The Apprentice (UK series nine)

The Apprentice UK

◄ ►  Series Nine

The Candidates Name Left Show       Leah Totton Week 12 Luisa Zissman Week 12 Francesca MacDuff-Varley Week 11 Neil Clough Week 11 Jordan Poulton Week 11 Myles Mordaunt Week 10 Alex Mills Week 9 Jason Leech Week 8 Natalie Panayi Week 7 Kurt Wilson Week 7 Rebecca Slater Week 6 Zeeshaan Shah Week 5 Uzma Yakoob Week 4 Sophie Lau Week 3 Tim Stillwell Week 2 Jaz Ampaw-Farr Week 1 Hired Runner-up Fired

Series Nine of The Apprentice (UK), a British reality television series, was broadcast in the UK during 2013 from 7 May to 17 July on BBC One.^[1] The ninth series saw the show revert to its original task layout prior to the seventh series, though with the finalists now having to promote their business idea before Lord Alan Sugar and a selection of experts for the final task. Sixteen candidates took part in the series,^[2] who named their teams Endeavour and Evolve, with Leah Totton winning the series.

Two specials aired alongside its broadcast towards the final weeks, and were new editions of "The Final Five" on 8 July, and "Why I Fired Them" on 11 July.

Candidates

Performance Chart

Key:

     The candidate won this series of The Apprentice.

     The candidate was the runner-up.

     The candidate won as project manager on his/her team, for this task.

     The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team, for this task.

     The candidate was on the winning team for this task / they passed the Interviews stage.

     The candidate was on the losing team for this task.

     The candidate was brought to the final boardroom for this task.

     The candidate was fired in this task.

     The candidate lost as project manager for this task and was fired.

Episodes

Week 1: Container

• Original Air Date: 7 May 2013
• Endeavour: Jason (Project Manager), Alex, Jordan, Kurt, Myles, Neil, Tim, and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Jaz (Project Manager), Francesca, Leah, Luisa, Natalie, Rebecca, Sophie, and Uzma.
• Task: Choose a variety of imported goods from a container, then sell them within sixteen hours. Most sales made, wins.
• Task Review:Endeavour initially had a slow start, but managed to quickly sell reasonable quantities soon afterwards, although Myles wasted an hour after promising to find batteries for one of their products. The only issue faced was that Jason struggled to make himself heard, leaving Neil to make most of the decision, with his sub team selling more than Jason's. Meanwhile, Evole's performance was mixed, as Jaz failed to provide any form of organisation, spent time motivating her team than devising a sales strategy, and allowed her sub-team to fall into chaos; not only did they arrive too at London's Chinatown district when the shops were all closed, they made a disorderly rush for retailers around Oxford Street, and wasted time attempting to sell to a store clerk who had no authorisation to make purchases. Despite Leah's sub-team doing far better thanks to Uzma's strong organisation, Jaz's poor leadership effectively ruined any chance of a victory.
• Result: Endeavour made sales of £1,167.90, while Evolve made sales of £1,109.30.
• Winner: Endeavour - by £58.60
• Reward: Being the first to see the candidates' house, and having a luxury meal there as a team.
• Brought into the boardroom: Jaz, Sophie and Uzma
• Fired: Jaz - For inefficient team leadership, hastily volunteering to lead the team, and focusing too much on one item and neglecting other products as a direct result.
• You're Fired Panel: Jo Fairley, Matt Edmondson and Katherine Ryan
• Notes:
  • Despite winning, Karren noted that Endeavour's dynamic was poor due to the men steam-rolling each other than working together, with no-one standing out. Jason received criticism for his leadership, with Myles critical of his sales approach, while Tim was accused of hiding, with Lord Sugar stating that it was pointless of him to make further discussions on this after the team's win was announced. Although Neil was credited for selling the most and leading his sub-team well, he was criticised for repeatedly undermining Jason and making a number of arguments, including one between himself and Zeeshaan over a phone conversation with the team's PM.
  • Along with hastily taking on the role of PM in the initial briefing without consulting with her team, Lord Sugar felt that there with other key factors that made it impossible for Jaz to continue in the process. Not only was her leadership terrible, her team criticised her for focusing on motivation than of strategy, she also was criticised for focusing on a hard-sell item, despite its high profits, and thus leaving multiple items and products unsold; those that were, did so at a very cheap price.
  • Although Sophie was given a warning for her poor sales, Lord Sugar noted that Natalie had not helped by hijacking her pitch of the Chinese lucky cats. He also agreed that, despite failing to sell anything, Uzma had been chiefly responsible for preventing further disaster by providing logistics and scheduling for Leah's sub-team, all of whom felt that Leah had ultimately done far better than Jaz in terms of PM, especially Luisa.

Week 2: Beer

• Original Air Date: 8 May 2013
• Endeavour: Kurt (Project Manager), Alex, Jason, Jordan, Myles, Neil and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Tim (Project Manager), Francesca, Leah, Luisa, Natalie, Rebecca, Sophie and Uzma.
• Task: Come up with a new flavour of beer and sell it. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour created a chocolate orange flavoured beer, thank to Kurt deciding on the flavour before his brewery team could along with the branding, though production of the beer was generally smooth. However, the team's first pitch was a failure after they chose not to bring any samples, while Jason disrupted another by offering a customer a lower price than they had suggested. Despite this, the team enjoyed considerable footfall at a food and drinks festival thanks to a large footfall, and increased their sales further after slashing the high price for their beer. Meanwhile, Evolve created a rhubarb and caramel flavoured beer, though Francesca caused miscalculations with the amount of rhubarb for the beer, causing the team to waste some of their budget rectifying this while making two of the kegs undrinkable. Despite performing well and selling large quantities, fewer sales were made when selling their beer at a glamorised pub, and later attempting to make a sale at a wine bar. These problems ultimately cost them victory.
• Result: Endeavour made a profit of £831.56, while Evolve made a profit of £399.02.
• Winner: Endeavour - by £432.54
• Reward: A trip to Belgium with beer tasting.
• Brought into the boardroom: Tim, Francesca and Rebecca
• Fired: Tim - For his weak leadership, authorising a bad location, and for failing on a task his business plan was related to.
• You're Fired Panel: Ed Byrne, Sara Cox and James Watt
• Notes:
  • For this task, Lord Sugar appointed Kurt as Endeavour's project manager, due to his experience in the food and drink industry, while he moved Tim over to Evolve and made him the team's project manager, not only because of his business plan to set up a drink-based business, but also after he vouched to step up during the previous boardroom.
  • Despite his team winning, Lord Sugar found several faults in Kurt's leadership. Apart from his irregular pricing, his brewery team consisted of members who didn't drink beer which Sugar felt had been a poor decision, while he did not approve of him making decisions on the brand name and flavour before they had arrived at the brewery; one ingredient for the flavour was strongly disliked by the sub-team.
  • Although Rebecca was not fired after she was revealed to have single-handedly brought in around 40% of Evolve's revenue, Lord Sugar felt she had been chiefly responsible for picking a poor location, while not approving of her attitude in the boardroom when she sparked an argument with Uzma and claimed that the other women were all conspiring against her.
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience, combined with the panel, disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision to fire Tim; feedback from the women showed they had enjoyed working with him, while Lord Sugar himself praised his enthusiasm, though remarked that he needed to "channel it in the right direction". While it was noted that Francesca's mathematical mistake did not cause Evolve to lose, the panel agreed that it was such a basic mistake that it should have been grounds for instant dismissal.

Week 3: Flat-Pack

• Original Air Date: 15 May 2013
• Endeavour: Jordan (Project Manager), Alex, Jason, Kurt, Myles, Neil and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Natalie (Project Manager), Francesca, Leah, Luisa, Rebecca, Sophie and Uzma.
• Task: Design a new unique piece of flat-pack furniture, and pitch it to retailers. Most orders received, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour went with a design for a chair that could easily convert into a table with storage shelves. Although there were a number of mistakes in their pitches, including Myles aiming the product at the wrong age market, and questions were raised over the prototype's styling and the height of its legs, the design was considered to innovative and secured the team vast orders. Meanwhile, Evolve went with a design for a cube-shaped table with multi-functional sides, though Natalie's attempt to listen to ideas meant no consensus was reached on what each side would feature. While their pitch was well executed, their prototype was felt to be unoriginal and unattractive; it earned criticism for being easy to assemble without glue or tools, and for being utilised more as a table or a footstool. The low orders they got from just the independent retailers, meant there was nothing the team could do to avoid losing.
• Result: Endeavour received 3,216 orders, while Evolve received 174 orders.
• Winner: Endeavour - by 3,042 orders
• Reward: Up at The O2 - Climb attraction at The O2 Arena.
• Brought into the boardroom: Natalie, Sophie and Uzma
• Fired: Sophie - For a lack of presence, making no significant contributions within the three tasks, and for showing no skills that Lord Sugar considered vital for starting a business.
• You're Fired Panel: Andy Parsons, Karren Brady and Richard North
• Notes:
  • Despite making the mistake of facing away from the buyers during his assembly demo in the pitches, Lord Sugar praised Alex for his design of Endeavour's product, informing him that it had been of the best designs he had ever seen on the show.
  • Although Evolve were warned to improve their performance in the task briefing, Lord Sugar was disappointed that the women had suffered such a massive defeat, as the major retailers had commented that they had found their pitches to be excellent, but panned the product's design. Had Sugar not arranged the appointments with the major retailers, Endeavour would have still won from the sales to independent retailers alone, having gotten 216 orders from them.
  • Although Lord Sugar did not fire Natalie over her weak leadership and allowing Luisa to take over the task, or Uzma for being considerably out of touch with her design expertise and refusing to take any responsibility, he felt that both had done well to at try to step up their contributions unlike Sophie. However, both women were warned by him that he would be keeping an eye on them in their future efforts.
  • On You're Fired!, both the audience and two of the panellists agreed to Sophie's firing, while Andy Parsons felt that she had been unlucky and that Natalie should have been fired for her non-existent leadership. On Why I Fired Them, Lord Sugar noted that her fate was sealed when she gave a list of skills that were not her speciality, including designing, selling and giving presentations, which he considered essential for a new business, adding that her contribution with the market research had done nothing because of the lack of consensus on the product.
  • News of Sophie's firing was leaked prematurely, when a video clip featuring her as part of Matt Edmondson's Awkward Conversations was put onto the show's website a few hours before this episode was to air.

Week 4: Farm Shop

• Original Air Date: 22 May 2013
• Endeavour: Neil (Project Manager), Alex, Kurt, Natalie, Uzma and Zeeshaan.
• Evolve: Luisa (Project Manager), Francesca, Jason, Jordan, Leah, Myles and Rebecca.
• Task: Open a farm shop, source stock for it and sell it to the public. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour focused exclusively on selling milkshakes, due to Kurt's persuasion, while also having a small side line of fruit and vegetables. However, despite good early sales on the milkshakes, their execution of the task in general was extremely disorganised, as Uzma's selling tactics frustrated Neil, while Jason irritated his teammates despite being in the team's kitchen, with Endeavour failing to reach its target quota. Meanwhile, Evolve opted for a range of fresh soup, jacket potatoes and buffalo meat products, with the latter seen as a risky choice. Most of the team did not approve of Luisa's leadership due to her strict monitoring of their budget, though these criticisms were mostly overruled. Although they failed to meet their target quota too, their high-ticket items proved lucrative enough to secure them victory.
• Result: Endeavour made a profit of £539.67, while Evolve made a profit of £631.52.
• Winner: Evolve - by £91.85
• Reward: Being taught how to cook by a top chef.
• Brought into the boardroom: Neil, Kurt and Uzma
• Fired: Uzma - For her questionable sales tactics, refusing to take responsibility for the loss, attempting to shift the entire blame to Neil, and for being a weak performer throughout the process.
• You're Fired Panel: Rick Stein and Josh Widdicombe
• Notes:
  • For this task, Natalie and Uzma were switch over to Endeavour, while Jason, Jordan and Myles moved over to Evolve.
  • Despite Evolve's victory, Luisa's leadership was heavily criticised by Myles, as she left him, Francesca and Jason with little say in purchasing, and bluntly told them they were only allowed to buy vegetables to dress the shop, even irritating Francesca during a discussion on the phone by shouting at her, to the point that she abandoned it. While Lord Sugar commended Luisa for sticking to her sales plan, he informed her that he felt her sales team were probably more deserving of credit.
  • Although she brought back to the boardroom for the third time, Uzma insisted that it was a tactical move by Neil, who denied this by stating that if had been explicitly tactical, he would have chosen Natalie instead of Kurt. Despite being the second highest seller on the team, it could do nothing to counter her questionable sales tactics in the task and her consistently poor performance throughout the process.
  • Although not fired, Neil received strict criticism from Lord Sugar over his attitude on the task, hardly listening to Uzma, and allowing Kurt to push his idea through without having a backup plan in place. Kurt, who also avoided being fired, was warned by Sugar that, despite making a good impression on him, he had been considered to be at near-total fault for his idea on exclusively selling milkshakes and for making unsubstantiated boasts in the task. He also criticised him for buying apple juice to make fruit smoothies with, stating it had not been in the spirit of the task despite them proving to be profitable.

Week 5: Dubai Discount Buying

• Original Air Date: 28 May 2013
• Endeavour: Zeeshaan (Project Manager), Alex, Leah, Kurt, Natalie and Neil.
• Evolve: Myles (Project Manager), Francesca, Jason, Jordan, Luisa and Rebecca.
• Task: Purchase a set list of eight items for a new multimillion-pound hotel in Dubai, negotiating for low prices. Least amount spent, after addition of fines, wins.
• Task Review: Evole attempted to research location through Myles' methodical approach, yet while they collected six of the needed items, most of the deals were rushed through by him without much negotiations, with his sub-team wasting over an hour waiting for their flag to be made. Endeavour's execution on the other hand, was a disgrace; Zeeshann told his team not to use maps, deciding to rely on his existing knowledge of the city, but misinformed his team as to what an oud was that wasted them time. Elsewhere, Kurt made a measurement mistake that led to their ordered flag being too small, forcing them to order another and pay for both, while Neil ended up buying a kandura which did not meet the specifications and was discarded as a result. In total, the team bought four items, but their mistakes and the fines incurred ultimately snatched victory from them.
• Result: Endeavour's total spend was £783.36 (including fines), while Evolve's total spend was £695.16 (including fines).
• Winner: Evolve - by £88.20.
• Reward: Drinks at a modern cocktail bar.
• Brought into the boardroom: Zeeshaan, Leah and Natalie
• Fired: Zeeshaan - For his arrogance, his dictatorial leadership, failing on a task he was most qualified to lead, and for bringing back Leah and Natalie for mostly personal reasons instead of either Kurt or Neil.
• You're Fired Panel: Lara Morgan, Miles Jupp and Nicki Chapman
• Notes:
  • For this task, Leah was moved over to Endeavour, while both Myles and Zeeshaan were elected as leaders of their respective teams, owing to their knowledge of Dubai; the latter having lived and even sold there for years.
  • Both Leah and Natalie openly accused Zeeshaan of being sexist during the final boardroom, claiming that he had mistreated them throughout the task. They also claimed that Neil and Kurt should have been brought back because of their errors, a factor that Lord Sugar agreed to, as it was generally felt that Leah was brought back because she had questioned Zeeshaan's decision, while Natalie was chosen so that Zeeshaan could drag up criticism of her contribution. Although Sugar respected her passionate defence, he gave Natalie a final warning.
  • On You're Fired! it was felt that Neil and Kurt had been lucky, both being dubbed as "The One who Got Away", with it implied that Lord Sugar might have fired either one of them if they had been brought back.

Week 6: Away Day

• Original Air Date: 5 June 2013
• Endeavour: Leah (Project Manager), Alex, Kurt, Myles, Natalie and Neil.
• Evolve: Francesca (Project Manager), Jason, Jordan, Luisa and Rebecca.
• Task: Organise corporate away days for two major clients. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve organised their event with a "Back to School" theme, but while they ran it reasonably smoothly, their activities, including wine tasting and cupcake decorating, had little to do with the theme or business. Furthermore, an idea by Rebecca to hire a motivational speaker, while proving effective, costed a considerable amount, with the team having to make a partial refund to the client for their event. Meanwhile, Endeavour initially went with a history theme after Leah ignored suggestions for the school theme, before changing it to an army theme after meeting with their client. While their planning and preparation was disorganised because of repeated questioning of Leah's choices, and their event lacked structure, the team managed to have many army related activities, while Neil and Myles excelled themselves by speaking to each worker that attended. Although their client demanded a partial refund as well, their spending had been controlled, leaving them to claim victory.
• Result: Endeavour made a profit of £1,579.50, while Evolve made a profit of £1,095.81.
• Winner: Endeavour - by £483.69
• Reward: A day at a luxury spa
• Brought into the boardroom: Francesca, Luisa and Rebecca
• Fired: Rebecca - For suggesting poorly executed ideas including the expensive motivational speaker, giving a lacklustre defence in the boardroom, and for having no standout skills other than sales.
• You're Fired Panel: Russell Kane and Archie Archer
• Notes:
  • Both Francesca and Leah were appointed by Lord Sugar as project managers for the task. Although he stated in the task briefing that the winner would be decided via a combination of the profit and customer feedback, the final decision was based solely on the former goal, as the satisfaction ratings for both teams were virtually identical, though he noted that both had slightly ignored his point about the business focus of the task.
  • While Neil was chided in the boardroom, alongside Myles, for wrestling in sumo suits, he was given praise for his interaction with the client's workforce and his motivational speeches, with Karren stating that they were very impressed with him. During the You're Hired half of the final episode of Series 10, Neil commented that his success on this task led him to become a professional motivational speaker.
  • Although her team won, Leah faced heavy criticism over her leadership, as she overruled the team on the theme choice, before changing it at the last minute and effectively making one of the sub-team's hired activities unsuitable for it. However, Lord Sugar sympathised with her, after learning that both Alex and Neil had practically bullied her into making certain decisions.
  • Lord Sugar was annoyed that Luisa had been brought back by Francesa, who ignored his warnings about personal feelings, yet changed his mind on the matter after she demonstrated a disrespectful short-tempered attitude in her remarks about Francesca and the corporate world, to the point where Karren scolded her for immaturity. However, Sugar felt she did not deserve to be fired as he considered her to be least responsible for the team's failure. While Jordan narrowly escaped being brought back, as he had been in charge of the finances and thus failed to rein in the overspend, Jason was criticised by Nick for doing very little in the task, earning him a warning.
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision to fire Rebecca. The panel felt that she should have been a given a chance as project manager, and that Francesca was most deserving to be fired, as her team had criticised her for being indecisive, going along with bad ideas and using "empty words".

Week 7: Caravan

• Original Air Date: 12 June 2013
• Endeavour: Kurt (Project Manager), Alex, Leah, Myles and Natalie.
• Evolve: Neil (Project Manager), Francesca, Jason, Jordan and Luisa.
• Task: Sell products, including motorhomes, at the Motorhome & Caravan Show at the Birmingham NEC. Most sales made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve went for an electric bike and a children's camping kit along with a collapsible camper. While sales started slow due to their high prices, their choices on the bike and camping kit, while not selling nearly as well as expected, proved to be sensible choices, with Luisa proving popular with customers and selling a noticeable amount on the task. Meanwhile, Endeavour went with a roof-top boat box and a foldable chair with a hood, after Evolve took the bike and camping kit, and also went with a retro-styled camper. However, they sold less of the accessories at the show, while none of the caravans sold as the customers felt it was too modern. Their poor sales effectively made them suffer a landslide loss.
• Result: Evolve had sales of £33,616, while Endeavour had sales of £1,479.
• Winner: Evolve - by £32,137
• Reward: To visit the Manchester Velodrome and meet Sir Chris Hoy
• Brought into the boardroom: Kurt, Alex and Natalie
• Fired:
  • Kurt - For his awful leadership, picking an unsuitable caravan due to personal opinion, not selling a single item, taking no responsibility for the loss, not bringing Myles back into the boardroom, his previous mistakes, and his team's landslide defeat.
  • Natalie - For losing out on the popular products, failing to deliver on her promises including a CV claim on selling, and for her generally unimpressive track record throughout the process.
• You're Fired Panel: Phil Daniels, Jenny Eclair and Claude Littner
• Notes:
  • In the task briefing, Lord Sugar sternly told the candidates that they all had to sell. Jason, who was singled out in that regard, excelled himself by selling more than the others on Evolve, including making two of the team's camper sales, leading to Lord Sugar calling him back when his team were leaving for their reward to personally congratulate him. In addition, had Evolve not sold any campers, then they would still have won on accessory sales alone, having made £3,116.
  • During the boardroom, Nick noted that Leah had been the best salesperson on Endeavour, and had been the closest to selling on of their caravans; the deal fell through due to undisclosed reasons. However, she castigated Kurt when Nick informed her that she had been brought over to sell them at the last minute after having commented that she was "eye-candy". In addition, while it was noted that the team's failure to secure the popular products were down to a mixture of Myles' overzealous pitching, Leah's lack thereof, and Natalie's aggressive pursuit of a discount, both she and Natalie denied these errors.
  • Alex found himself questioned by Lord Sugar over why he had not put himself forward as project manager for the task, to which he replied that he had done so, but that Kurt had won support for the role because he had holidayed in a caravan. While not fired, he was later criticised for clouding his judgement with personal opinion by blaming the team for not selling the retro-styled camper, after rejecting claims it was not suitable.
  • Although Lord Sugar acknowledged Natalie's accusations that Kurt had been tactical in bringing her back, he firmly believed she had been given more than enough opportunities to prove herself, especially after Kurt's denial of her accusation led him to pointing out that she had sold the least in her sub-team and had been partly responsible for the loss of their preferred accessories. He was also bewildered by her claims she would have been the best person to sell caravans, despite her background being in recruitment.
  • While the majority of the audience of You're Fired! agreed with the decision to fire Kurt, it was more mixed for Natalie, yet the panel unanimously agreed with both firings, albeit with reluctance.

Week 8: Online Dating

• Original Air Date: 19 June 2013
• Endeavour: Jordan (Project Manager), Alex, Leah and Myles.
• Evolve: Luisa (Project Manager), Jason, Francesca and Neil.
• Task: Come up with a new online dating concept with a television advert, and then pitch it to a group of experts. Best concept made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve went with a concept aimed at the Over-50's market, yet their performance quickly descended into chaos; poor market research left the team with something aimed at the 80's market, while their website was not finished. Furthermore, after Luisa took over as project manager, much at Jason's behest, the team created a very poor advert that the experts felt was targeted at the wrong age group. Meanwhile, Endeavour went with a concept aimed at young businessmen, and fared much better; while producing a corporate themed website that was considered to be a bit bland, their advert was well received, despite criticism for the comedic tone that didn't fit in with their professional website design. Regardless, Lord Sugar awarded them the win as they had fewer mistakes than Evolve.
• Winner: Endeavour - For creating a concept that had fewer mistakes.
• Reward: A caviar tasting session.
• Brought into the boardroom: Jason, Luisa and Francesca
• Fired: Jason, with regret - For abdicating his duty as Project Manager, especially on a task where he was more than qualified to lead, failing to stand up to Luisa's bullying, and for being unable to cope in the world of business due to his sensitive personality.
• You're Fired Panel: Mark Watson, Marian Keyes and Dave Buonaguidi
• Notes:
  • To even out the teams, Jordan was moved over to Endeavour, though Lord Sugar commented in the boardroom about why he had been backed for project manager instead of Alex, as he had experience with dating websites. Although Leah and Myles reasoned that Jordan's technology background was more suitable, Sugar felt that they just too scared to let Alex lead the team. In addition, it was indicated he would have likely been fired had the team lost, as both he and Karren noted that Jordan tended to be more of a "delegator" than a project manager.
  • After Jason and Luisa were asked about who to bring back to the boardroom, and Fracesca demanded to be brought back after taking offence to Jason's criticisms of her, Lord Sugar strongly implied that Neil would have faced no serious danger of being fired had he been brought back.
  • Both Luisa and Francesca were severely warned by Lord Sugar after Jason's dismissal. During the boardroom, Luisa displayed atrocious behaviour, pinning blame on the incomplete website upon Jason and being backed by Francesca to give him criticism, which got her lambasted by Nick for the exchange showing "the most disgraceful display of bad manners I've seen in many a long day". Likewise, Francesca was criticised for her poor advert and market research, refusing to take criticism, and attacking Jason rather than saying anything in her defence. After they left, Karren requested to follow Luisa on whatever team she was on, as she was now seriously concerned about her behaviour and whether she was capable of working for Sugar.
  • The majority of the You're Fired audience disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision, though the panel and Jason himself felt he deserved to be fired, especially after Lord Sugar and the remaining candidates considered him to be a "very nice fellow", but that his departure came at the right time.
  • On Why I Fired Them, Lord Sugar noted that Endeavour would have lost under normal circumstances, based on the humorous advert being completely incoherent with the corporate website. However, due to the disaster within Evolve, Lord Sugar felt he had no choice but to give the team "the benefit of the doubt".

Week 9: Ready Meal

• Original Air Date: 26 June 2013
• Endeavour: Alex (Project Manager), Jordan, Leah and Myles.
• Evolve: Neil (Project Manager), Francesca and Luisa.
• Task: Create a new brand of ready meal. Most orders received, wins.
• Task Review: Endeavour created a brand called "Deadly Dinners" that was aimed at children, and featured scary imagery on its box. Despite poor reception to the idea from his team and the market research, Alex was convinced by Myles to go with it, whereupon it was judged to be of good taste by focus group of children, yet the packaging was greatly disliked by their parents, leading the team to secure orders from only one retailer. Meanwhile, Evolve created a brand called "Oh My Pow" that was aimed at adults, and fused together Caribbean and Asian cuisine. While the concept was appealing and the branding deemed colourful, the food taste too bland due to Francesca being put in charge of the recipe, despite lacking any professional cooking experience. However, the team secured sizeable orders from two retailers that safely secured them victory.
• Result: Endeavour received 1,000 orders, while Evolve received 2,800 orders.
• Winner: Evolve - by 1,800 orders.
• Reward: Driving Ferraris at Bedford Autodrome
• Brought into the boardroom: Alex, Leah and Myles
• Fired: Alex, with regret - For allowing Myles to convince him on the less popular concept and attempting to place the blame solely on him as a result, taking bad gambles, waiting too long to be Project Manager, and for lacking the necessary expertise and focus in his prior career to make his business plan a reality.
• You're Fired Panel: Charlie Bigham and Fred MacAulay
• Notes:
  • Deciding he need to take on the role, Lord Sugar appointed Alex as Endeavour's project manager for this task, though his leadership was criticised in regards to the brand. While Alex adopted Myles' idea due to feeling his experience as a parent was valuable, both Jordan and Leah commented that his original idea for a ready meal, involving exotic cuisine from around the world that could teach children about geography, had been well received in their market research.
  • While Karren deemed Luisa as being the best performer on Evolve for her strong branding design, she raised concerns that she attempted to do little in the task after her heavy criticism in the previous task, to the point she was deemed a back seat driver, and was trying to set up Francesca as a scapegoat in case the team lost.
  • When Alex asked if he could bring back only Myles with him, stating that he felt neither Jordan or Leah were responsible for the loss, Lord Sugar refused. Although Jordan avoided being brought back due to his pitch securing the team's only deal, it was implied at an early stage that Leah was in no danger of being fired.
  • Although impressed with her passionate defence in the boardroom, Lord Sugar was unhappy with Leah's considerable aggression despite not being in serious danger, after she felt offended that he had not seen her operate as a key performer in previous tasks, even those that were not successful, and then laid siege into Alex's leadership and business direction and Myles' lack of input in the task. After Alex's dismissal, both she and Myles were told to step up in the next task, as any room for leniency was now gone.
  • Even though Alex himself felt he deserved to be fired, the majority of the You're Fired audience, combined with the panel, disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision. The general consensus behind this that the panel felt that Myles should have been fired for the bad branding idea, despite Lord Sugar acknowledging that he had more potential as a business partner.

Week 10: Stall-to-Shop

• Original Air Date: 3 July 2013
• Endeavour: Myles (Project Manager), Jordan and Neil.
• Evolve: Luisa (Project Manager), Francesca and Leah.
• Task: Start a business from scratch with a stake of £150, selling at a market on the first day and a shop on the second, reinvesting profit in good sellers. Most money made, wins.
• Task Review: Evolve focused on selling fashion accessories, with the execution of the task being virtually flawless due to Luisa's clear strategy throughout, leading them to enjoy strong sales figures on both days. The only issues faced by them were that they cut prices too early on the second day and invested in expensive dresses that did not sell. Meanwhile, Endeavour had little focus on what to sell, and sold very little on the first day; while they earned notable profit on ceramic art pieces, these were very expensive and incredibly niche. Matters did not improve on the second day, with Jordan taking a gamble to invest what little profit they had on a unique hand-made designer vase, only for it not to sell. In the end, they could do little to prevent themselves losing.
• Result: Endeavour had a final total of £550.26, while Evolve had a final total of £809.50.
• Winner: Evolve - by £259.24
• Reward: Meal cooked by a Michelin-starred chef.
• Brought into the boardroom: Myles, Jordan and Neil
• Fired: Myles - For his very poor and indecisive leadership, using a bad theme, allowing Jordan's mistake to reinvest, his mistake in the previous task, and because Lord Sugar could not find an appealing market for his business proposal.
• You're Fired Panel: Ade Adepitan and Hugh Dennis
• Notes:
  • Lord Sugar decided for this task to have Neil and Leah switch places.
  • Although Lord Sugar and Nick had had doubts about her, Luisa'a performance on the task was greatly praised, as she ultimately proved to them that she had good business knowledge due to her leadership of Evolve.
  • While the margin of Endeavour's defeat was smaller compared to the seventh task, it was considered by Lord Sugar as one of the worst performances he had seen, with Karren having particular criticism for Jordan, who she felt had taken no responsibility for his actions and was constantly blaming Myles for the failure of the task, even though his own efforts had contributed very little to the team's profit. However, both she and Sugar felt that Neil had been the only member of the team to have vaguely performed well on the task.
  • On Why I Fired Them Lord Sugar admitted her should have further questioned Jordan on his business deal at this point in the process, after he queried the three men in the boardroom about their business plans and had become concerned that his proposal was not in keeping with the deal offered at the start of the show, implying that he would almost certainly have fired him had he discovered the truth.
  • The You're Fired! audience, combined with the panel, agreed with Lord Sugar's decision with Myles himself admitting that he had probably run his course when he was shown what Lord Sugar had to say about him.

Week 11: Interviews

• Original Air Date: 10 July 2013
• Task: The five remaining candidates undergo a gruelling interview process from four interviewers - Margaret Mountford, Claude Littner, Mike Soutar and Claudine Collins. Lord Sugar decides on which two proceed based on the feedback on their CVs and business plans.
• Candidate Reviews: Despite Luisa earning praise for her prior business success, her motives for the investment were questioned, while concerns were raised over her unprofessional behaviour and poorly written out plan. While Francesa was commended for becoming an entrepreneur and having a unique plan, the interviewers were unsure she could pull it off across the nation, finding its financial model to not really add up, while she was criticised for being slightly boring and lacking ambition. Leah was praised for her superb academic record and for blossoming into a strong businesswoman, but came off stiff and vain during her interviews, with Claudine and Lord Sugar noting her plan had the possibility of exploiting future customers despite her denying this. Although Neil was compliment on his overall knowledge and business skill, his proposal was universally panned; it was found to contradict itself, and had huge potential to fail completely, with Neil not helping his cause by insisting he could make it work, but wouldn't change it or prepare a back-up plan. Finally, Jordan was the worst received, as although his intelligence was commended, the interviewers felt he had no entrepreneurial strengths, exposed considerable loopholes in his CV, and discovered that he violated the contract negotiations by not owing shares in the company he was proposing for Sugar to invest into; Claude was so appalled, that he terminated his interview with before he could have the chance to defend himself.
• Decision: Jordan was immediately fired for attempting to go against the rules of the investment, with Lord Sugar firing Neil next as he explained that his business plan was not feasible after it was scrutinised. After a final round of discussion, Francesca was the last to be fired, as her business plan was the least ambitious of the remaining three, since Leah's had the potential for big rewards, and Luisa could make hers work with her solid business success.
• Fired:
  • Jordan - For being unanimously deemed the weakest candidate and for offering shares in a business in which he had no stake.
  • Neil, with regret - For offering a completely unworkable business plan, and being too stubborn to suggest any alternative.
  • Francesca, with regret - For being the weaker candidate out of the remaining three, lacking a firm grip on her financial records, and raising concerns in regards to scaling up the operation.
• You're Fired Panel: Andi Osho and Matt Edmondson
• Notes:
  • During Luisa's interview with Mike, he described her business plan as "half-baked" as she had described herself as a manufacturer, "as well as a wholesaler, as well as a retailer". To counter, Luisa verbally described her experience in the market, the problem she had identified and her proposed solution, only for Mike to point out that she had been "crazy" not to write any of this into her business plan.
  • Jordan found his claim, that he could solve a Rubik's cube in under 3 minutes, challenged by Mike, whereupon failed to do so and stated his claim had been made under pressure. He then faced scrutiny over his credibility, with Mike opining that his partner "brings the real value to this", before he finally noted that Companies House did not list Jordan as a co-owner of a company he mentioned in his business plans despite his claim to the contrary.
  • While Neil had been seen as a promising candidate, Lord Sugar was disappointed he had been let down by a horrible business plan, saying that he would have given him "a job tomorrow" if the show was under the old format.
  • Despite putting her through to the final before Luisa, Lord Sugar had concerns about the moral issues around Leah's proposed business plan, and only did so upon her insistence that she would not make profit out of consumers unnecessarily, and would make "far more money" than Luisa or Francesca.
  • Unusually, the final edit of the episode did not contain Jordan's "walk of shame" scene and taxi interview; the walk of shame scene was shown, but as part of that week's You're Fired.

Week 12: The Final

• Original Air Date: 17 July 2013
• Finalists: Luisa and Leah
  • Leah's Team: Alex, Francesca, Myles and Uzma.
  • Luisa's Team: Jason, Natalie, Neil and Zeeshaan.
• Task: Finalists launch their businesses, coming up with brands and campaigns, and pitch it to a panel of experts. Lord Sugar decides on who is his business partner, based on feedback on their plan and their overall performance.
• Task Review: Luisa worked to pitch her idea for a website intended to sell to members of the baking trade called "Baker's Toolkit", yet was focused more on preparing samples than rehearsing her presentation, and thus noticeably stumbled at several points within it. However, the overall content was felt to be quite good by the attending industry experts, though they raised some concerns over her aiming the business at women, as much as towards consumers rather than trade customers. Meanwhile, Leah worked to pitch her idea for a chain of cosmetic surgeons called "Niks", yet she couldn't stop the name being printed on all of the products, after being forced to change it when it was revealed to be to skin cuts. Regardless, her presentation ran much more smoothly, though was felt to be dry and corporate by the attending industry experts, with questions raised on the brand name and the fact that it was a very difficult market for her to get into, even if it was rapidly growing and becoming popular.
• Decision: Lord Sugar noted that Luisa's plans offered little in risks for going into the baking industry, had numerous small problems, and was less desirable because of its low profit margins, and thus felt that Leah's was more polished, and that the higher profit margins made it worthwhile to work with the risks involved, effectively making her Lord Sugar's new business partner.
• Runner-Up: Luisa - For a mediocre presentation, offering far lower profit margins than desired, and for raising concerns about her giving full attention to her business.
• Hired: Leah - For a better overall execution of the final task, and for offering much bigger profits with her business.
• Notes:
  • Luisa noted that she had less confidence in leading her team, as of the returning candidates she wanted, Neil was the only one she got. Although she did have concerns with Jason and Zeeshaan during the task, these did not show in the boardroom as she found both effective. In addition, during her time on You're Hired!, she openly apologised to Jason for her behaviour towards him during the eighth task after having looked back at footage of the task.
  • Despite her victory, Lord Sugar did have some concerns about the fact that Leah dismissed any criticisms of her business idea, as well as the risks involved in the industry, and had been harsh on her teammates. On the other hand, Luisa was praised for appearing more mature in the final and for blossoming over the process, and even when she admitted to delivering a bad presentation, Lord Sugar rejected the claim, stating that he had not noticed her losing her way during the speech.

Criticism and controversy

Jordan Poulton

Following his appearance on the show, the tabloid press took interest in Jordan Poulton, after he made claims that he had sexual intercourse with Luisa Zissman during the filming of the programme. Despite production staff having clear rules against such actions, Luisa later denied the claims, branding Jordan as "sad" and a "liar", while accusing him of making up the claims in order to acquire a "five-figure sum".^[3][4][5]

After his firing during the competition's Interviews stage, Jordan admitted on Twitter while he was thanking his supporters, that he had been "naive", before apologising for "wasting everyone's time". The comments were made after he was branded a "parasite" by Claude Littner during the episode, when his business plan exposed a direct violation of contract negotiations prior to the series being filmed in that he didn't own nor co-own a company he wanted Lord Sugar to invest in.^[6]

Alex Mills

Controversy emerged surrounding Alex Mills, after he was accused of a shady business past in regards to the running of Prestige Slate, a company he set up that was engaged in tombstones and stone signs, and which Mills was a director of until January 2013. Trading Standards in the Vale of Glamorgan, confirmed that they had received 146 official complaints in regards to the company since its formation in 2010, all from customers who had complained of orders that either turned up late or didn't arrive at all; one customer felt ‘completely hoodwinked’ after ordering a sign from Prestige Slate in 2011. The accusations were further added to by claims from Mills' former boss of him "fleecing his clients", while adding:

"He stole all my information, all my artwork, the pictures from my website and even a lot of my customers."

Mills denied such allegations, adding that he was seriously concerned that some of these had been made against "a credible and brilliant business".^[7]

Uzma Yakoob

Following her firing in the fourth task, Uzma Yakoob was reported to have spitefully accused then-Project Manager Neil Clough of being a "liar" and "cheat", claiming he had set her up to be fired, along with reports that she did not get on with many candidates she worked with during the process, most notably fellow candidate Luisa Zissman.^[8][9] In addition, she was also reported to have faced abuse on Twitter, with people claiming she "looked like a drag queen"; some even compared Uzma to the characters from the movie White Chicks, which was considered ironic due to her makeup business.^[10][11]

Zeeshaan Shah and Kurt Wilson

After his firing following the fifth task, Zeeshaan Shah slammed Natalie Panayi of making "baseless allegations", after she accused him of sexism during the boardroom against both herself and Leah Totton because of their gender. He remarked that her accusation shocked him, but stated:^[12]

"I don't know where Natalie pulled it out from. It's completely below the belt and something I'm really not happy about. If you want to lie through your teeth then do it but do it with some respect. There were certain parts of the boardroom that were not shown because I don't think they could have been shown. There were certain things she said - you heard me say to her 'can you mind your language' and it wasn't because she called me a male chauvinist."

In a similar situation, Kurt Wilson was accused of "terrible sexism" towards Leah following the seventh task, after calling her "eye candy" during the task. In response to this, Kurt stated that the comment had been "a slip of the tongue", adding:^[13]

"It was just that I wanted to bring a new dynamic to the group. Me and Myles by that point were quite deflated. I was bringing Leah over because I trusted her, I think she was a good saleswoman and unfortunately that just slipped out at the wrong point."

Ratings

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.^[14]

Note: During the 2-hour final, the show was shared with the The Apprentice: You're Hired, and as a result the figures are lower than usual. The first hour was the main show whereas the second hour was You're Hired.

Specials

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Apprentice (UK)

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Sir Alan Sugar

• The Apprentice (UK series nine) at BBC Online