blonde poker forum

Begins 14th October

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p027sbdd/the-apprentice-series-10-meet-the-candidates

(http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03063/theapprenticegroup_3063904k.jpg)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/the-apprentice/11143986/The-Apprentice-2014-Meet-the-candidates.html

Gotta be honest in find most of the people who go on this show pretty cringeworthy to be honest. I see some of these types in my industry and most of them are all talk and ego over any real substance.

Seems a lot of them, is there normally that many?  

It's always been like that Woodsey, there's rarely a normal person amongst them!

Regards

G

I dunno mate, I seem to remember the first couple of series weren't quite that bad, maybe I'm imagining it  ;carlocitrone;

How rude of you all

Regards

S

I lolled.


Regards

R

Think it's 20 this year instead of 12. One of my wife's friends is in it.

Regards

L

Tighty I'm disappointed

Regards

G2L

Didn't Dubai once threaten to apply?

Would love to know how "natural" the show actually is - I am not an avid fan but always assume it was "prompted" at least if not scripted to some degree.
Maybe I just don't want to believe that people could be that vile/unlikable.

As irritating as the programme is I can't help but watch it. Always helps when there's a few lookers thrown into the mix!

Is that our Nirvana (albeit 40 years ago)  stood next to Lord Sugar?

sure there was only 14 last year

regards

K

Pretty bored of it now, I really liked it when it first started and was probably one of my favourite shows. 

That Karen Brady gets right on my goat as well.   I like the American version but for the fact that Trump done it so I never watched more than a few episodes but I liked their tasks much better. 

Faithfully,

Mac

Really looking forward to this.

Should be a good year.   

After reviewing all the contestants I think Roisin Hogan

Hope she does well.

Regards

M

That's the best bit about the show! Squirming with embarrassment for them whilst they make idiots of themselves.

Can we ensure we keep to thread protocol please!?

Regards

G2L

OK

Regards

O

Yay, I was wondering when this was back. Quite late this year?

Regards,

C

Yeah, I was wondering who won the last one after the blonde Irish girl but that was the last one - finished in April last year.

Regards

A

Boom love the apprentice.

Some has nicked my "L" this time, sigh.

Regards

Lo

Very much looking forward to this!

Regards

SS

I look a lot like 21 tbf - glad to see the show back, formulaic but not as unbearable as things like the x factor and I still enjoy it

Warmest Regards

N

At first glance, pretty sure I'd get off with 2 if I was on the show

Warmest regards

N

Bird top left to go first, ignorant to have headphones in imo ;)

SirLord Alan and Nick?

Regards,

CB

lol, no, the gorgeous one with the headphones :-) - about my level so don't have to feel inferior and worship her too much

Warmest regards

N

Mods !

Can you ban icles test from the thread.

No Protocol. thx G2L. And also wants to get rid of the fittest bird! And has not got 300 posts.

Regards

M

wondered what happened to howard from the halifax ads

Apparently Sugar is very sweet IRL and Brady, err, isn't. At all.

And apologies Lo.

Regards

L

Is that FranKellie Maloney stood directly behind Sugar?

certain no coformists might find access to thread restricted lol


Regards

U

When can we start hating them? I want to start now.

Regards

MT

Has Karren Brady lost a load of weight? She's always been quite rounded of face and body, and definitely had the F Factor, but she looks horribly lean and mean in that shot.

Regards

MT

As soon as 5 minutes into the first episode is usually a perfect amount of time

This has the distinction of being the only television programme worse than Strictly Come Dancing.

That's how bad it really is.

One team makes 11p less than the other in their pathetic challenge and that Spurs git calls them out for being crap. While the "winning team" are lauded like victorious gladiators returning from a hard night at the Coliseum.

But this is the one event when the winners are losers too. DUCY?

The truth of the matter is all the teams and Sugar himself are all the absolute dregs of humanity.

The only way to make this programme more unwatchable would be to invite Martin Lewis on as a guest judge.

It's actually the best Comedy show on TV. Just it thinks it's something else :)

Etiquette has gone to Hell in a hand cart.


Regards
R.

Watching the trailers for the new series and it seems to me that the Production and Direction could be done by a computer these days.
The whole series has become utterly formulaic.


Regards


D3103

Glad someone else saw it too, took a few looks to make sure :D

Regards

D

I propose a two strikes and you're out rule w.r.t. etiquette in this thread.

Regards,

C

Completely understand the hatred towards Martin Lewis, but to call Sir Sugar the dregs of humanity!?!?

What have I missed?

This is an experience, not a Paris Miper potato

(http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWnDy1VPwKzZlBJ7PESR0HIIHs8B-wnAS51CYtPNd7c1L07ePAeA)


Revolutionary idea, chop lemons

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LPwb6udgazk/T02EaQcJICI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/YVon-7Kr03g/s1600/marmalade+1.jpg)


£250 please, ONO

(http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQCd2LzQ6hOLiqVjE4cftgYLnsXQhcb3qxD4SbuQ0tvw6JTk1ZzmQ)


Regards

T

(http://cdn.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/1330664547306_9188043.png)

Big Darragh should be allowed in the board room imo. 

Once more and you're out Kmac!
Don't say I didn't warn you.



Regards,  

            RG

Just looked back at my own post and realised Kmac will probably have no idea what I'm on about and think I'm just picking on him.

Regards

   RG

I'm non conformist.

lol used to love this show

Maybe I've missed the last couple but seems like it hasn't been on in years.

Would love to see a poker player on one of the shows haha

And Suger to say something positive...

^^^^^this

We need to start a campaign to get Dubai or lil Dave on

Don't often disagree with Keef - but I love it, many of the candidates are utter tools however it's not that different to many graduate programmes in big blue chips during the first inductions - so comical and great people watching from a behavioural standpoint. I'll take it over Strictly, X Factor and BB any day of the week

 :D

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bz-VKbwCUAAV_XW.jpg)

Regards

T

Are those the Artic PenGuins that Lord SirAlan was banging on about?

regards


rS

Just read

With Lauren been on Dating in the Dark and Chiles on Take Me Out - the BBC are clearly struggling to find candidates who are not "wannabes"!!!


Oh dear.


Regards

Ri

Phillipe was a phlop.

Should have gone imo.


Regards

R

Was wondering if someone was going to mention that to him, but if anyone picked up on it they decided not to pick him up on it.

Paris Miper had me giggling for ages.

:D

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, it's time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight...

Robert has to go right, just based on the fact that Suggs basically told him to do it. 

Scott - I find his accent really irritating. 

The Canadian guy I'd love to hit with a bat. 

The majority of the burds should be locked in a cage. 

(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c17/JCtheMessiah/Mobile%20Uploads/B0BBmUaCEAE_ERu.jpg)

Regards,

k

I never thought I would ever say this, but Adrian Chiles >>>>> Dara O'Brien

GTF!

Kevin Allen has a message for us

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bz_o2lsCQAEp3cM.jpg:large)

(http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/UKIPT_Lon_2013_MickeyMay_44154.jpg)

Apparently, he likes to pitch by saying he'd never wear the product he is selling in public either. lol

Regards

T

Glad it wasn't just me who thought he was kevs identical twin.

Regards
AB

I bow to nobody in my admiration of Dara as a comic. I've seen him live three times, including once from the front row.
His mastery of audience involvement is second to none (I've seen Al Murray and Ross Noble often enough to make that judgement), but he's turned 'The Apprentice - You're Fired' into 'Dara O'Brien talks The Apprentice' and for me, it's less of a show because of that.

I don't bother watching You're Fired anymore, it's a bit of a dull 30 minutes of tv imo

I agree with Keith really, the worst on show for me was the posh blonde girl who was embarrassing yet wins as PM despite her being in charge and last seen champagneing it up on the London Eye. I think I am a show behind so apols if she has gone.


Regards

B

My point exactly.

Yeah I hate the team format. He should either keep it and fire random idiots on the winning team, or bin it entirely and make it more of an individual competition. He's only investing in one of these punters anyway.

Some awful candidates.

lol been thinking this for ages

Did anyone else think the swimming girl was actually going to fire herself and walk out before sugar did it for her?

Yup. I felt sorry for her in the end, she knew she was way out of her depth (no pun intended)

I think I'll definitely keep watching this series for the blonde girl Roisin.

I think they are all out of their depth tbh.  I have worked with these types in the past, they are absolute bullshitters and by the grace of god and a touch of good fortune they get into positions way behond their skil sets and then they are totally fucked.  

FYP

Regards,

T5 xx

Didn't even notice Sarah Millican in the first two episodes.

Regards

MT

I'm amazed LAS would want to go in business with any of them. Perhaps there's one or two but overall, what bunch of hopeless clowns. 

I felt sorry for the swimming lady, she's probably quite good but was so overwhelmed by the others it's hard to get the confidence to stand out.   I'd like to think that if I were in there, I'd crack on with the task in hand but I'd probably not be able to cope with all the headbutting, interuppting and general shitty comments they say to each other.   Another issue is that most of the tasks don't need 5 people doing them (buying cheese, selling to hotels etc) which can't help the situation.  I'm hoping once the groups get smaller in a few weeks we'll get to see what some of the candidates are really like.   Having 20 people is a mistake IMO, if anything they should have reduced the number and perhaps not fired anyone one week as there are times when both teams perform well and there's no one to blame for a task being lost.

I thought both PM's did a reasonable job this week.  The lovely Irish lady made a few mistakes like selling those stick things straight away when the hotel was lined up but the guy that was selling two candles for a tenner was out of control and let the team down.  That said, I think the right person went, she should have done better.

Regards

G

I'm only watching to see which candidate leaves without wearing a scarf!

Really hoping one walks past the waiting taxi, & on to the nearest bus stop.

Regards

T

They are a pretty dull lot from what we've seen so far.
Maybe their characters will begin to be seen in the next couple of weeks but if not then I doubt I'll be the only one pointing a finger at Lord Sir Alan and saying "You're Fired"


Regards
D3103





ninja edit ftw

Think it's tough to get to know anyone with such a big group. Maybe the format does need some changes though

Regards

G2L

Lol, Sarah is such an idiot.

Regards,

Ch

The thing that pisses me off most is being expected to believe that 18 people can get washed, shaved, dressed, made up, into a limo through London streets and into a venue for a meeting with Lord Sugar in 20 minutes.

Total bullish.


Regards

R

To be fair, the routine is that they will be picked up in 20 minutes.

Regards

D3103

Does Lord Sugar really get up at 5am for these meetings?  Do they really get up at 5am or do they just say it's silly O'clock?

Regards

G

First time LS has got a Hat-trick!

Loved it. Get rid of dead wood

Regards

M

I wish he'd sack that sour puss Karen Brady.  Such a tilting cow.

Pretty glad all 3 got fired this week. 

Was quite impressed with Solomon. 

What about the guy who's a "Pub Quiz Director" I find that tilting every time it comes up, that's not even a job.  Pub Quiz guys up here do that for a few pints of lager and a bag of crisps and an attempt at pulling a burd.

Sacked off the camp Alvin Hall lookalikey, the blonde bimbo and (using Louis Walsh's phrase) The young Carla Goddard :)

Great Viewing

regards

rS

Yes, was good tonight and I'm glad all three went, it certainly made for good viewing.  A couple are starting to shine now, as mentioned Soloman did a good job and I thought Katie was good again.  I think Mark is also good, or at least I think it's Mark but the chap I mean was the guy that answered the phone call from Shugs when he called to say no one was returning.

Regards

G

His accent tilts me it's like a mosh mash of some bush kangaroo guy and a posh twat

Watching them in the boardroom, I was thinking that I'd get rid of all three, but didn't expect that he would actually go and do it. It was always a question of how long the two cartoon characters sacked would last - don't know how the blonde one was put on the programme in the first place.

Lauren looking hot as always.

Regards

MT

yes Stevens gone! Also how long before soli's sex tape i wonder

Lord Sir Alan must have wished he could do that so many times in the past.

Knives and claws were out very early in the Ella team and their failure could have been attributed to pretty much any of them.

Can't see a winner anywhere though.


Regards


D3103

Shuggsy clearly isn't going to have time for someone whose business idea is basically the task and they make such a monumental screw-up of it so spoilt little princess Ella Jade was always for the chop. Steven and Sarah were never even real people - they were computer-generated arseholes that the BBC clearly created to add 'excitement' so they were always going to get switched off at some point.

Big shoutout for some grade-A bitching from Pamela - more of that in upcoming weeks please.

Regards

A

Much love for the Sack-trick.

There are too many people in this series though, yet to form an idea of even possible winners

Regards

TE

Too good.

I'm not really bothered who wins overall, as long as each task is won by Roisin's team and the prize involves wearing a bikini.

Regards

A

FFS invoke your right to fire anyone at any point and get rid of James. I'm having to mute my TV.

Regards,

C

Aussie guy must be a solid fav surely to win it? Is the result actually known?

Totally agree with this, however marky seems to think otherwise ....

The standout at this point rarely wins. There's a few in with a decent shout I reckon

Regards

G2L

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1tYJn3CUAAzaPD.png:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1tWk14CcAAG2Qi.jpg:large)


thought last night was a classic episode, for its ineptitude

Regards

TE

Love the flack the losing team got over the price point whe the winning team did basically the same thing- they just happened to pick a higher figure

Regards

G2L

I thought it was one of the cringiest episodes they've ever had. It's all very well having them dick about someone from some company who has agreed to be on the show but WTF did those poor tourists make of it all? Filipe's boat tour looked like something deemed too cruel to be used at Guantanemo Bay.

Regards

A

We often book students on these type tours....£60 is about right (without the dodgy packed lunch of course)

Regards
Ri

Definitely, he's one of the few that shows a bit of common sense.

I think the girl who acted as the knowledgeable tour guide on the winning team (unsure of her name) could go far as well

And James needs to go. So infuriating to listen to.

Aussie guy looks solid. +!

But, every year there is a few who look like easy choices, and Sugar never picks them.

I dislike James, but would quite like to see him meet Claud in the interview stage for my own amusement!

lol I 'd pay to see that

regards

Ri

The other major runner for me is the blonde girl who is an accountant by trade.  She also seems to have the right mix of qualities to take it down.  Still so many with no chance in the field imo.

Contenders: Solomon, Mark, Roisin and probably Lauren

Jury's out: Pamela, Bianca, Katie

No chance: Sanjay, Felipe, James, Daniel

At the end of the day it depends on their own business plan as well as their performance on the tasks

Sad Pamela went she was potential top 3 I thiught.

Yeah, wrong choice. Def should have been Daniel.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2RcOJVCQAEkSNh.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2RYhEiIUAMR_dN.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2RX3_EIEAAoTT_.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2RXe5YIIAADXUB.jpg:large)


Daniel should have gone

Regards

TE

if Daniel goes then we are deprived of seeing him demolished by Claude et al.

Any price on a scrap between Mark and Daniel before the series ends?


Regards
D3103

Saw they shoehorned a shot of the Tower of London poppies in the start, even though series was filmed in Spring?

Not sure of point of You're fired is now, didn't know who the 3 guests were?

regards

rS

Bianc(k?)a is awful.

Unfortunately I stupidly followed them all on Twitter do got a decent idea who's in the final etc ::

I find it very difficult to look beyond Roisin as a winner of this. the only one who looks feasible as a possible business partner?

The weakest set of candidates in the show's history?

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B21XAWjIgAEvnQ_.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B21V2GRIMAAKtev.jpg:large)

Regards

TE

I find it difficult to look beyond Roisin full stop. I'm hoping she doesn't win because if she does then she'll probably move from Dublin and I'll lose the chance to bump into her out and about one night in town.

The thing about Roisin (and Katie and Felipe) is that they've not yet been brought back into the boardroom by a losing PM (they've all been losing PMs but brought back super-fireable teammates). As teams reduce in number it'll happen and then we'll see what they're made of once they get close enough to sniff Shuggsy's finger of doom.

Regards

A

Sugar must like Daniel.  He has had so many chances to fire him yet he still remains. 

As Daniel said last time he escaped the boot, if Alan likes your business idea you'll be in for quite a while.  Given that all the business ideas were crap last time he must be keen to get something half decent.

Regards

G

Very much this. 

There are some shocking candidates on it this time around, it just seems they get worse each and every year. 

How many of us see colleagues in them though?  My place is littered by folk who talk an incredible amount of shit but when forced to actually do work they haven't a clue. 

I think most of those remaining are decent. If they had started out with just ten rather than twenty it wouldn't look as bad as it does.

This is the main reason why I stopped working for firms and started punting for myself.  Spending week after week working with people who are clueless is sole destroying esp when they get paid big money to be so clueless.

Just caught up last night:

The Aussie's starting to look a mere mortal.
Daniel must have a good business plan I agree.
The woman who looks like Gervinho will be sacked the next time she's in the boardroom!

Really enjoyed this week's episode, some absolutely great moments. Even though he could be a little shit it's a shame to see James go

Really disappointed to see Derek Anthony James go before Claude and co got their teeth into him.

Roisin seems to be getting a lot of stick from Lord Sir Alan for no very good reason. She's only been in the boardroom twice, and has been on the winning team five times.
Loved Katy's pep talk for Daniel, and IMO Marc's sales success saved him last night.

Last four, subject to the interviews not throwing up a 'Baggsy' looks like being Roisin, Katy, Solomon and Marc.


regards


D3103

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3ZfaNaIMAAAgGO.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3ZfDnbIYAASwwR.jpg:large)


Roisin and mark the class of the field

Mark has a ruthless streak, good salesman too

Katy is like a budget Sarah Millican but has a sensible head on her shoulders

Can't see anyone else even remotely in contention


Regards

TE

 

I hadn't even considered this! It would have been brilliant to watch that.

Thought last night's task was over as soon as team won right to sell spas. Whoever got that was always going to be winner imho.

Think mini Sarah Millican might end up as winner.

regards

rs

Pretty sure it's a smokescreen, taking an opportunity to spread the tongue-lashings around, like when he has laid into Mark a couple of times recently. He knows these two are the class, but probably doesn't want to make it so obvious that it's a shootout between them. Solomon has done really well a couple of times too - nailed on for top three.

Having said that, I was disappointed that Roisin just bit her tongue instead of sorting out the situation last night.

This is BS, Sugar so wrong here

Do

Agreed. Frustrating viewing him tonight.

Continental rail journeys for me next week.  Going to start a thread.

At lease sack him for a proper reason, 1st week he has done well

Do

agree totally, im not sure on the skeleton, surely if they meet the criteria then thats fine? feel like its been a shame, as that team were by far the best organised and sorted it out much better. Feel like Alan has made a mistake there

however, of the 3 left, in that boardroom, i would have fired Felipe too. Think Daniel showed some good stuff tonight

agree.  Sugar got owned by a lawyer and decided to save face by firing him for outsmarting him.  Poor effort by Mr Amstrad imo.

Where did the total random 'fine' of over £300 come from as well for the skeleton?  It was like it was just pulled out of the air so they lost the task.  The 'fines' for the other team seemed totally random and not disclosed.

Yeah bullshit, someone should complain to BBC. 

That episode didn't sit well with me.

Sugar was outsmarted and decided he couldn't be having that so engineered it so that he could fire Felipe.

Even ignoring the skeleton they were by far the better team.

Sanjay has to be next to go? Should have gone today of course.

Regards,

C

Fining them for bringing back a bit of rope (that they got for nothing) because it was too long is a joke as well.  Doesn't Sugar have a pair of scissors in his organisation that he can use?  It's not as though it cost them any more, and he was just being a tit.

As for the skeleton, if he wanted a plastic one he should have said.  He even called the other team's skeleton a 'real one' at one point.  He should have been more specific with the brief if he wanted a plastic skeleton.

Regards,

k

Morning lord sugar

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B39a8Z6IEAA69_l.jpg:large)

read the small print, it apparently required it to be assembled

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B39iTXsCAAE4CLm.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B39mdtRCQAAxcmK.jpg:large)


regards TE

Would be absolutely very surprised indeed if Roisin did not win. A diamond for £50!

Never before has the artifice of the show been so clearly revealed.

"Nick, even though this team did everything right according to the instructions they were given, I don't like this skeleton thing so could you fine them enough so they lose"

Felipe must be a pretty shit lawyer if he couldn't argue that the skeleton was valid.

Regards

A

Agreed she revealed two other hidden assets last night on top of her many other skills!

Do you want her to run more Arb?

Absolutely, the skeleton issue allowed LordSirAlan to choose the winning team, which obviously meant choosing the team which didn't include Roisin.
As I recall it she was one of the girls who found the suggestion that they should use their feminine wiles to their advantage in Week One, but wasn't above the flirty looks and hair-tossing when she needed it last night.
She's still favourite though.

When i was training as an accountant 18 years ago there weren't too many like her in the office!!

Felipe committed the cardinal sin of making your prospective employer/investor look stupid and deserved to be fired just for that reason.

Can't agree with that at all, his prospective employer looked stupid entirely because of his own actions.  His employer would have looked way better if he smiled and congratulated him on his initiative. 

Totally spot on. Whatever sugar likes to portray pr wise about being a man from the streets who grafted his way to the top the hard way selling computers from the back of a van he loves an arse kissing yes man to stroke his ego and being surrounded by pretty young females.  He has surrounded himself with them for years.  Just look at Nick is there anyone on TV who is more yes man and annoying than him?  The last two girls on last years show prove the latter as well.  

I thought the lawyer had pulled a master stroke off last night with that coup which could have ended up with him winning the event.  I wish he had gone down big time though justifying himself like a top lawyer should have done.  Sugars ego won the day though and his two yes men Karen and Nick just nodded along like the lap dogs they are. Sorry state of affairs as sugar has spent decades bending rules and ironing people out himself to get where he is now. Fair play to the lawyer for Taking the gamble.

Know your enemy!
Felipe should have known Sugars ego would not take lightly to being made to look stupid and that is the reason to get fired. I do agree though that it was a smart idea one that Sugar would have gladly used himself.

He has dodged a bullet then not having to go into business which such a ***** of an investor imo!  What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Yep, Sugar has obviously done ok for himself but I really wouldn't want to get in to bed with him. He'd take 99% of the bed and insist on AMS logo'd pillows for you to bite on.

FFS, now have the image of you and Sugar in bed together.  I don't think there's enough mind-bleach to get rid of that image.  I'm off for some counselling.

Regards,

k

Lord Sugar ‏@Lord_Sugar

Apprentice Tune in tonight BBC 1 at 9pm all about Premium Puddings  big  surprise to see who gets their just desserts



mark? roisin (please no)?

regards

T

Would prefer if it were Nick or that idiot Brady. 

Tweet from AMS suggests Mark could be on his way out tonight.  I'd be amazed if it wasn't Sanjay or Heidthebaw Daniel.

My feelings are this show has got a bit ridiculous now. Performance in the task is seemingly irrelevant, he's just let the guy that made the most mistakes this week stay and told 2 people their business plans are rubbish, so why were they still there?

He is just firing people to get to the best business plans, so what's the point of doing the tasks?

B

The format is all wrong for the show, I guess it was fine for when he was giving them a job. 

Ultimately it's the business he's after so you'd think he and the researchers would vet the business plans in the beginning and then bring the strongest to the show.  But would that get the public juices flowing? 

Next week the  ;shitfanhit;

Bring on Claude the rottweiler

Having fired multiple people at once a couple of times, I reckon two winners, roisin and mark. Or at least the two final team leaders.

Looking forward to the interviews, especially Soloman's "business" plan :)

regards

rs

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4hi0z8CYAEHmwW.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4hkTdTCUAAWNCg.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4hle9IIYAEw-F4.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4hl6KUIEAAcObO.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4hmL__IEAAzGNi.jpg:large)


Interview week next week

the best week bar none

regards

T

Obv a ridic programme now in terms of any kind of integrity, just TV innit and can still be quite fun.

Watching Mark choke in his presentation was brill after his non stop pressing to get the gig all the time. Watching his incred high opinion of himself get hammered was pretty good.

That Daniel chap does pub quizzes in 'emel, one every Thursday night at one my son goes to. Hasn't been seen back there since the series started so mebbe he actually won it. Quite like him actually and interesting to see them start portraying him as reasonably competent rather than the dolt they portrayed for weeks.., interview week likely to slaughter him of course.

Regards

n

Roisin obviously the favourite, but Solomon the dark horse for me. Can't wait to see Daniel get slaughtered next week. Interview week by far the best and can't wait for the massacre.

Daniel wins it imo

Mark got very flustered just after that falling apart at the seems

Agree with this, nice to see Mark crumble under the pressure after he had talked his way into leading the pitch.

Looking forward to next week.

Daniel surely can't win. Roisin seems to obvious. Bianca is just rubbish so Solomon vs mark for me

Regards

G2L

I would want to work alongside Mark, Solomon and Roisin, in no particular order. That makes them viable candidates for me.

Think Solomon has been understated thus far, he strikes me as being bright, if a little young and scatty. If I needed a partner for several years it would be Solomon, for a year it would be Mark, for a day/night it would be Roisin.

Regards,

EG

surprising choice of final two?
So Soloman had no business plan, why wasn't that weeded out in the application process?

regards

rs

I was convinced they were going to square off Daniel and mark in the final. Would have been very fun viewing.

Couldn't decide on whether I liked this episode or not. The interviewers largely seemed to ask questions they knew the answer to in order to try and trip candidates up further, presumably purely for TV. I don't think there were many interesting questions at all. I found the moment with Bianca absolutely fascinating, it really was brutal television because of how she took the question, or at least how the question made her think she was perceived. The whole show is largely bollocks though, whats the point of weeding out 15 people before looking at the end goal of starting up a business? We then get moments of ridiculousness where Lord Sugar expresses alarm at how Bianca wants to go into manufacturing or that Roison wanted to move into the food industry. If the program really was about showing people they can make a startup with £250,000 I'd tell them they were fired. And as for bringing up sales figures, do people really not understand variance? Including an extreme outlier in Mark's figures is just mind boggling, it should be obvious to everyone involved in the show. If Lord Sugar really was as no nonsense as he tries to come across he shouldn't be spouting bollocks like this or letting the bbc get away with it. I guess that is what happens when you become a caricature of yourself, believing your own hype.

Not sure how anyone with money to chuck about could pick any other business plan than Bianca's who seems largely clued up as well as fashion industry experts backing her up and its just a massive market to potentially take a big wedge of. 250k to help setup a party planning company? Sounds mental to me.

I thought the Mark vs Daniel moment was coming too Pads, did you notice how he sat back down after he shook their hands? I wonder why?

Worst episode of a poor series. The whole thing has become a parody of itself and descended into X-Factor territory. Roisin obviously survived this far because she's fundamentally smart (and easy on the eye) but her joint venture was a fantasy project. Frankly, the only halfway viable proposition in the bunch is Bianca's but I can hear Big Dunc Bannatyne and the rest of the dragons saying "what's to stop the companies that already make tights just leaping in with this and using their already established sales channels to sink you before you even start?"

Nice touch to have Ricky as one of the interviewers though.

It has descended into being just a very well paid gameshow with the prize being two fiddy thou, and a bit of Sugars time.

I imagine BBC pay this and more to Shug, but I really don't see how more than two of the twenty would be considered realistic candidates if if were not for TV.

Would potential employers really be so keen to enter into the process with 20 such egotistical fantasists?

Don't get me wrong, I love the programme, and I'm sure it started out ten years ago with an Apprentice in mind. These days, it's all about the ratings and entertainment.

For all that, I didn't like Bianca until last night, and I think we saw her unravel, as she realized she was, herself, a bit of a robot.

Think the right two people made it, and will be interested to see how Daniel reacts when Mark, either does or doesn't win, now he is a 'changed' man!

Very good series imo. Yes it's formulaic but reality shows suffer when they mess around with the format, like Big Brother. Leave them as they are.

First several weeks now completely irrelevant though. Roisin crushed but had a ridic business idea and was gone.

Regards

Ch

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5FhucNIEAAHQz4.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5FlujzIcAAs3xz.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5FqfKhIIAEg0QZ.jpg:large)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5Frd-DIIAIMg_9.jpg:large)

there were only two business plans even vaguely investable in, clearly, so the final two picked itself

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5FtxYDIQAAALUd.jpg:large)

regards

T

I always used to love this episode but it's now such a gear change from the rest of the series. Everything that happens up to this episode is just prologue. Roisin was amazing all the way through but oh your business goes bust in month 2 so byebye.

At least next year we'll know who makes the final early on - it'll be the people whose business idea we know nothing about, seeing as I'm sure last night was the first I heard that Bianca wanted to make tights.

Also a rough week to go out as it means that you get about 15 seconds on I'm Fired - I WANTED MORE ROISIN DAMMIT.

Regards

A

Was a bit like watching 30 minutes of bullying for TV pleasure IMO. That Claude guy seems a full weight **** of the highest order.

Really thought Daniel should have stayed, despite thinking he's an arse for the majority of the programme.

I might be reading into this too much but in the preview of the next episode they happen to show mark doing his strange cough thing when pitching to the end audience, perhaps he bottles it on the big stage again?

Overall, really enjoyed this series

I noted they managed to sneak the bikini shot in.

Regards

C

Would love to see a "Whatever happened to" edition.

I suspect there are some real legends of the show, flipping burgers and cleaning toilets(all very worthwhile jobs, I hasten to add).

This, but the winners and the losers.  Seen them do it with Dragons Den but thought there was more potential in what they showed.  Would like to see the "what happens next" showing the trials and tribulations of getting to market, the money coming and going etc. 

Got really annoyed with Mark's claims and business plan - as he works in an industry I've been in for ten years.  He's been in it for two years, in sales, so will know very little about the industry other than what he's learned in the company he's worked at (where he's probably good at what he does).

Also, how does that give him the right to slate the others' business plans and ideas when he doesn't know their market and hasn't read their plans?  He was slating Sanjay's business plan the other week, and telling him that he couldn't make enough revenue through PPC advertising on the site that Sanjay was proposing.  However, he kept on ignoring Sanjay saying that it was only one revenue stream out of half-a-dozen, which seems like a sensible idea.  Sugar and his associates didn't pick-up or mention this though at the time.

Thought Mark was a strong candidate early on in the series, but he's just a salesman.  It's like someone who sells Mercedes for a living claiming to be a world-class racing driver. But he couldn't even do a telephone pitch to Ricky Martin, other than talk fluff with no substance. 

The series is fun, and we know it's not a sensible process.  But they could at least ensure they all have provided sensible business plans before they get to the interview stage.  But even last night was a bit of a caricature of what we've seen in previous series.

Anyway, Bianca FTW.

Regards,

k

I would love to be interviewed by Claude - seems both fearsome and sensitive at the same time and appreciative of good answers whilst not tolerating bullshit.

I can't help but feel Lord Sugar has missed a trick. I think Solomon was worth a gamble - seems like the kind of young aspiring entrepreneur the show was designed to give a chance to. Mark is growing increasingly cringey/slimey as the weeks have progressed and Bianca just seems so meh. I reckon in a few years Solomon is going to be a very rich young man when one of his ideas sticks.

Really odd Bianca crying at being asked a few questions to reveal something 'for real' about herself and seeming to be upset at having her character challenged.er.. it's an interview, pretty much gonna happen in one form or another.

Also, why cry ? I always feel like crying is a little manipulative unless it's in joy or serious grief at a significantly personal matter.

Anyway, hope she wins and the oleaginous, shallow Mark is crushingly defeated. Mind you, I don't take it seriously at all.

Regards

N

I think we need to remember much of the editing, how long would each interview take and if 4 interviewere were making the same point I'm sure it could have become frustrating for her.   Or perhaps it was crocodile tears?

Yah, of course the edit is everything and for all I know someone mentioned her forehead or summat

Regards

N

Just caught up and I have to say, yet again I'm disappointed with the lack of uniqueness in the business plans.  I guess it just goes to show how hard it really is to come up with a decent idea. 

Bianca's idea is the best out of the two finalists.  It must be great to bring an idea to market and come up with something that's not been done.  However, I'm wondering why it's not been done.  I know one of the interview people said they spoke to a manufacturer and they said there was a gap but but surely one of the big names has thought of this. If they haven't, it's easy to copy the idea.  Good idea though, like this.

Mark can probably make a decent living out of his but he's certainly not unique, I must get half a dozen a day phoning me up.  I also don't know why he needs £250k of LAS's money to do it, just do it from home until you get big enough.

I thought Soloman's fulfillment service for student and new/small business was a good idea and I  can really see that working.

Daniels idea I quite liked once he said that the online part was only a small part but again, events management?  There's enough of them about.  It's not doing anything that others aren't already doing and I bet if he was to Google "Events management" in the town he lives in, there'll be a list of about 30 at least.  I found it interesting that we didn't hear what Daniels business idea was until about 20 minutes into the program, by this time we'd heard about everyone else's more than once.  I thought at this point it was going to be a cracking idea but sadly not.

Roisin? What a disappointment.   I did laugh when Claude (i think) said she was going to spend £750k in the first few months :D  Just get it on credit or a loan, yeah ok...............

Bianca to win for me.

Regards

G

Don't get that forehead.

Showed a photo of her with hair to side and it did the job for me.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30527547

Regards G2L

Anyone else notice Mark seemed to do his under pressure cough in next week's preview? If so Bianca looks nailed on to win.

possible red herring

Not sure if this has been bought up before but if you watch the end of the show where they preview the next episode can you tell who gets fired/hired for the angle of the finger point?

If so it looks like whoever is sat to the right from Shuggs pov is gonna be hired!!

Regards

EK

i would suggest bianca wins (she happens to be on the right from suralan's POV)

there's enough on @Bianca_B_Miller to suggest that she is gearing up for it, so to speak

We also know from past series that suralan is a sucker for a big new market opportunity and a new product, whereas mark's is quite "me too"

regards

T

Lord siralan points with his left hand, could be pointing to the right hand person or the left imho. Still think Mark's the right man :)

regards

rs

Don't forget, final tonight

Regards

G

I fear the worst for Mark.

Trailer with Karen saying, "What was he thinking, putting James in charge of entertainment".  OOps!

I think the worse idea won.  GG your £250k Sugs.

Ricky started a business in a similarly crowded marketplace and appears to be doing pretty well for LordSirAlan. He had nothing much more than experience of the market, enthusiasm, commitment and the substantial benefit of a mentor with a huge network of contacts. Mark has the same.

Bianca had a good idea but not much more.

Mark very impressive and fancy Climm Bon Lean will crush pretty hard.

Sarah such an idiot.

Regards

Ch

Wow, just heard the "details" of Mark's business plan in the final episode. LOL.

Unbelievable. Reminds me of someone who has binked a poker comp and thinks they're going to give up their job and go pro to win millions.

The thing is he's actually never done any SEO. He doesn't understand how it works really, or how rapidly the market is changing. Also his account manager visiting the client once a month is a £500 a month charge to the client that's completely unnecessary. A garage isn't going to commit to three thousand pounds a month to a random company promising the world, why would they want to spunk five hundred quid on meeting with someone? When he can't deliver the promises after six months, what happens next. Who exactly is his target market?

SEO as a standalone market/product/offering is actually dead. It's part of the online marketing mix. You can't just "do SEO". It's part content marketing, part website optimisation, part UX expertise, part web development, part social media marketing, etc.

What URL are they going to use for the site? climbonline.co.uk and .com are already taken. You'd have thought he'd have done some preliminary research on that first. Apparently he's going for the hyphenated version, but as yet there's no site there.

It's going to take more than a quarter of a million to get the company delivering any serious returns.

Also, why weren't there any SEO experts or agencies in the audience for his presentation?

Regards,

k

Just watched it too on catch up as fell asleep watching it. :)

Both ideas seemed to be poor, overpriced tights vs over hyped tripe.

Tried the climbonline and its a mountaineering site?

Time to ditch it methinks, formats tired

regards

rs

Was pretty funny. I liked the way people kept talking about how he was going to be working in an area he was expert at as a strength/low risk thang. Like someone selling the Evening Standard saying their next step was to start a new paper.

Also, surprised to see Alan going for such a mee to biz in such a competitive area.

On the other hand, I think you're being too pessimistic, after all, they secured a £36,000 p.a order from a guy just by sending in 3 people and saying, can we have an order please

Regards

n

The company Mark was working at was:

http://www.reachlocal.co.uk/

So, he's simply offering a rehash of their business, with maybe more of a focus on SEO rather than search advertising?

LOL, that's true. Get six more of them and they'll be turning over the £250k a year. Just the small matter of costs as well...

Regards,

k

Ricky Martin is in line to take over from Nick Hewer.

If Lord Sugar quit who'd next in line?

Regards

G2L

Peter Jones could do an apprentice-style programme I reckon. He'd love the publicity and has a wide-ranging portfolio.

I think the format would need to change though. Needs a refresh anyway.

Regards,

k

There was, I'm sure one of the people who asked him a question was from 4P's or something like that, Mark said he wanted to be as big as them.  LAS said he had the head of Google UK sat next to him. 

I did think it was funny when he said he was going to employ people to do the work for him. So basically he's going to get a few sales in himself and then he can then just project manage the whole thing. 

From a small business point of view, I quite liked his idea.  It would be nice if someone that phoned me up about SEO actually wanted to understand my business needs rather than shout loads of abuse at me and tell me I'm "fucking mental" for not wanting more business and agreeing to spend loads of money with him.  A monthly meeting rather than a rehashed Google print out would be of great interest too. As you said though, the thought of a small garage spending £3k per month is laughable, it just won't happen and there's only so much work you'll end up getting done for you if you enter at the minimum spend each month of a few hundred of your British pounds.

I really thought Sir Sugar was going to go with the tights when Bianca came back in and said she'd go for the wider market and sell them cheaper.

Wrong decision for me this time, but then I'd not have given a strange man who made toe nail clippers the money either.

I have enjoyed it all though.  There's been lots of cringe moments but if you don't sit and analyse these things too early on, it's been good fun.  I'll miss Nick, I like his ramblings, he's a very funny man.  We've seen him a couple of times live at the recording of Have I Got News For You and he's brilliant fun, the show won't be the same without him.  Perhaps another lead figure in business would be good for a change.

Regards

G

Good shout on Peter Jones. 

I wouldn't mind seeing Theo doing it, he's a bit mad as a hatter and makes better TV than Peter. 

Agree that the show needs to be redone. 

Personal preference would be to shorten the process but go Big Brother esque and lets see all the nitty gritty and bitching and see how they actually perform. 

The guy from 4Ps want necessarily an SEO expert though, he was the one of the directors of the company wasn't he? He basically said that the business idea was six years out of date and was the same as plenty of others.

I wanted someone to ask an incisive question such as "how would you help a company who had received penalty from the Panda or Penguin updates?" or "I'm a garage who has £3k a month to spend on SEO, what would your initial analysis include and what would the likely steps be too ensure they get good quality, converting traffic to their site?", or even "how does he think Google will change over the next three years, and will they look to replace PageRank as the core of their algorithm?"


Sounds like you've had experience of bad SEO agencies that actually don't know what they're really doing. Again it's like poker, anyone can claim to be an expert and a "winning player".

As for the head of Google. Not sure why he was advising Suralan to go with Mark, but the other thing is that he's the ex-head of Google UK, which means he'd have zero to do with organic search, and would have been solely focused on paid search. Although the two are related, they're very different beasts.


In the past it was about getting someone good into suralan's organisation. But now it's all about the business plan. Yet the process doesn't follow that. Mark would probably be a good sales guy somewhere in the organisation, but add you can tell, I wouldn't invest in his business plan.

Regards,

k

Nailed it as usual. Amazed he picked this although Mark was clearly the better candidate and Bianca's idea was also pretty far fetched on that budget.

i thought bianca was the more lucrative idea, potentially. new market, though wasn't sure they addressed barriers to entry from the current manufacturers at all

that said, suralan is in his 60s? £250,000 isn't going very far having to set up manufacturing from scratch with someone with no experience at it at a staged in your life when you want to let the other person do the work

therefore, he was stuck with Mark a bit

I've not really had bad experiences with people we've actually dealt with, just those that cold call.  It's not exclusive to SEO people.  When you get a cold call you can bet your life on it being either a) someone selling SEO, b) someone selling advertising in a magazine that "all" the schools/clubs/organisations in my area will be receiving or lately c) people offering to get buyers for my business and would I like to sell.  It's always those three and in that order of popularity probably, it's just the the first two won't accept no for an answer.   There are so many SEO (or digital marketing) companies phoning up on a weekly it's unbelievable.  

If the program were about the business plan then I'd have expected at least one of the final five to have a really good business idea.  None of them were that great, and this is the final five out of thousands to have applied.  I think he should go back to offering a job because these new businesses are nothing special.  I guess £250k is nothing to Alan and if he can make money out of it then it's good.  Sure they may work but to see the winner is offering a business that basically is the same as what I get loads of phone calls each month is a underwhelming.   He seems a nice guy and if his idea of visiting his clients works out I'm sure he will do well.

I'm rambling, could waffle on but I'll stop.  The bottom line is I enjoy the program but am disappointed with the business proposals.

I did enjoy watch Dale Murray on You're Hired :)

Regards

G

To put it another way both would have failed to secure money on Dragon's Den.

Surely these questions shouldnt be shown on tv. No one apart from industry experts would have the foggiest, might as well ask some questions in French. Not really sure what went on, we were watching an interview process then some stuff about businesses started appearing. Turned into a right load of cobblers, gl making loadsamoney off 250k Sir Alan you plank and maybe pick some candidates with viable businesses next time.

he's probably happy if all the businesses he invests in break even. he said on the apprentice: youre hired all 3 businesses he's invested in since he changed the format of the show are profitable.

meanwhile he's on prime time tv, has 4m followers on twitter and can slowly advertise his other products whilst being able to sell big selling books etc.

we will all still keep watching the show and perhaps moaning a little bit, he's been doing it for 10 years now and needs it to continue being good tv, so getting people who are sensible etc wont be good tv and the show would end up dying, but having a lot of "characters" would mean he'd have to employ them in managerial roles in his own bigger companies which would obviously not be great.

i really loved the junior apprentice and would love to see another season too.

I was going to apply for the next Junior Apprentice back when it went on gutted there wasn't another!!

I'm pleased with the winner though, he had to be chosen over Bianca surely.

Still no sign of 'Climb Online' in the Google SERPs - oh, that's because there's still no site at climb-online.com.  Instead, lots of other companies are getting the traffic from people looking for this 'business'. 

Surely as an 'SEO Expert' he'd know that you lever the peaks in publicity and attention and ensure you attract the links, the social media traffic, etc.  Instead, there's nothing in place.  Not even a decent holding page.

Maybe he's called it something else.  I can't believe for one second that they hadn't thought about a business name since they came up with their ideas.   

If he knew about SEO (which I still maintain he doesn't), he'd have had a site up and running and ready for the reveal of his business.  It would at least give people something to link to (a massive part of SEO), and he could capture leads, email addresses, etc.

In fact that's not even SEO, it's just basic online marketing.

He might decide to go for a different name, and that wouldn't be the worst plan.  But it still means he's missed out on the wave of publicity, the social media interest, and the opportunity to 'ride the wave'.  Have a search for his name, have a look at his twitter profile (if you can find it easily), his facebook page, his website... a good online marketeer would ensure that he's all over those search results - no matter what the URL of his site is.

However, he's a good salesman - not an SEO/online marketing expert, and that is more than evident. Suralan is going to need to get some experts involved to make this venture work, if he decides it's worth the investment.  I wouldn't be surprised if he just decided to buy out an existing company that's doing it already.

His Linkedin profile doesn't sound as impressive as his CV for some reason...

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-wright/5a/892/165

I was reading that he only created his Twitter account in December this year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/the-apprentice/11307906/Is-the-Apprentice-winner-doomed-to-fail.html  The first Twitter comment, from the Queen no less (I know) made me laugh

Yes, I don't think he actually understands how SEO/online marketing works in 2014 (and beyond).  Reach Local focus on selling PPC services, and these are a lot more measurable, instant and also require less 'magic' to work - although you still want someone who knows what they're doing to manage your PPC activities to make sure you're spending your money wisely and they can make a massive difference.

The SEO he seemed to be suggesting he'd sell is from ten years ago, and even then there were loads of charlatans selling snake oil amongst those who actually knew what they were doing and could give you a ROI on your SEO spend.

Nothing against Mark Knight, just very surprised that Suralan and his trusted advisors couldn't see what he and his business plan was offering.  I wonder if they actually got any advice (other than from the ex-head of Google UK, who might not know a thing about SEO) before making their decision.  Doesn't look like they did.

You seem a little bitter about this Kin, did your application for The Apprentice fail?

I was Rochin.

Just came across this on YouTube - Cassetteboy vs The Apprentice 2 :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAwymcSlmoA

Went to London today and sat on the seat in front of us was a guy who was going for an audition for the next Apprentice!  I don't know much about him other than his name is Richard Woods, he's apparently like a "Swiss Army Knife" and if you ask him for 10 ideas, he'd give at least 11.  Oh, in answer to what makes him angry he said bad manners.  He probably wouldn't appreciate me sneaking a look at his application over his shoulder at a guess.

Regards

G

How the hell did I miss this?

Funniest thing on here for ages.

WP Evil.

Interview with the Apprentice winner about the business and how it's developing.  The comments at the bottom are fairly critical of him:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/66270-apprentice-winner-mark-wright-on-seo-algorithms-revolutionising-the-industry/