.

..Ricky gets to grips with grooming.

Wait just a moment, I'll bring the hot towel over.

Are you actually going to do it?

I'm going to be doing this, you've got me. You're stuck with me today.

We're Modern Gentleman. This is our new grooming range.

..and Tom talks business.

We've got three stages of the grooming range, focused on shaving.

And relax. I'm really glad you popped it on.

-Is that too hard, or is it nice and soft?

-No, that's fine.

We've got the hot shave, barber experience here.

This is becoming extremely popular. We're going to have a boutique shop, initially,

so people can come in and experience what we are about.

In terms of the retail space, it seems very dull.

I think it could do with some excitement.

The colour schemes on the labelling is also very conservative.

Grey is a colour that can be overlooked very easily.

I'm not sure if I like the branding, to be honest.

It's not distinctive enough, I think it's a little bit too bland.

I wouldn't see that, in a competitive retail environment, really standing out.

6pm.

Good to meet you. Thanks for all your advice.

The test day is over.

Cheers, mate.

Back at the house...

The RRP on the puddles. We said 2.99.

..the Sweet Things regroup.

-We've got marshmallows.

-99 pence.

-Drunken Jellies?

-Drunken Jellies, 2.99.

-2.99, yeah.

Today went really well. Good positive feedback, on the whole.

-So, we're looking at what? Between 62 and 75% margin at those RRPs.

-Yeah.

I feel 100% confident about the task.

I, personally, am happy with all the pricings.

We've done all the hard work - tomorrow is the easy bit.

Brilliant. Can't wait for morning.

And the Modern Gentleman...

This pitch couldn't be any more important, this close to the final.

-Let's framework it. What are we going with first?

-..get down to detail.

We've got the vision, target market, product range, introduction to market.

We received a lot of comments today, both positive, and some very constructive.

One of the biggest mistakes I think we have made is the packaging.

I might even say, "As the product is launching, we would look to get this it within a cardboard box,

-"and it does give that element of luxury."

-Yeah.

The pitch - we've structured it well, we just have to deliver it.

Unfortunately, if we screw up the delivery of this pitch,

it could ruin everything.

Let's hit the nail on the head with this one.

Let's get some sleep, so we can get up extremely fresh in the morning.

7am.

I've been running through that pitch in my head all night, have you?

Couldn't sleep, cos all I kept thinking about is what I'm going to say.

-It's a big one, though. If this goes wrong, no final.

-No.

-NICK:

-I think we created a smart-looking retail experience,

but I am slightly worried that our brand is a bit confused.

So, I am expecting some difficult questions today.

East London.

Here for the pitches, Lord Sugar.

Already waiting, some of the biggest names in the business...

..including chocolate brand Green & Black's...

..retailers Debenhams and House of Fraser...

..and male grooming range Bulldog.

Welcome to Modern Gentleman. My name's Ricky Martin, this is Tom Gearing.

Backstage, the teams wait to be called.

-ADAM:

-It's the final hurdle now and it's every man for himself.

It's written over everyone's face. Everyone's here for themselves now.

Do you want to do a little practice, Nick, or are you all right?

You don't have to, no. OK.

The male grooming market is valued at around £862 million in the UK.

For Ricky and Tom, a last-minute run-through.

'I want to win this task more than anything,

'so to get this pitch right, it's crucial.'

We could move into the accessory world, with our own razor blades.

'This is the most important task of the whole process.

'This is the last chance for any of us to impress Lord Sugar.

'To actually fall at this final hurdle, it would crush me.'

-Good luck in there, Tom.

-Good luck, Ricky, mate.

-We're in this together, this one.

-Absolutely, yeah.

-I want to win this, straight through to the final.

-Yeah.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Good morning, Lord Sugar.

Tom and I would classify ourself as a modern gentleman.

We both like to groom, we like to take pride in our appearance,

but one thing that I don't necessarily do -

and Tom doesn't either - is talk a lot with our friends

and our families about our grooming methods.

Modern Gentleman is a concept which is going to target

traditional grooming visions and values, and bring that to the modern man.

The UK's market is 862 million right now, and growing,

and what we would like to do is to take this outside of the UK,

and starting within Europe gives us an advantage,

because the export links are good.

Thank you very much, Ricky.

Just with regards to the pricing,

the pricing for the shaving cream and the after-balm are £8 each,

and the pricing for the moisturiser's £10.

We did try to take elements from luxury grooming products out there on the market,

and bring them into an affordable range.

In our first year, we would look to have a boutique, flagship store,

which we would offer a service of a full shaving experience.

We had this store open yesterday to the public,

and every single person who had the full shaving experience walked away extremely satisfied.

So, we feel that's a key way for us to attract a new customer base,

and build brand loyalty.

What's the ratio going to be in revenue between product sales and barbering services?

Something around the range of 60 to 70%,

the barber experience being more 30%.

I very much see that the price of what the grooming experience would be

would be very much of similar cost as it would be for all three products put together.

When launching a new brand into the market,

it's very important that you get strong stand-out.

The branding - I think it lacks distinctiveness.

Can you tell us about your thinking around the packaging design?

We kind of looked at the bottom end and the top end,

and tried to find a balance between the two.

One thing we'd like to do -

we would like to slide it within a little box,

-to make it more synonymous with a luxury product. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Modern Gentleman launched...

-I thought the presentation was really strong, actually.

-Excellent.

-They worked well together.

..time for some expert feedback.

Having retailtainment is a great way to get people really engaged with the brand.

I think Sterling really understood their business, their model, their positioning in the market.

In terms of actual product, I thought it was quite forgettable, in terms of brand.

I do question whether it's got the uniqueness.

Next, some sweet talk from Adam's team.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for giving us the time to introduce our brand...Sweet Thing.

Obviously, this is our conceptual view of what our Sweet Thing shops would look like.

And when people come here,

we want them to be bombarded by visual stimulation, by gorgeous smells,

but also by our retail entertainment centre.

Adding some cocktails, possibly alcohol, to the sweet environment.

Erm, and really it's complementing the sweets.

It's about being forward-thinking

and really bringing this confectionery store to life.

What we've tried to achieve is affordable luxury.

HE COUGHS

Ideal for Christmas...

er, birthdays, Easter and Valentine's Day,

which we think will be our busy periods.

HE COUGHS

Our target market, hopefully, will appeal to absolutely everyone,

whether that's coming back from the office, buying a treat,

to give as a gift at any special occasion,

or just for a girly night in, or whatever you fancy, to be honest.

Jade, I really like your presentation about the entertainment area,

and I love the idea of the complimentary cocktail.

I just wonder how much that would impact the profitability of the store.

Really, I don't think it would be a complimentary cocktail.

Something minimal, like £2 or £1.50,

just to complement the sweets.

Just so I understand,

you're going to sell the alcohol in the store, as well.

We'd obviously have to get some licensing agreements to go with that.

Nick, pricing, please.

We'll have a flagship store in London and in Manchester.

We've looked at what prices are currently out there, with low-end sweets and supermarkets.

We've priced it just above that to give it a luxury feel,

We are, however, significantly cheaper than the confectioners

and luxury chocolatiers out there. So, what we are offering is a very high-quality product,

at a reasonable, affordable price in supermarkets, and in other stores.

Your flagship shops.

Do I understand that these are loss-making?

-In other words, you have no chance of actually...

-No.

..covering your overheads from the retail sales there?

299, we've got to sell a hell of a load of those to pay the rent.

I'm really... I was actually a little bit confused.

How did you put the range together and why those specific products?

We are branded as a confectioners, not as a chocolatier,

so it is an all-encompassing brand.

It's not just a chocolatier and it's not just a sweet company, it's actually both.

Time to chew over Sweet Thing.

The shame on this one is that you were confused after the pitch.

'They hadn't done as much homework,'

I don't think, as the grooming team. It was much more about the product.

The best thing about this is actually the chocolate

and the sweets. You know, they're delicious.

There's no lead product. There's hot chocolate, there's the bar.

They haven't put one product to the forefront.

Final stop for both teams, the boardroom.

And the results.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

-Evening.

-ALL: Good evening, Lord Sugar.

Well, we've had a busy day.

I'll start with Sterling, yeah.

Ricky, you put yourself forward as the project manager.

I did, Lord Sugar. I've been project manager twice before, I really felt like

it was my time to lead and have a successful result.

You've lost on the last two occasions.

I have. I've lost twice. I thought third time, I'm going to make a good result.

I'm very passionate about male grooming. It jumped out to us.

We both felt like we had a very strong interest into the market,

and felt we could probably jump into it quickly and deliver a good product.

I obviously saw the end product.

My initial reaction was a little bit...

bit boring.

A quality product looks the business.

That didn't look the business to me.

-Tom, you were in charge of the design of the product.

-Yeah, OK, the bottle doesn't look fantastic.

I hold my hands up to that. Going forward, what we'd like to have done

is if we could have the box that we could present

each product on, on the back it would include a brief description of the key active ingredient,

and how it helped the user.

Mmm. Initially, when I walked into the shop,

it didn't kind of come across to me as, "Wow!"

There was three products, a couple of towels, a cigar humidor.

That was it.

-So was this minimalistic look a deliberate thing?

-It certainly was.

It's a luxury product. We felt if we just stack the shelf completely one side to the other

-full of the bottles, it takes away the element of luxury.

-Mmm.

So, Phoenix. Adam, I made you project manager.

Yep, thank you for that.

-Your shop, it was a stark contrast to their shop.

-Sure, yeah.

In the sense that it was bright, quite full,

had lots of things in it.

-Yep.

-I think that when I and the business and industry experts

walked in there, the initial was, "Oh, this looks interesting."

-I'm pleased that it looked interesting.

-So who did what, then?

-Me and Nick went off to research the business.

-How did you do that?

We went to a boutique chocolate shop and confectioners,

and we listened to his ideas.

Did you talk through the business model with this guy?

We asked questions on the business model and how he wholesaled products.

Well, actually, you didn't.

You didn't discuss figures, margins or the business model, per se.

You were much more interested in the experience and so on.

-I think that's a fair comment, yes.

-Who went to the factory to actually make the stuff?

I went to the factory and came up with pretty much...

-I came up with almost all the ideas for our products.

-You came up with the shop name, didn't you?

Yeah. I wanted to come up with something really forward-thinking.

And I think the name Sweet Thing is... There's sweet things

in the shop. "What's your sweet thing?" Sweet Thing is a term

of endearment sometimes.

It really had quite a few meanings, so, yeah, I think...

No, I think absolute credit to Jade. I mean, she came up with the name,

she came up with quite a few of the product ideas.

-I think we, you know... The ideas we had weren't as good.

-We had a hundred names on the table.

No, your names weren't as good as Jade's. We had Choca-Holster.

Chocolate Heaven. Cho-Cho Choc.

Yep. We were struggling for ideas.

I wasn't fully behind it at first, but it grew on me, and I'm happy with it.

-It was the best of a bunch and I think it did work.

-Definitely.

Mmm.

I obviously was there today.

But the business advisers give me another view of what is going on.

Yeah? And I take a lot of notice of what they had to say.

The reaction to your stuff was, they thought your presentation,

both of your presentations, were very good.

What came across was that you had researched the business.

You definitely had researched the business, from top to bottom.

I thought the shop seemed a bit sparse.

It was your choice to go minimalistic.

But you know what they sometimes say,

-it does what it says on the tin.

-Yep.

This tin didn't have anything on it.

Your thing was a bit of a wow factor.

We thought to ourselves, "Hmm, wow, this looks good."

But as soon as you all opened your mouths,

it started to go downhill a little bit.

So it is a difficult one for me now.

Erm...

But I felt in the end that Sterling,

yours was the better business proposition.

It was far more professional, far more thought-out,

and I think good, justifiable winners.

Look, good news and bad news.

The bad news, first of all, no treat cos you're going to be very busy.

Good news is you're in the final.

OK? So go home now, have a bit of relaxation

and I'll see you on the final.

-OK?

-TOGETHER: Thank you, Lord Sugar.

Good luck.

Give me some proper. That's awesome. That's awesome.

ADAM SIGHS

You know what disappoints me was the lack of cohesion,

no real plan, no attention to detail.

But, look, it's late.

So I think we'll pick this up in the morning. OK?

And we'll discuss this in more detail.

But one of you will be leaving the process tomorrow.

Thank you, Lord Sugar.

'Last time I was PM, I lost. I was gutted.'

This time I'm PM, I lost again. Yeah, I'm gutted again.

I don't think we did a bad job all-round. You know.

'I think Adam was a detriment to the whole task.

'His pitch was poor,'

his contribution was poor.

Unfortunately, I think he has to be fired.

I'm impressed with what we did.

I'm actually looking forward to the boardroom.

'I have been accountable for almost every decision,'

and I think what I've done is pretty impressive.

-One of us is going tomorrow, the other two in the final and...

-That's it.

-What will be will be.

-Yep.

There's no way on the planet that it will be me that goes tomorrow.

No way.

PHONE RINGS

'Yes, could you send the candidates in, please?'

Yes, Lord Sugar.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

I'd like to go, first of all, to pricing.

So who would be in charge of defining the pricing?

-That was, erm, Jade was in cha.... No.

-Was I?

Just let me finish.

Let's not, you know, start ripping one another to shreds just yet and I'll explain.

Jade was in charge of manufacturing,

so me and Nick did ask her for the prices.

That's not the question I'm asking.

-Right, OK.

-I'm asking about the strategy of pricing.

Where did you see your affordable luxury products pricing?

We wanted to price it above what it would cost in the supermarket

for the average chocolate, but below what it'd cost in luxury chocolatiers.

I'll tell you where you're all at sea.

You got a shop which you kept saying's going to be some

prestigious type of shop. So clearly by definition that meant you can't

sell stuff cheap in there.

But...

in the same breath you're saying,

"Eventually we're going to end up selling it in the mass-market superstores."

Right? Well, the price don't stand up in the mass-market superstores.

Cos it's too expensive.

And the price in this luxury store that you had was, in fact,

not expensive enough.

We went for affordable luxury, we tried to get in there

just in-between, and if the pricing was wrong, then I hold my hands up.

It was wrong, you know.

But it may be wrong for some reason that you still don't understand.

I mean, there are products in this world that cost a penny to make,

and they get sold for five pounds.

-Yep.

-OK?

There are products in this world that cost a pound to make

and they get sold for one pound and ten pence.

-Yep.

-Right?

So I'm asking the question as to whether you understood the strategy on the pricing.

The honest truth is we had very little strategy.

Our aim was to go into supermarkets and make a mass-market product.

But, you know, with that feedback,

the answer is our price was too expensive.

-So, Nick. Nick.

-We were trying to go for supermarket luxury.

I'm a bit confused because I think you're a bit of a technical man.

You're a man with the numbers

and I'm wondering where was you on this pricing strategy,

if you wanted this team to win.

I found it very hard in this task. There was a lot of ideas. We didn't have any strategy.

I did mention the entire time, "We don't have any strategy. What is our brand?"

Everyone uses the word strategy when things go wrong.

"There was no strategy. There was no strategy." It's all anyone ever says.

In every single task.

We had the same vision.

Right, OK. So, let me move on to the next thing

and that is the product range itself. OK?

And this is where another mistake was made, because...

when I look into your shop there, you've got the hot chocolate.

-Yep.

-You've got marshmallows.

-Mm-hm.

You've got the drunken jellies.

-Yep.

-And you've got the chocolate puddles.

-Yeah.

-OK. What were you known for?

Erm, we were known for hopefully being a high-class confectioners,

not a chocolatiers or a sweet shop.

But each of these high-class places tends to get known

for one particular flagship product.

I think initially we were looking at doing the chocolate

and the marshmallows, so it was just a chocolatey feel, so it was more just down that line.

But because you've found out that jellies were really popular, you wanted to do those as well.

I pushed jellies. Jade and Nick, to be fair, only wanted chocolate.

Maybe we would have more of a brand,

-more of a name, if we'd been chocolatiers.

-It did get a bit confused.

Too many ideas came in, the brand was very, very diluted, I thought.

Look, your shop, to me, was what I would call a bit of a mug's eyeful.

It was kind of glitzy and sparkly and I thought,

"Mm, this has got potential here."

And when you opened your mouths, you threw it all away.

Tom and Ricky drilled each other for an hour-and-a-half

before the presentation. They threw at each other

every question they could conceivably think of.

Had you done the same,

your business strategy might have actually evolved

and meant something when those experts walked in.

-Adam, the pricing was all over the place.

-OK.

-There was no strategy.

The products, there was no lead product.

So, with that in mind, where did it go wrong?

It's hard to say, really. It was a small team. We all had good input.

Erm...

To be fair, I think everyone pulled their weight, you know.

We all thought it'd work. It hasn't worked.

-Did you all think it would?

-My honest opinion, sorry, Adam...

It's all right, mate, go on.

I think it was just a total lack of any direction.

It was confusing. We weren't all on the same page.

-Ultimately it is your fault.

-First I've heard of it.

You put Nick where you knew he could design, me where the product was,

and you kind of just... You didn't have a specific role.

It would have been better if you'd have gone to the product,

I could have helped Nick with the design, and we could have worked on

maybe the business strategy between us. You could've taken control of that side.

You should've said that first thing in the morning.

Karren has an observation that you sidelined Jade a little bit.

I don't think you took it like that, did you?

I said, "Tell me where you're suited."

You said, "You go with Nick, that's the most important sub-team."

-I thought it was.

-You said to Jade, "You go off and make us some really nice chocolates."

Well... I don't remember saying it quite like that.

Erm...

-Nick, I'm looking at your application here.

-Mm-hm.

You've got a coffee shop already.

-My first business was a coffee shop.

-So you've actually...

dealt with a kind of speciality kind of product, really, yeah?

-I have, yeah.

-In a shop.

-We sell high-quality ethical coffee.

-High-quality?

Yes. I mean, you could say similar to the brief you've asked for.

But it is a very, very different business, obviously.

Selling high-quality coffee and creating a luxury chocolate is...

You were thinking of doing high-quality hot chocolate

as the theme, as the lead product.

That was my preferred option as what I put forward, tried to put forward strongly.

The rest of the team didn't believe that was the right thing to do, which is fair enough.

I would have thought you would have been more persuasive.

No, I mean, I did try to put myself forward strongly,

but when two team members say "No, we want to go down this route,"

then I think, as a team member,

the best option for me and the most productive for the team is to buy into the strategy as a group.

I did try, but I failed.

-Mmm.

-You didn't try THAT hard.

I'm going to ask you to step outside.

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

-All right, so step outside.

-Thank you, Lord Sugar.

Jade, she done a good job. She made the chocolate.

She did make good products, and she came up with ideas.

And no-one could fault her energy level or actually her contribution

to what actually was the good parts of this task.

Adam, he hasn't got a particular skill

other than selling, but he throws himself in with enormous amounts

-of enthusiasm.

-Mm.

-But actually to see Adam's leadership skills,

-you've had to appoint him as the project manager.

-Yeah.

Well, you prised out of Nick the fact that he's got a coffee shop.

That's what kind of confused me

as to why he didn't kind of jump in and take over.

If he would have jumped in, they may have come in with a win.

I wonder whether he's playing a kind of clever game here.

PHONE RINGS

-Could you send them in, please?

-Yes, Lord Sugar.

You can go through to the boardroom now.

Right, Adam, tell me why I should consider

that you remain in the process and go into the final.

I think I'm the best candidate overall.

I think I'm better than Jade and Nick.

I've got to pick holes in this, so I will. I think Nick's fluked his way

to the final, to be fair. He's not shown much.

He's got certain skills, but there's ten million other people in the UK

that are good on computers and good at logos and stuff.

Jade, unfortunately, you know, promotion, advertising specialist,

marketing specialist. I've seen no special talents

in any of those three through the whole process.

-JADE:

-Do you know what, through this process

I think I've worked across many more areas than Adam

and unfortunately I would say, out of the two, if I was to choose

one to go it would be Adam, because he is probably the best

face-to-face salesman here. But is that the best thing that you need?

Do you need to be able to work with strategy, be creative, come up with ideas?

- 13 years business experience.

I've had the ups, the downs. I know what business is like.

I know what it's about. Jade hasn't proved she's good at what she says she's good at.

- You don't know what I do, that's why!

- You tell me you do that many things, you're a marketing expert.

- I don't say I'm a... I work in direct marketing which, if you knew what it was,

it's actually... I work in consumer data, so I sell that.

So, of the two, you would say that she should leave?

Jade should leave today. That's my opinion.

-And Jade, your opinion is that it should be Adam?

-Yeah.

-And Nick?

I would say...

if it wasn't just on this task, I would say Jade.

Erm...

I think you say you're good at sales

and building relationships with people.

-When I've worked with you, I haven't really had that impression.

-Fair enough.

On the vouchers project...

I sat there with the spa company

and I think the relationship I built there was the one that won it actually.

That got £8,000 and beat the other team hands down.

Yeah, absolutely. We did... I think that was...

It's a personal opinion but I think that was me

-more than you.

-Oh, do you? OK.

-It was a joint pitch.

I think, Adam, on this task, you have been the weakest.

But I think overall, Jade.

That's interesting, Jade.

Two people that have been with you for the last 11 weeks

have got that opinion.

I find it strange they listened to every single thing I said

on the last task and just went with it.

So if I'm the person that actually should go,

why would they listen to everything I said

and actually went with all of it? Every single thing.

-On this task, I agree.

-This is a task that we're fighting for £250,000,

so why would you not put yourself forward,

say what you think and get that said?

Jade, on this task,

the ideas you came up with were better than the ideas that we had.

-I agree. On this task.

-This is the one to win it. Now.

This is the one to get through to the final.

If you want to look at this task, then... I mean,

strategy-wise, you just threw in alcohol. We hadn't discussed it.

I asked you if you wanted it.

The ideas were better than the rest we had,

and that's why I can't say that your ideas were terrible, because we didn't have better ones.

But it was a mishmash of different things that came together.

I came up with ideas and you all said, "Yes, yes, yes, yes."

So if you're such leaders in business,

why would you not say, "Actually, we'll do this"? I haven't run my own business

and this is me wanting to start a new business,

something that'll make money. I've got a very good business plan.

I've seen other people making money

-from this and I know exactly how they do it.

-Mm.

Well, look, it's very tough. I'll tell you, it's a very tough one,

and it gets tough when we get down to the 11th week

because, well, to be frank,

the better people do tend to come to the top.

Adam.

I've got to tell you that you have impressed me in the manner

in which you have thrown yourself into everything headfirst.

That aggression and that ambition,

that enthusiasm. And that, you know, in itself is fantastic, really.

-And you're a good salesman also.

-Thank you.

However, there are other areas I have to consider.

The shrewdness, the awareness, the getting the plot.

And that's maybe where you're a little bit lacking.

Jade.

You've obviously got a passion to remain in the process.

And I agree that a lot of your ideas were implemented.

But some of them weren't very good ideas.

Nick, you are a bit of a strategist,

and I'm still at sea as to why you didn't step in

and assert some authority.

-Yep.

-You win the task, you don't get fired. Simple as that.

So,

I think all in all,

on this very, very difficult decision I've got to make...

Erm...

..I'm going to have to say that,

Adam, I think it's time for you to leave the process.

You're fired.

Thank you, Lord Sugar.

I wish you all the best for the future, Adam. I hope you do well.

-Thank you very much.

-Keep in touch.

-If you ever need a salesman,

-you know where I am.

-OK.

-JADE LAUGHS

That's very much. Well done, yeah. Well done, mate.

Well, congratulations. You're in the final.

Go back to the house. I'll be in touch shortly.

-OK? Off you go.

-Thank you, Lord Sugar.

-Thank you.

-JADE:

-Well done.

-ADAM:

-Good luck for the final. Well done, pal.

Good luck for the final, mate, all right? Take care, guys.

I am sad to be going home but I respect Lord Sugar.

If it was my time to go, then it was my time to go.

I've always been a doer, not a talker. I never give up.

Maybe me and Lord Sugar will meet again one day. You never know.

From a selfish point of view, who would you like to see leave?

-I'd probably say Nick.

-I'd agree.

Strategically, I would probably say Nick is the strongest

out of those three in terms of competition.

-Oh.

-Ohh.

->

-Congratulations.

-Ooh, look at all this food for us.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-What went down in this boardroom?

Basically, we had no strategy.

And did you guys point that at Adam?

Absolutely. He had no strategy and it was his fault.

But when it came to who should get fired, I did say Jade.

Anyway, it's over now.

Champagne time.

-Cheers, guys.

-Cheers.

-To finals.

Now just four remain in the fight

to become Lord Sugar's business partner.

Next time...

Today is all about convincing me on your business ideas.

..it's face to face...

I've been looking forward to this encounter.

..as the final four come under fire.

You don't own that website.

Are you smoking something?

-Let's face it, Tom. You're just a bullshitter.

-Three must fall.

It's like being in a war zone.

You're fired. You're fired.

One will win.

You're going to be my business partner.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd