The Apprentice UK 2023

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120361755#Comment_120361755

It really is not rocket science. The brief was not too arduous or complicated, so where the insects idea came from is anyones guess.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120364266#Comment_120364266

It's a particularly left-field idea, so I think it was led by the production company.

The team seemed to be handed a folder with various options on it as we saw one of them flicking through it at the start. It's possible that insects was actually the best choice of what they were allowed do. Otherwise, on a task where pricing wasn't mentioned once, chucking 10oz of fillet steak in a tin would have been a no-brainer.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120364377#Comment_120364377

Not even fillet steak. Having grown up around dogs, I know they will eat any kind of meat.

They could have done a rnage called something like Pooch Pies, loosely based on some pie recipes common in the UK. Steak and Kidney Pie(self explanatory), Cornish Pastie(beef and carrot), Shepherds Pie(Lamb and peas). The addition of vegetables for added fibre.

While it wasn't a money making task, most people are feeling the cost of living crisis and when money is short Im pretty sure, the first obvious saving is going for a cheaper Dog Food. Unless Rover can read, he doesnt know the difference between Pedigree Chum and Tesco own brand dog food. I just did a quick search on tesco.ie. Caesar 150g is 1.50. Tesco own brand 300g is 69 cent. A quarter of the price.

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120364456#Comment_120364456

Yeah, I wouldn't disagree with any of that.

I just feel within these tasks there is something we aren't being told. Gourmet product with decent cheapish meat cuts was a no-brainer as you say but maybe when the other team chose that (first choice perhaps) then the second team was left with fruit, insects or vegetarian? It's noticeable to me on these tasks they always have the two teams doing slightly different things (e.g., recently one team picked the over 50s market for the beauty product, and we get told the other picked the 30something market). Law of averages would suggest they should occasionally land on the same idea, but they never do. So I suspect they have to choose from a limited set, and must choose differently. Would actually be fairer tasks if they were both doing identical things, but maybe it would make the episode repetitive.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120364545#Comment_120364545

Yeah. As Ive posted before they are clearly setup up to fail from the get go. Probably to add more drama. Stuff like, sending them out to do market research after they have a partially finished product. Often times to be told, "your product design is crap" but too late to change it.

You would wonder how much time they are given because running out of time for seemingly easy tasks seem to be a recurring theme.

Theres also some obvious half truths. Voiceover guy "4am - the cars will be outside in 20 minutes.". However its always daytime when they are seen leaving the house. I can get myself showered, suited and booted in 20 minutes, but the ladies, drying hair etc, there is no way that all gets done in 20 minutes. Plus, the house they stay in will have to have 12 showers, otherwise, there will be a queue. If one shower, 12 contestants, and only 2 minutes in the shower each is 24 minutes anyway, thats without drying and getting dressed.

Mantis Toboggan

It's some house in fairness, there was reports earlier in the season of 2 contestants caught getting stuck into each other in the gym, wonder who they were.

Terrontress

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120361484#Comment_120361484

There was a girl a few years back called Carina who won. She had a bakery called Dough in Herne Hill.

With the Alan Sugar money she opened a second one in Beckenham.

That's it. She had one shop, she now has two. Do hundreds of businesses not open a second shop each day? Does it require isolating yourself from the world for ten weeks and having tv cameras film an old man shouting at you? Or maybe just go to the bank, then to the estate agent?

The whole show is a farce. At least with Dragon's Den, where they are making an investment in others' companies, they say that they want a stake in equity and have an interest in how the thing is going to go. Not sending you out in the middle of the night without a smartphone to buy a load of shite that you have never heard of.

Galwayguy35

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120364941#Comment_120364941

Thats a rumour they put out every year that a few of them start shagging, it probably has happened over the years but I doubt its as common as they say it is.

Galwayguy35

I think Rochelle is the most likeable one left in it at this stage.

Just had a look there to see how last years winner is getting on, most of the articles seem to be more about the fact that she is now going out with one of the other candidates rather than anything about how her business is doing.

Galwayguy35

Are they dumbing down on purpose or really that thick.

They wouldn't pass an interview for Aldi let alone an investment for 250 k

These business ideas are woejus. Online pick n mix, hair extensions, a gym.

Transition year students would come up with better.

Xander10

Great to see Claude back.

But on the downside I can't stand that Brady bitch

Meeoow

So Victoria is one of those spoofers who puts sweets into a pizza box and sells them on Facebook for a ridiculous mark up.

Marie said she grew up in a caravan. Is she a traveller?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120367854#Comment_120367854

She really doesn't come across well on this episode at all

salmocab

Karen is playing a character in the interviews.

Marney seems like the only one who has anything going for her plan.

Man Vs ManUre

It’s a bit late for this lass with the bright red lipstick to be trying to sell hair extensions to Claude!!

Meeoow

We are missing someone with a balloon arch business there.

I noticed way back that Brady was very anti Irish. Baroness Brady. 😂

jaffa20

I thought what he said to Victoria on her way out was just a bit uncalled for really "keep it as a hobby, it's a good hobby". Yes, it wasn't a great idea. You did have her in the semi final though!

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120367854#Comment_120367854

He doesn’t look great, lost a bit of weight

AyeGer

Every one of the final 5's business plans were a mess. What is going on? This isn't a serious show anymore, mind you it hasn't been for a few years i suppose.

Trampas

How do they get by the selection process with such bad business plans.

It was obvious half way through the interviews which two would make it through

https://thesweetlifeuk.com/?fbclid=PAAaZZ5XVqXICdUcxxFzfOiZk3jLJqsUrOVzYOHRXBM_tvJH-EPE_r3s9ZzCQ

The prices for a few haribo in a box. Who is buying this? Dragons Den would destroy her, and she gets to the 2nd last round of The Apprentice with this business?

Exclamation Marc

Marnie shadow boxing saying "I'm going to be Lord Sugars next business partner" was peak Alan Partridge.

So many bizarre things in the interviews:

Dani not knowing the difference between turnover and profit and thinking feeling like a mermaid is a legitimate USP.

Victoria not being able to count and making a weird number of mistakes. How did she miss so many errors.

Megan not really bothering with the business plan at all.

Rochelle having no concept of how small her floorplan was and pulling a rental figure out of her arse.

Marnie thinking a business plan works without paying her staff.

Christ I'd love if he just invested in none of them this year.

Galwayguy35

Interesting they have Dragons Den on just before this, the people that get rejected on it for their business ideas are streets ahead of anyone that has been on this show for years.

I know where I'd be telling Brady to shove her Baroness title, of course she had to let everyone know she lives in Belgravia as well.

Still Ill

Dragon's Den has been amazing this season. Miles ahead of The Apprentice. They have a great balance of Dragons at the moment.

AyeGer

If the girls business plans were this much of a mess what must the boys plans have been like?

Niall_76

I think he said Rochelle’s floor plan was 50 m2. This is a lot more than 3 parking spaces. But sounded like she costed for 50 sq m.

Can anyone imagine sugar being involved in an online pick and mix? Do people even buy that online? I think not costing for staff got her to the interviews.

Deeec

The apprentice has lost what it's about. Candidates are not selected based on their business ideas or accumen anymore. They are just there to increase their profile. It seems to be more about their looks now than their business idea. (Their looks are even questionable).

All of the business ideas were pathetic - not one is a money maker. Nothing unique there at all. None of them have business brains at all or are investible. Sugar could not add anything to those businesss at all.

It's a shame - I used to love this show. If it's on for as another series I couldn't be bothered watching.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XLr5lWQHsV8

The business ideas are almost as bad as the Sani-fone business run by Derek Smalls dad. A mass of hair! Online pick-n-mix! Love to see a good parody of the apprentice.

Being scheduled after the excellent Dragon's Den really highlight the absence of any credibility. Reflects badly on Sugar, Brady and the producers rather than the candidates who are nice but naive. Like Dani saying 'I never expected to get this far'.

yerwanthere123

As others have said, the contrast between The Apprentice and Dragon's Den is quite jarring. Don't understand how the Apprentice contestants are accepted on the show when they don't know the very basics of their business plans, or how they work. Dani mentioned that the 'confidentiality agreement' on her business plan was part of a template, so I'm guessing it was a plan she'd lifted from Google or something? The contestants definitely weren't always this amateur.

I think Marnie will win this now, I guess she's the best of a bad bunch. Although to be fair to her, securing that amount of money for her plan is actually quite impressive? And yes I know it seems to be conditional on her actually securing Sugar's investment, but still.

ArmaniJeanss

I'd have thought Marnie's is as good a deal as he could possibly get from Sugars point of view. On the face of it he gets 50% of a business which already has more than his required stake in capital grants. Plus premises and Sport England approval.

Like the other 4 candidates they gave her a bad edit for the interviews with talk of not paying the trainers (which is apparently standard enough in that industry) and downplaying the grants/loans (alluding to how the money isn't actually in her account yet, and KB saying it can be slow). But I think this was all just to keep some element of uncertainty for the final. The unshown footage, imo, would have been the 4 assistants telling Suicre that it's pretty much a slam dunk near-flawless proposal and it's just a matter now of getting through the formality of a pointless final.

everlast75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120368007#Comment_120368007

An Irish contender could have said "Yeah Karen, I'll apologize for not saying Baroness when you apologize for 800 years of oppression" lol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120367818#Comment_120367818

I really am not sure. Maybe anyone with half a brain is sensible enough to stay well away from it. I'd love to go on it, but I am sure I am far too boring to get considered.

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379323#Comment_120379323

This is it.

If you've a legitimate business, you're more likely than not going to avoid being demeaned for 12 weeks and having to live and work with utter bell-ends who think they're the second coming of Warren Buffet. The recent winners seem to have fairly solid businesses but I'd put that down to the management of Lord Sugar's teams who manage his investment.

I imagine if you tracked back to the 'growth plans' from the winners' interviews, they're nowhere near the nonsense that they promised and are enjoying relatively modest success (which in itself is not to be sniffed at mind).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379837#Comment_120379837

The first series of the Apprentice I watched was 2015 and the winner was Dr Leah Totten (you never forget your first!), aside from being stunning looking she was also the smartest by a country mile, however, her original name for her skin care business was NIKS, which is skin backwards. All I could think of was "Hi Doctor Nick!" the dodgy doctor from The Simpsons. I think Claude or Karen took her aside and went "No no no no. that name is shocking. Come up with something else".

Trigger Happy

The business plans were a mess. I guess that they are created as part of their original application to the show and contestants are not allowed to modify them after that point.

Most applicants dont believe they will get to appear on the show. So their focus is probably in putting as much bravado in to their application with little focus on their business plan. And then they get to the interview show and suprise suprise ...their business plan is muck.

In theory it makes for more dramatic tv but it really is poor. A bunch of shopkeepers. If they had people with original entrepreneurial ideas the show would likely be less dramatic but much more interesting to watch.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379923#Comment_120379923

I don't entirely agree. If you compare it to Dragons Den, people regularly appear on it not knowing their numbers, or without a fully thought out plan, and thats when they definitely know they will be in front of the Dragons. Some people just suck at the soft skills stuff.

Many years ago I met a man at a barbeue. We got to talking and when I told him where I worked he said he was jealous, that he had applied but not managed to get an interview. I gave him my card and told him to email me his CV, and I would put it in front of someone. What he sent me was a complete shambles. I completely redesigned it, gave it to Talent Acquisition, he got invited for an interview which he completely nailed, and he still works there to this day. Super smart guy, years and years of experience, but his soft skills were just not on par.

Trampas

The Irish ones didn’t come back.

Marine wearing a cape. Hoping for a superhero performance ?

Galwayguy35

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120393600#Comment_120393600

They probably weren't asked, both of them were gone early on in the series.

Thought less of them came back this year compared to other years.

AndrewJRenko

Seemed to be genuinely good natured between all participants, even stony faced Karen smiled and laughed.

jaffa20

Glad Marnie won in the end but it wasn't a great season.

CassieManson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120394114#Comment_120394114

Same here. I thought it was fairly obvious last night that Marnie would win. Not a great season even judging by the number of comments on here!

Niall_76

I was waiting last night for Avi to make an impassioned plea as to why he should be project leader!

Man Vs ManUre

I think she lost because she was showing too much boobies at the presentation and Lord Sugar was not a big fan of her under-boobies tattoo.

everlast75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120393600#Comment_120393600

That's Brexit for you!

everlast75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120394063#Comment_120394063

It's all down to the edits. There could have been moments like that during the season but they wouldn't be shown.

everlast75

Delighted for Victoria, telling Sugar she took up modelling after he made that comment as she left to keep her business idea as a hobby

Mantis Toboggan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120371371#Comment_120371371

Yep, every year people say Sugar looks at the business plans and then plans his firings around that, this and every other year has proven that this clearly isn't true.

ArmaniJeanss

Reddit thread, looks like some footage from a '2024 airdate' food selling task in Greenwich Market. And some bystander info on how it was being filmed by the crew.

I don't think there is anything that could remotely count as 'spoiler' so safe enough.

Caught next season being filmed at Greenwich Market 30/04 : r/apprenticeuk (reddit.com)