Stella wins The Apprentice

So Stella English the corporate PA finally won The Apprentice 2010.



In the end it wasn't very close as Chris did his best but he was knocked for six by Stella's one true flash of genius.



The task was to design, create and promote a new spirit. Chris went for a very startling looking bottle and called his 3 mixture Prism. So far so good except the colour was pinkish - more suitable for women.



Stella made a slight variation on bourbon and called it Urbon - which was inspired and to be honest I think that won her the task there and then.



Chris did a better job presenting than earlier in the competition as both he and Stella had been accused of being wooden.



Stella was the consumate professional in her entire performance, though she did have a go at Chris in the boardroom which Chris said he would not go down that route. He had done so at an earlier juncture against Alex and others.



Overall for once the right person won but it would have been a better contest if Liz had reached the final.



Next up is the Junior Apprentice and then the new one will start again sometime soon.



I just hope we get to see the original and best Apprentice with The Donald in the meantime.



Congratulations Stella!

The Apprentice Hots Up

Last night high drama during the infamous purchasing task!

The boys team only got 7 out of the 10 difficult to find items while the girls, led by Liz, got all 10. However the girls were late back to the Boardroom but when the totals were added up they had been beaten by the boys - despite the lads' high fines.

The secret of the boys success? Negotiating.

Liz took Laura and Stella in for a catfight and in the end Laura was sent packing by Lord Sugar. However Liz really tried to bury her biggest rival Stella. She even kept it going when back at the house. Liz so far has been pretty brilliant, but perhaps her halo is slipping. I also think the accusations of Stella being 'wooden' and 'too corporate' are a bit harsh on her. I think Stella is professional and a great role model for women in business. I hope she wins.

Stuart Baggs was pretty quite this week - but next week promises a bit of hilarity and conflict.

I think this is one of the UK Apprentice's best ever seasons. But - you know what I am going to say - it is a pale imitation of the now legendary original US version starring everyone's favourite billionaire... Donald Trump.

Trump had two TV shows on in the UK this week. One was about his Aberdeen golf course and the people who are against him, and the other was a profile of the controversial tycoon. Trump is Trump: brash, loud, egotistical, but still charming and as we have seen over the years in The Apprentice, he is actually very fair. He fires people for underperforming not because of their lack of entertainment value. This is a lesson Lord Sugar should take on board. After all, he can only dream of having a net worth like The Donald!

The UK Apprentice 2010

Last night's episode was a corker!

The task was to create a personal DVD experience for customers held in a London shopping mall, Westfields I think it was called.

Sandeesh was project manager up against Stuart Baggs - The Brand!

After much running about and changing of ideas, price, product and presentation, Stuart's team limped home by £40!

Stuart's DVD experience was a toy car being raced around Brands Hatch. Baggs even found time for a jolly by driving the real car around for the footage that was needed.

Sandeesh was in the Board Room with Liz and Chris but she could not beat them in the argument and sadly she was fired.

I am convinced unless there is a major faux pas by one of them it will be a Stella v Liz grand finale. Or Sugar may even throw a curveball and have a 3 person final.

Liz and Stella seem to be the only ones with common sense - which often means a business brain!

The Apprentice is back!

Tonight on BBC 1 at Midnight (great time for pupils to watch... NOT!) the best TV show in the world is back. Forget grumpy Alan Sugar and his UK version.

The Apprentice with Donald Trump is the original and best show! We're finally getting to see Season Four after a lengthy gap of two years.

So what makes Trump's version so good?

Well it is actually pretty educational and of course it is entertaining. The characters on the show make some of the craziest decisions known to man!

I normally don't get excited about TV but this is my favourite show of recent years. Some of the reasons for people getting fired are incredible! Remember Brian who was going to sort everyone out in the Board Room?

TRUMP: "Who should I fire, Brian?"

BRIAN: "You should fire me me."

TRUMP:"I should fire you?"

BRIAN: "Yes, Mr Trump."

TRUMP:"Okay Brian, you're fired. That was the quickest Board Room ever!"

TV gold!

Yasmina is the Apprentice 2009

Well don't say I told you so. Yasmina was declared the Apprentice tonight, after narrowly beating Kate into the runner-up position.

The final task was to create a new chocolate brand with the two finalists getting help from some of the other contestants.

Kate went for Choc D'Amour which had pretty naff packaging and her pricing was way out. However the product was tasty, her pitch was excellent and the idea of chocolates for him, for her, and to share, was innovative. And their video was quite good.

Yasmina went for Cocoa Electric and came up with some hideous flavours. Strawberry and Basil seemed to be the one that turned the most stomachs. However Yasmina got her packaging spot on, and her pricing was in the right ballpark. The product itself would probably not get many repeat sales, and her presentation was stilted to be kind.

When it came to Sir Alan's decision I knew he'd go for Yasmina. Why? Because Kate was such a fantastic and obvious winner it would make bad TV. The same happened the other week when Susan Boyle lost the final of Britain's Got Talent when we all know she was without question a unique talent that was the best there has ever been in the history of any Simon Cowell production.

It was too obvious.

It seems these days true talent is often being overlooked for the unpredictable option. That only works every so often, but if things go wrong then people will line up and say "Was that a good decision?".

Kate should have won.

Yasmina was solid, but lacked personality and came across quite dour. However she would probably follow Sir Alan's orders without question. She would manage, but would she lead? Is Yasmina capable of taking whatever he threw at her to the next level?

Kate on the other hand is bright, bubbly, self-controlled and sharp as a tack. Her communication and presentation skills are second to none. She held it together in interview (unlike Yasmina, thereby making a mockery of the whole process) and she also displayed excellent team working and sales skills. She also showed she has a creative side and displayed leadership for example telling Ben off that he had overstepped the decency line with his rude name for the chocs, or taking over from Kimberly in the advert shoot.

Kate was the all rounder and like Alex last year, the best candidate.

Oh well, will we ever hear from Yasmina again? Unlikely. But I am sure Kate has a bright future ahead of her and she will get over this setback, because at the end of the day if someone can't notice your talent then would you really want to work for them anyway?

And it brings to mind the best piece of advice I have ever been given, by Professor Brian Carlisle: "Never stay where you're not appreciated."

So good luck to Kate and Yasmina. But as so often is the case in this unfair and not always upfront world, the best 'man' did not win!

The Apprentice - Final

Tomorrow is the final of this year's Apprentice. In the running for the £100k job from Alan Sugar is Kate and Yasmina.

The two fiesty females won through the interview round which saw the really quite silly James dispatched, along with the lacking in confidence Lorraine, and the rather unlucky Debra.

James made a series of mistakes and came across as to flippant and trivial. He was quite frankly not serious enough.

Lorraine didn't have the CV and skills to compete against her rivals, and I think she knew she was doomed from the off. Lorraine also made a few errors in her CV, but unlike Lee McQueen from last year she could not engineer an escape.

Debra was aggressive and bullish but she did show emotion when James got the sack, but her faux pas was in her choice of referees. They slated her! What chance do you have if you pick a poor referee?

But Kate and Yasmina may count themselves lucky to have went through also.

Kate was accused of lacking passion and being too robotic. I would say she came across a bit false. She knows all the answers to interview questions but lacked the enthusiasm needed. She kept her cool - no bad thing - but perhaps she is too much of an ice maiden.

How Yasmina got through I do not know. She may well be an entrepreneur, but when Claude - one of the interviewers - grilled her over her restaurant's accounts, she was clueless. She didn't know her accounts were filed at Company House and therefore public, nor did she know the difference between gross and net profit! I cannot believe she got through after making such mistakes! In fact if she was on Dragons' Den she would have been shown the door.

Alan Sugar has recently been made Enterprise Czar by the Labour Government, which I am also a bit worried about! Alan chose Lee over Alex last year when Alex was clearly the best candidate and in fact even Kristina was a better candidate that Simon the year before (he was a bit like James!).

I would have taken Debra to the final and in fact I think she is the most capable of all the candidates though she does have to learn how to respect her colleagues, but she will learn I feel.

In saying that in the final it looks like a canter for Kate, but the way Alan Sugar seems to play to the entertainment side of the programme rather than the business side that means Yasmina will win!

The Apprentice Back on BBC 1

Sir Alan Sugar, the man behind Amstrad, is looking for a new Apprentice. Last year Lee McQueen won despite lying on his CV (heavily criticised by other business leaders) and performing his incredible reverse pterodactyl.

This year we have 8 bossy females and 7 cocky males. One of the men already quit. He 'bottled' it according to Sugar.

Last night the teams were divided into boys and girls. The boys took the rather dodgy name of Empire which signified their Britishness, whereas the girls came up with Ignite.

The task was to run a car valleting service. There wasn't much in the actual takings or the eventual profit which caused one of Businesses worst cliches to rear its ugly head...again:

"Turnover is vanity; profit is sanity". It is very true but every Tom, Dick and Harry now use it. Duncan Bannantyne is particularly prone to it in Dragons Den!

Things came to a head in the girls team and in the Boardroom when losing Project Manager Mona took Debra and Anita back into the firing line. A series of digs at each other and lack of accountability riled Sir Alan. Eventually it was 35 year old Business Strategist and hot shot lawyer Anita who was fired.

She claimed Sir Alan doesn't like lawyers (a couple of years ago feisty Scots attorney Karen Bremmner was a brilliant candidate and yet was harshly fired early on) but Sugar insisted that she had not displayed any business acumen.

Anita had really set herself up for a fall though by claiming she was exceptional and outstanding and other hyperbolic terms.

If you talk the talk you have to walk the walk!

I do hope you watch it as it is educational and highly entertaining. Though it does not come close to the superior and original USA version starring my hero... Donald Trump!