Sunday night’s final on BBC of The Apprentice seemed to make a mockery of its own rules. The winner was supposed to receive a cash investment of £250,000 for his/her new business idea with Lord Sugar as a business partner. This is not what appears to have happened, exactly.
Yes, the winner, Tom Pellereau, did receive the cash investment and Lord Sugar as his new business partner, but it does not appear to be for his new invention, the back pain chair. Lord Sugar seemed more interested in Tom’s earlier invention the curved nail file which is already being sold in major retailers in the UK and the US. Lord Sugar’s statement on the back pain chair was that “it needed more tweaking”.
In essence, Lord Sugar was not looking for a new business idea as the program suggested, but for one that had been tried and tested and already had a track record.
The final episode was rather disappointing for me. I enjoy the tasks that take place each week and normally the final is between two contestants who both have to set up a mock up business. It is a shame that this task using their business ideas as the mock up business was not included in the final episode. It could have been more entertaining and challenging.
All the business plans were flawed so drastically, from poor market research to inaccurate financial forecasting, that the finalists were made mincemeat of by the business analysts.
So, was Lord Sugar, picking from a poor bunch or does he really believe in the back pain chair?I think Lord Sugar believes in Tom’s ability to invent and has seen an easy ride on the curved nail file business. Lord Sugar likes products and Tom can certainly provide him with many inventions. Not all will work, but some just might. I think Lord Sugar has taken a share in Tom Pellereau not his new business idea.
This was an interesting twist to the original The Apprentice, but all of these candidates could have saved themselves the 12 week hassle of tasks if they had just gone on Dragon’s Den.
Bunty
The Chatterjis Blog 
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