All Philler, no Killer - The Apprentice Thread Three

[ArticSaviour]

New thread for tonight as we have nearly reached the end of Thread Two

I'll credit Phil that he's finally got the hang of pitching 😂

... there was a bit more time allocated to some of the product design/ branding many years back.
There definitely was @BogRollBOGOF & I think they also communicated more with the sub-teams throughout the tasks.

I just watched series 1 on YouTube (no BBC iplayer where I am), and can I just say.... Tim was always such a gent! He was a great Apprentice.

I’m pretty sure they also did product research before the product was finalised so it could make a difference. I’d so love a team to turn up at the boardroom and say - we didn’t bother with market research as you only allowed us to do it after the product was finished. A good business woman doesn’t waste time on a pointless task so we just decided to wait and see what the alleged buyers from the supermarket asked when they tried it.

I actually think those tasks in previous years were more entertaining and not necessarily more expensive for the BBC

Pie man lost when he
a) said he wasn't interested in profit
b) said he'd carry on with his pies by post plan even when siralan told him not to.

I think pieman is probably glad he lost though. He is keen to focus on the by post aspect and Sugar clearly thought this was a non starter. There’s have been tension.

I wasn’t keen on Rachel. Technically good candidate but came across as a bit “harsh”. I was surprised to hear her business relied on a warm social inviting personality for her gyms as she didn’t present like that on screen (could be very different in real life of course).

The investment concept is flawed anyway. He’s expecting 50% for £250k investment but this takes no account of the worth currently of the business!! He’s valuing every business plan as being worth half a million regardless of whether it’s concept stage or established profitable business. That’s why the dentist was right to turn down his spot in finals after the interviews.

The tasks are too samey and repetitive also. How many times do they need to come up with a product, a silly advert, packaging, pitch and sell. The shopping channel and the treasure hunt tasks are at least a bit different that the norm. I also agree that it looses momentum towards the end. The interviews have interesting moments but feel fake with them all having such flawed business plans then the final is full as dishwater. Coming up with a name branding and advert for their business when they already have all those things but aren’t allowed to use them!!! Why?? Why couldn’t he pitch Taylor’s pies and Pies by Post and she pitch North Studios. I suppose it’s an advertising on bbc thing(?)It was more interesting when they had to host a big charity event in the final.

Having said all that it still holds my interest and I’ll be back for next year 😂

It's known that they film two endings and don't decide who is 'hired' until nearer the screening time. It's quite possible the choice of Rachel was influenced by the public 'it's a fix' reaction in relation to Phil staying in.

I think we're going to see a lot more of Tre on TV.

They did. Those marketing tasks are so flawed they make me scream. Who develops marketing materials simultaneously with the branding? You’re absolutely right - a product’s developed, market tested, then refined accordingly. It could be such a good programme if they got rid of Sugar and Brady and made the tasks a bit more realistic.

Definitely going to try one of his pies as I have a shop in my area too! Wonder if the queues will be out the door 🤔

In the old series wasn't there just a girl group and boy group all the way through without mixing it up?

Also does anyone remember the task where one year they had to invent a new type of whisky ? They were so good.

I don’t remember the whisky task, but there was one with gin (I think) where at least one of the contestants got completely bladdered, which was fun!

The investment concept is flawed anyway. He’s expecting 50% for £250k investment but this takes no account of the worth currently of the business!! He’s valuing every business plan as being worth half a million regardless of whether it’s concept stage or established profitable business. That’s why the dentist was right to turn down his spot in finals after the interviews.

And I'm pretty sure the pieman threw it for the same reason.
Why would he give away half of his family business for just £250k?

This seems to be a new thing with this series. I can’t see many established businesses being featured in future now this has become clear.

Yes and I liked the fact Phill said it wasn't always about the profit or money, other aspects come into play

Perhaps they do things in the community or provide opportunities for apprenticeships or disadvantaged people for example

Sugar didn't like this but I thought good for Phill

Betty's of Harrogate seem to do OK online. I wonder if Suralan would have the front to tell them their business model is rubbish but he'll take half if it for tuppence. I think not.

I'd never heard of Betty's, had a look at their site and bookmarked for gifts. TFS 😊

You'll be glad you did. Recommend everything.

Christ, yes! The York tea rooms were my spiritual home when I was a student.

They've never had boy/girl throughout. The only time this aspect of the format changed was one series where they had mixed teams from the outset.

Agree. I also think that's when he lost it, but he probably doesn't care/might have done it deliberately.

Businesses can do a lot as well as make money, and profit at any cost isn't good business.

Turner's has updated its website so you can now buy Phil's Prestige Pies by Post, so I reckon Turner's has had some good advertising and PR from all of this.

Edit: Turner's also have nabbed the piesbypost domain name.

(And they are pretty good pies).

I also liked Phil saying that profit wasn't the be all and end all - SurAlan is really only interested on his return on investment so can quite see why that didn't go down well.

I've just finished watching it. I was also cleaning the kitchen at the same time like someone upthread. It was deadly dull. Worst final yet.
The format needs to change. It would be much better if they had to plan the launch events themselves with catering and entertainment and so on. And use the bloody branding they've already got. That's the stupidest thing of all. They've got their own brand names and logos and then they faff on making some shitty looking thing that looks like it was done on the earliest version of Microsoft Paint.
I don't understand why people who have companies worth way more than 500K are entering this competition. It means if Lord Sugar invests he's giving 250K and getting 50% of a much more valuable company. Or is Lord Sugar hoping they'll be daft enough not to notice what a shit deal they are getting? Candidate thinks they are entering to get a 50% investment in a new strand of the business - ie. 50% of Phil's Pies by Post and Lord Sugar tries to wangle 50% of the entire business??
Dentist Paul wised up to that fast and I felt like Phil might have done too in the final.

Also dodgy business ideas should be filtered out at the application stage - Tre's testosterone type drink things for example. There's no way Lord Sugar was ever going to be able to/ want to invest in that because of the legalities of medical claims about what they can do. So instead of binning Tre's application at the start, they let him start the process and keep him in as long as possible because they think he'll be good entertainment on the show.

Load of tut.

I’d prefer the final to be a couple of weeks with Tim / Karren observing them running their actual business (and possibly taking on a mentoring role to see how they’d work with Lord Sugar)

Wouldn’t have the silly gimmicks, though.

I think that's a very good idea actually.

I don't understand why people who have companies worth way more than 500K are entering this competition. It means if Lord Sugar invests he's giving 250K and getting 50% of a much more valuable company.

I think that was new in this series. Clearly it came as a complete shock to the dentist, hence him bowing out. Originally it was just people wanting to start a business from scratch, wasn’t it?