The Apprentice (British series 7)

The Apprentice UK

◄ ►  Series Seven

180px The Candidates Name Left Show       Tom Pellereau Week 12 Helen Milligan Week 12 Susan Ma Week 12 Jim Eastwood Week 12 Natasha Scribbins Week 11 Melody Hossaini Week 10 Zoe Beresford Week 9 Leon Doyle Week 8 Glenn Ward Week 7 Edna Agbarha Week 6 Vincent Disneur Week 5 Ellie Reed Week 5 Felicity Jackson Week 4 Gavin Winstanley Week 3 Alex Britez Cabral Week 2 Edward Hunter Week 1 New Business Partner Runner-up Fired

Series Seven of The Apprentice (UK) was a British reality television series, which was broadcast in the UK during 2011 from 10 May to 17 July on BBC One. The first two episodes of the series were aired a day apart from each other; the first on a Tuesday, the next in the usual timeslot of the show, along with subsequent episodes after it. Like the previous series, the final episode was aired on a Sunday. Filming of the series took place during the previous year in Autumn. The series was won by Tom Pellereau.

By the end of the series, several records were made by two of the final candidates in the process. Pellereau initially held the record of least successful winner of The Apprentice, for winning only three tasks, never winning as a project manager and being a PM just once in the series; he now holds joint ownership of the record alongside Series 10 winner, Mark Wright. Along with this, he also became the first winner of the show, to have won fewer tasks than the runner-up, which happened again in Series 8, 9 and 10. Runner-up Helen Milligan, currently holds the record for the most successful candidate in the history of The Apprentice, winning ten out of eleven tasks during this series.

This series is notable for bringing about a change of format with the show's prize. Instead of a job with a six-figure salary, the winner would be given a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar to start his or her own business, with him being the joint owner. This change in prize was not known by those applying to be candidates for the show, following the commencement of the application process in April 2010, as it was announced late in June that year. As a result, many that had already applied for the series were without a business plan, owing to the assumption that they would be winning a £100,000 salary job and not an investment. On 5 July 2011, a show source detailed that a change in the format of the tasks had also been made for the series, stating that the "interview" round would feature in the final episode of the series rather than the penultimate episode, meaning that no fired candidate would return in the finals as a result, while also revealing there would be four finalists instead of two.

The 2011 series saw two specials aired alongside it, during the final weeks, including the return of a new edition of "The Final Five", aired on 7 July, and a new special called "How To Get Hired", aired on 15 July.

Candidates

See also: List of The Apprentice candidates (UK series seven)

The original women's team was called Venture and the men's team was called Logic. Two candidates – Alex and Ellie – never had the chance to be project manager.

Candidate	Background	Original team	Age	Result
Tom Pellereau	Inventor	Logic	31	Winner
Helen Milligan	Executive Assistant to CEO	Venture	30	Runner Up
Susan Ma	Natural Skincare Entrepreneur	Venture	21	Fired in week 12
Jim Eastwood	Sales and Market Manager	Logic	32	Fired in week 12
Natasha Scribbins	Divisional Manager – Recruitment	Venture	31	Fired in week 11
Melody Hossaini	Founder & Director – Global Youth Consultancy Business	Venture	26	Fired in week 10
Zoe Beresford	Project Manager – Drinks Manufacturer	Venture	26	Fired in week 9
Leon Doyle	Fast Food Marketing Entrepreneur	Logic	26	Fired in week 8
Glenn Ward	Senior Design Engineer	Logic	28	Fired in week 7
Edna Agbarha	Business Psychologist	Venture	36	Fired in week 6
Vincent Disneur	Sales Manager – Telecoms Software	Logic	29	Fired in week 5
Ellie Reed	Managing Director	Venture	33	Fired in week 5
Felicity Jackson	Creative Arts Entrepreneur	Venture	23	Fired in week 4
Gavin Winstanley	Managing Director – Opticians	Logic	27	Fired in week 3
Alex Britez Cabral	Estate Agent Manager	Logic	28	Fired in week 2
Edward Hunter	Accountant	Logic	25	Fired in week 1

Weekly results

Elimination chart
Candidate	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Tom	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	BR	BR	IN	HIRED
Helen	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	BR	WIN	RUNNER-UP
Susan	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	BR	BR	WIN	IN	IN	BR	FIRED
Jim	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	LOSE	FIRED
Natasha	IN	IN	IN	BR	BR	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	FIRED
Melody	WIN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	BR	BR	FIRED
Zoe	IN	IN	BR	WIN	IN	LOSE	IN	IN	FIRED
Leon	BR	LOSE	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Glenn	IN	BR	IN	IN	WIN	IN	FIRED
Edna	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Vincent	IN	IN	BR	IN	FIRED
Ellie	IN	IN	IN	BR	FIRED
Felicity	IN	IN	IN	FIRED
Gavin	BR	IN	FIRED
Alex	IN	FIRED
Edward	FIRED

     The candidate was on the winning team.

     The candidate was on the losing team.

     The candidate became Lord Sugar's new business partner and won The Apprentice.

     The candidate was the runner-up.

     The candidate won as project manager on his/her team.

     The candidate lost as project manager on his/her team.

     The candidate was brought to the final boardroom.

     The candidate was fired.

     The candidate lost as project manager and was fired.

Episodes

Week 1: £250 Business Start Up

• Air Date: 10 May 2011
• Venture: Melody (Project Manager), Susan, Edna, Ellie, Helen, Felicity, Natasha and Zoe.
• Logic: Edward (Project Manager), Tom, Gavin, Leon, Glenn, Jim, Alex and Vincent.
• Task: Use fruit and veg to make meals for London's work force, with £250 investment. Highest turnover made, wins.
• Task Review: Venture decided to sell fruits for breakfast, and vegetable pasta for lunch, while Logic decided on tomato soup and orange juice. Venture decided not to spend all of their money due to a misunderstanding of the rules (they assumed the win was on profit, not turnover), while Logic used their entire budget; Edward spent the majority on oranges, forcing the men to bargain for soup ingredients, whilst Venture were more careful. Venture started selling well in time for breakfast, while Logic were unable to do so until lunchtime, after Leon accidentally broke their juicing equipment, forcing them to spend the morning juicing oranges by hand. Pasta sales for Venture soon fell, as they were not delivered on time, while Logic's soup and juice sales picked up. However, the poor start and broken machinery proved too much to overcome.
• Result: Logic's turnover was £432.13, while Venture's turnover was £592.
• Winner: Venture – By £159.87.
• Reward: Champagne at the candidates' house.
• Brought into the boardroom: Edward, Leon and Gavin
• Fired: Edward – For his very poor leadership, not allowing others to step up when they were better qualified to lead, refusing to use his accountancy skill-set, and for bringing Gavin back into the boardroom for personal and unrelated reasons instead of Alex.
• You're Fired Panel: Kate Spicer, Richard Reid and Jo Cawfield
• Notes:
  • Had the teams been measured on profit rather than turnover (as Venture had assumed), the results would have been even more decisive; Venture's profit was £422, while Logic's was just £182.10. If Venture had spent their entire budget, the overall profit would have been £362, meaning they would have won regardless.
  • Lord Sugar disliked the fact that Edward was project manager in a sales task, something that was more suited to Jim or Gavin's expertise, and that Edward did not ask about anyone else's experience before putting himself forward. Edward further harmed his cause by attempting to deny that Gavin had volunteered to be project manager (a claim that Leon challenged), while also offering bizarre excuses for his poor leadership, including that he was the shortest person on the team, which Lord Sugar and the over two candidates laughed at. Edward's claim that he was the shortest person on the team was also mocked on You're Fired! with host Dara Ó Briain asking him if the juicers were on a shelf whilst Edward humorously criticized Logic as being "a freakishly tall bunch of people". Ó Briain also humorously labelled him as an "accountant-ist" because of his refusal to use his accountancy skill set.
  • Jim was the only member of Logic who both Lord Sugar and Karren felt had done particularly well, as he not only sold the most, but also negotiated a very good deal for soup ingredients after Edward spent £200 on oranges without consultation. It was also noted that Gavin had contributed the second-highest amount, causing Lord Sugar to conclude that Edward at best had not kept track of the team, and at worst had brought Gavin back entirely due to personal reasons which Lord Sugar touched upon saying to Gavin he didn't know what he was doing in the boardroom but had reasons to fire Leon as he broke the juicing equipment.
  • Lord Sugar, Karren and Nick all strongly hinted that Alex should have been brought back (and possibly fired) since he spent the day serving soup and only contributed £8 to Logic's turnover. Lord Sugar and Karren criticised him for doing "back-office" whilst everyone was selling, whilst Nick accused him of hiding to avoid responsibility.
  • In the final boardroom, Leon and Gavin repeatedly questioned whether Edward, as an accountant, was qualified to lead. Despite his otherwise heavy criticism, Lord Sugar defended him on this point, saying that many successful businesspeople have started out as accountants. After the firing, Lord Sugar told Edward that there was no shame in being an accountant, and he should never feel there was.

Week 2: Mobile Phone Application

• Air Date: 11 May 2011
• Venture: Edna (Project Manager), Susan, Melody, Ellie, Helen, Felicity, Natasha and Zoe.
• Logic: Leon (Project Manager), Tom, Gavin, Glenn, Jim, Alex and Vincent.
• Task: Develop a mobile phone app, pitch it to three distributors to promote as 'App of the Day' (for 24 hours), and attempt to convince bloggers and software experts to support their application further. Most downloads received, wins.
• Task Review: Logic's app, suggested by Glenn, was called "Slangatang" and featured a number of stereotypical characters from in the UK and around the world saying things in regional dialects, while Venture, who spent a long time coming up with an app (and even then, only had an idea after Felicity reported back from market research) had an app called "Ampi-Apps," which featured annoying noises paired up with random pictures. "Ampi-Apps" was felt to be somewhat pointless by two of the three distributors, and Edna's poor pitch at the gaming fair did not help their cause, after she left out what the app does and how to download it. However, "Slangatang" was felt to be extremely offensive by the largest of the distributors and most of the people at the gaming fair, despite the men giving a much better presentation. As a result, while "Slangatang" had a strong start with downloads in the first few hours, it rapidly fell away afterwards, with "Ampi-Apps" taking off after the gaming fair.
• Result: Logic had a total of 3,951 downloads, while Venture had a total of 10,667 downloads.
• Winner: Venture – By 6,716 downloads.
• Reward: Venture had a meal hosted by Michelin two-star chef Michel Roux, Jr.
• Brought into the boardroom: Leon, Alex and Glenn
• Fired: Alex – For taking a backseat in both tasks, making too many excuses for his lack of contribution, and for showing no skills that would be beneficial for investing in him.
• You're Fired Panel: Andrew Harrison, Karren Brady and Andy Parsons
• Notes:
  • Despite Venture winning, five members said they were unhappy with the app in the boardroom, feeling it was somewhat pointless, with Edna being also criticised by her team for choosing to deliver the pitch instead of Melody, who had stated she had pitched to people "on a day-to-day basis".The app was also later condemned by Zoe in an exit interview posted on the BBC website after she was fired in Week 9 and many of Logic, who were consequently shocked that they had lost.
  • Susan had an idea for an app that she had difficulty explaining, causing Edna to shoot her down before she could finish. Susan quickly became annoyed, and this friction was discussed in the boardroom, suggesting Edna might have brought back Susan had they lost.
  • At the beginning of the episode, all of the members of Logic (with the exception of Alex) put themselves forward for Project Manager. When discussing Logic's loss, Lord Sugar implied that one reason for losing was because the app's description was deemed boring in comparison to Venture's, while Glenn was criticised for the concept.
  • Leon initially decided to bring Alex and Jim back into the boardroom, but Jim loudly challenged this, causing Leon to decide that Jim did not deserve to be brought back. This lead him to choose Glenn instead, for his bad idea with the app. Glenn hastily tried to convince Leon to think again, pointing out that Tom should be brought back instead, but Leon stuck to his choice. Despite Leon losing as Project Manager on a task he should have been well suited to, he avoided being fired, though Lord Sugar told him that he was on his last warning.
  • Two of the panellists on You're Fired agreed with Lord Sugar's decision while the audience vote was fairly close but also agreed with the decision. One of the panellists disagreed however and felt that Leon should have been fired for his weak leadership and allowing Jim to convince him to bring Glenn into the boardroom instead.

Week 3: Discount Buying for the Savoy

• Air Date: 18 May 2011
• Venture: Susan (Project Manager), Edna, Leon, Glenn, Jim, Helen and Felicity.
• Logic: Gavin (Project Manager), Tom, Melody, Ellie, Vincent, Natasha and Zoe.
• Task: Source ten last minute items in nine hour, negotiating for lower prices, then take to the Savoy's grand reopening, and have them inspected by the hotel's general manager. Lowest total spent (after addition of fines for missing/incorrect items, and lateness), wins.
• Task Review: Venture purchased nine of the items needed, but paid high prices in comparison to Logic's spending; in particular, they were criticised for spending nearly double the amount on tea than Logic, and also suffered a heavy fine for not buying a large consignment of light bulbs. Furthermore, they were also criticised for trying to negotiate a bargain from a hat shop which was noted to have sold high-ticket hats, including selling to the King of Tonga. Aside from this, they performed better than Logic, who despite negotiating well, only purchased 6 items, and received large set value fines and additional penalties for the missing 4 items; Natasha was also noted to have wasted a lot of time with numerous bad ideas, like trying to buy a list from a rival hotel of where to source things.
• Result: Venture's total spend was £1,381.69 (including fines), while Logic's total spend was £1,389.20.
• Winner: Venture – By £7.51.
• Reward: Visit to a circus style Cabrera show in one of Covent Gardens trendy bars.
• Brought into the boardroom: Gavin, Vincent and Zoe
• Fired: Gavin – For his ineffective and disorganized leadership, lacking assertiveness, failing to demonstrate any skills other than sales, and for not bringing Natasha back into the boardroom.
• You're Fired Panel: Tara Burnett, Sean Lock and Jane Moore
• Notes:
  • Despite feeling that Susan had managed well, Lord Sugar criticised her sub-team for buying the tea and top hat at ridiculous prices, wasting time trying to negotiate with high end retailers for the top hat and not researching more potential suppliers. By contrast, Jim was commended for his persistence in getting numerous small discounts, which proved decisive given the narrow margin of victory, while Nick dubbed Susan a "force to be reckoned with".
  • Lord Sugar was appalled Logic only got 6 items and told them they deserved to lose, hinting that they won, he might've disqualified them
  • Zoe was criticised for her lack of contribution, but she was able to successfully plea that she hadn't been given enough time to express herself, and in response to this plea, Lord Sugar made her team leader in the following task. By contrast, Natasha was heavily criticised for her poor ideas, and it was heavily indicated that she would have been fired over Gavin had she been brought back.
  • The audience of You're Fired! combined with two of the panellists, agreed with the decision to fire Gavin. One of the panellists though agreeing with the decision said it was close between Gavin and Vincent whilst Sean Lock described the decision as "the best decision Lord Sugar ever made". O'Braian also humorously criticised the audience after the vote accusing them of "crushing a puppy and being really sad that you don't have it anymore" owing to the fact the audience agreed with the decision then responded with "Awww"s. This was the case of Edward in Week 1 as well.
  • Lord Sugar cited in the following episode that Gavin had been a real "contender" and warned the remaining candidates not to repeat the mistakes he had made prior to his firing.

Week 4: Beauty Treatments

• Air Date: 25 May 2011
• Venture: Zoe (Project Manager), Susan, Edna, Leon, Glenn and Helen.
• Logic: Felicity (Project Manager), Tom, Melody, Jim, Ellie, Vincent and Natasha.
• Task: Set up a beauty-treatment business, boosting sales with a sideline of cosmetic products; products are chosen from vendors the day before selling. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Venture secured a spray-tanning system along with cold foot-massage products for treatments, selling tanning products and nail polish on the side, while Logic, chose a hot-shell heat massager along with hair-styling for treatments, while selling additional hair-styling products and massagers. Venture location, the Westfield Merry Hill centre, with a treatment room that could serve three customers at once, allowed very good sales. Susan originally wanted more than half of the tanning supplies she received, and only reduced it after talking to Zoe, but this still proved to be a poor decision, as they only shifted about half of their stock. In contrast, Logic's location in Birmingham, at the Bullring centre, offered more footfall, but worse facilities since they only had one treatment room, three floors up from their main sales point. Felicity made very little decision making, relying on her team to help and then made a serious error by choosing to focus on their sidelines rather than the more profitable treatments throughout much of the day, even pulling two of their therapists away to assist. It was not until much later in the day they focused on treatments. This, combined with an even bigger overspend on products than Venture, proved fatal.
• Result: Venture had a profit of £203.01, while Logic had a loss of £246.28.
• Winner: Venture – By £449.29.
• Reward: Dance lessons with the cast of Strictly Come Dancing
• Brought into the boardroom: Felicity, Ellie and Natasha
• Fired: Felicity – For being too indecisive, choosing a bad location, focusing on cosmetics rather than the more profitable treatments and for not bringing Tom back into the boardroom.
• You're Fired Panel: Nicky Kinnaird, Ed Byrne and Lisa Snowdon
• Notes:
  • At the briefing, Lord Sugar rebalanced the teams; Zoe changed places with Felicity with both being appointed as Project Managers, while Jim was switched into Logic.
  • After Tom had been pulled away by Felicity, Ellie and Melody came down a few hours later to complain about the lack of customers for treatments, which forced Nick to make a rare intervention and remind them to continue onwards, with Felicity opting to send Ellie back while keeping Melody behind. It was only in mid-afternoon that Felicity had the team focus on treatments, with Jim coming back to help Ellie initially, although the sudden increase in customers made by their devised offer, consisting of a few free minutes of massaging, proved problematic for their single treatment room. Felicity later acknowledged on You're Fired! that by this time, the team had realised they were almost certainly going to lose.
  • Although Lord Sugar praised Venture's profit, he mentioned that a profit of £203 in the beauty industry was not terrific. This was largely blamed on Susan, whose background in skincare products meant she played a key part in many of the decisions Zoe made at the start of the task, including a huge overestimate of how much product they could sell. Lord Sugar informed Susan that had she spent the amount she had first suggested, Venture, like Logic, would have made a loss, implying had Venture lost, Susan would've been fired.
  • Both teams initially wanted a spray-tanning system, but the vendor chose to have Venture sell it due to a perceived lack of enthusiasm on Logic's part. Felicity initially tried to blame their loss on the team's failure to secure the spray tanner, but Lord Sugar disagreed, feeling that their bad location and misguided strategy were more to blame.
  • Lord Sugar criticized Tom and Vincent's appearance in the losing team for four consecutive weeks. In the boardroom Melody tried to pin much of the blame for the loss on Tom, accusing him of failing to persuade customers to take the treatments when he was called down from the treatment room to do so; Nick was just as critical, feeling Tom did very little and took a back seat, preferring to sell products rather than take responsibility for decisions. However, Felicity refused to blame Tom, pointing out that his concerns about the location ultimately turned out to be correct. While Lord Sugar did not criticise Felicity for not bringing Tom in, it was hinted that had he been brought back, he would have been fired alongside (or possibly, over) Felicity.
  • Leon was heavily insecure when it came to selling beauty products and performing treatments. However his valiant effort made him the most effective member of the sales team, earning praise from Karren.
  • Although Ellie wasn't held responsible for the loss, she was criticized for staying in the upper floors for three hours, and not even trying to communicate with Felicity. Lord Sugar let her off with a severe warning for the next task.
  • Almost the entire audience of You're Fired agreed with Lord Sugar's decision, even Felicity herself felt she should have been fired.

Week 5: Create, Brand and Launch a Pet Food

• Air Date: 1 June 2011
• Venture: Glenn (Project Manager), Susan, Edna, Leon, Helen and Zoe.
• Logic: Vincent (Project Manager), Tom, Melody, Jim, Ellie and Natasha.
• Task: Create a new brand of pet food, then pitch it. Best concept made, wins.
• Task Review: Venture created a brand of cat food called "Cat-Size", which was designed as a diet cat food, while Logic created a dog food called "Every Dog" which was initially conceived by Vincent and named by Jim and; the brand was conceived to be fed to dogs of all shapes and sizes, although the actual product was designed to specifically help with joints and heart. Venture's execution of the task was weak, as Glenn struggled to gain the respect of his team-mates, their television advert was slightly unclear, and Leon stumbled through his pitch, in spite of his sub-team spending five hours preparing; by comparison, Logic's campaign was felt to be much more professional. However, their brand had no clear target market, and as a vet pointed out to them early in the task, making a dog food suitable for every dog is impossible, resulting in them losing the task.
• Winner: Venture – For a campaign that was not fatally flawed and having a clear target market.
• Reward: Playing tennis with Pat Cash
• Brought into the boardroom: Vincent, Ellie and Natasha
• Fired:
  • Ellie – For taking a backseat in all tasks to date, her insubordination towards Vincent, and for failing to contribute anything valuable to the task, despite working in the dog food business and a warning to step up from the previous week.
  • Vincent – For ignoring the advice from a vet and creating an unsellable product, refusing to admit any fault for the loss, continuously being on the losing team, and for bringing Natasha back into the boardroom instead of Jim.
• You're Fired Panel: Debbie Woscoe, Kelvin McKenzie and Sarah Millican
• Notes:
  • Glenn's victory made him the only successful male project manager in this series; he was, however, strongly criticised as he went against Leon's sub-team's marketing choice about the brand, gave them very little to do and created a slogan which was deemed very weak, though it was noted that the sub-team were somewhat disrespectful to Glenn, which may have been a factor in his decision to give them little to do. One of the three panellists on You're Fired also felt that Glenn had been very fortunate that he had won.
  • After Lord Sugar criticised Jim in the boardroom, Jim asked to be team leader on the next task. Lord Sugar denied his request and said that he would choose when Jim would lead a team.
  • Lord Sugar severely criticised Vincent's decision to bring back Natasha, since she had directed the advert which had proved to be one of the only positive aspects of the team's performance, and it was made very clear early on in the final boardroom, she would not be facing dismissal. Lord Sugar ultimately concluded that Vincent was too scared to bring back Jim and fired him in response, stating that "a message" needed to go back to the other candidates.
  • Despite Vincent's mistakes, Lord Sugar felt Vincent had led Logic better than any of the previous candidates and it was implied had he took Jim back into the boardroom (preferably over Natasha given that Lord Sugar felt he had enough evidence to fire Ellie prior Vincent's departure), Vincent would've not been fired.
  • While the audience of You're Fired! agreed with Lord Sugar's decision to fire Vincent, it was more mixed for Ellie as it was revealed to be "a split jury". All three panelists agreed with Ellie's firing whilst two agreed with Vincent's, the one panellist who disagreed with Vincent's firing felt that Natasha should have gone. While Ellie was not fired with regret on the main episode it was shown on You're Fired! that she was.

Week 6: Rubbish

• Air Date: 8 June 2011
• Venture: Zoe (Project Manager), Susan, Edna, Leon and Glenn.
• Logic: Helen (Project Manager), Tom, Melody, Jim and Natasha.
• Task: Operate a waste disposal service, clearing rubbish while also selling anything valuable that is collected. Most profit made, wins.
• Task Review: Logic decided to focus on obtaining waste with a high scrap value, particularly metal, and obtained two major clients set up by Lord Sugar by offering to dispose of their waste for nothing, relying solely on the profit from selling the high value scrap. A third client arranged by Melody proved less lucrative, as although Logic were able to charge well for their services, the team were then forced to dispose of more waste than they had expected, due to the builders adding worthless waste to the pile while the team were on their first trip to the dump. Venture lost out on the clients after Zoe ignored Susan's suggestion to pay them a small fee for their valuable scrap and insisted on charging for the team's services. They obtained two contracts themselves the following day, but were unable to make up the difference.
• Result: Venture had a profit of £706, while Logic had a profit of £712.
• Winner: Logic – By £6.
• Reward: Trip to a thermal spa
• Brought into the boardroom: Zoe, Susan and Edna
• Fired: Edna – For falsely claiming credit for the team's sale appointments, unproven claims on her abilities, and for having a background that Lord Sugar felt was ill-suited to starting a business with him.
• You're Fired Panel: Jason Moore, Aileen Phillips and Kevin Bridges
• Notes:
  • Susan's suggestion to pay one of the clients was shot down by Zoe. Although Susan initially agreed she had been foolish, she was proven right when they learnt that both clients had rejected them, but neither Edna nor Zoe apologised to or even commended Susan. In the boardroom, Zoe brought up this incident, but Lord Sugar chastised her for this and her lack of respect towards Susan, pointing out her suggestion would have been decisive in Venture winning. He also suspected that Zoe brought Susan back for mainly personal reasons, considering that Zoe berated Susan for much of the final boardroom, and Susan's attempts to defend herself were met with open aggression. Zoe's survival was largely down to her impressive defence, being the only one to step up to be project manager, and acknowledging that she bore most of the blame for the failure to secure the two clients.
  • Edna sealed her fate in the boardroom by claiming she had secured a major appointment when it was in fact Leon and Glenn who did so. Nick accused her of "taking credit where it's not due", a view shared by many within Venture, while Lord Sugar felt she was too much of a glory seeker and would not "gel" with him in business.
  • Logic's decision not to charge clients arranged by Lord Sugar for their services was seen as an extremely risky move. Jason Mohr, an entrepreneur who acted as advisor for the task, noted on You're Fired! that he would have charged for removal, and could well have ended up fired had he been a participant in the task. In addition, Lord Sugar commended Tom on making his first win, while labelling Helen as a "lucky mascot" for her string of wins.

Week 7: Freemium Magazine Launch

• Air Date: 15 June 2011
• Venture: Jim (Project Manager), Susan, Glenn and Zoe.
• Logic: Natasha (Project Manager), Tom, Melody, Leon and Helen.
• Task: Create a free magazine and sell space to advertisers when pitching it. Most sales made, wins.
• Task Review: Venture created a seniors' magazine called Hip Replacement, while Logic created a combined business and lads' magazine, called Covered. The advertisers thought that Covered was somewhat vulgar and had an outdated concept, but despite hating the title, they thought that Hip Replacement had more market potential. However, Jim made a fatal mistake in negotiating with the largest advertising agency by refusing to offer any sort of bulk discount; as a consequence, the agency purchased all of the advertising space in Covered, securing Logic's win.
• Result: Logic had sales of £76,000, while Venture had sales of £28,850.
• Winner: Logic – By £47,150.
• Reward: Fencing lessons
• Brought into the boardroom: Jim, Glenn and Susan
• Fired: Glenn – For his insufficient input and presence in most of the tasks, having nothing valuable in his engineering background, and for his general lack of business experience.
• You're Fired Panel: Claudine Collins, Nick Hewer and Jenny Eclair
• Notes:
  • Susan was nicknamed "the mouse" by the other members of Venture, due to her constant failure to speak up in the tasks. Nick, however, spoke very strongly in her defence, particularly of her recognition for the need to "slash prices". This, along with her passionate defence, resulted in Lord Sugar deciding to let her stay.
  • A majority of the You're Fired! audience disagreed with the decision for the first time in the series, along with two of the panellists, who felt that Jim should have been fired. While Glenn wasn't shown to be fired with regret, it was shown on You're Fired! that he was. Likewise, after the vote the audience responded with cheers.

Week 8: Paris

• Air Date: 22 June 2011
• Venture: Susan (Project Manager), Jim, Helen and Zoe.
• Logic: Tom (Project Manager), Melody, Leon and Natasha.
• Task: Choose 2 British products, then sell them to retailers in Paris. Most sales made, wins.
• Task Review: Logic pitched a teapot-based lamp and a postcard sown with cress seeds that unfolded into a "garden". Venture pitched a children's booster seat that folded into a backpack, and a stand to put various electronic devices such as an iPhone or iPod Touch in; Tom had wanted the backpack initially, but Melody disliked it, going so far as to deliberately skew her market research against the product. She then failed to give Tom any information on La Redoute (the major vendor that Lord Sugar had set up an appointment with), in addition to keeping all the sales appointments she had made for herself, thus Tom didn't sell anything while Natasha and Leon sold very little. On the other hand, Venture's execution of the task was near-flawless, earning large sales from independent retailers and earning a massive order from the appointment that Lord Sugar set up. The only flaws were Zoe and Jim's failure to sell all of their stands, as they struggled to arrange suitable appointments.
• Result: Venture had sales of €228,699, while Logic had sales of €11,705.
• Winner: Venture - €216,994.
• Reward: Flying lessons
• Brought into the boardroom: Tom, Leon and Melody
• Fired: Leon – For taking a backseat role, deliberately trying to use his lack of fluent French as an excuse, and for lacking the passion and desire that both Tom and Melody demonstrated.
• The Apprentice: You're Fired! panel: Micky Flanagan and Alvin Hall
• Notes:
  • Venture's victory on this task was described by Lord Sugar as an "annihilation", yet despite this, Karren touched upon Susan's immaturity, especially when she was selecting products, as she asked numerous bizarre and unnecessary questions, including whether the French were fond of their children. In contrast, Helen was given much credit for securing the large order from the appointment, which single-handedly secured Venture's win.
  • After Tom said who he would like to bring back, Lord Sugar branded Natasha "lucky", as she had done very little in the task; even then, however, she sold the team's second-highest number of items after Melody, in part due to Tom selling nothing and Leon's sales amounting to a few hundred Euros.
  • Despite Tom and Leon accusing Melody of repeatedly being insubordinate during the task, Lord Sugar stated that he admired her aggressiveness and strong personality, and made it clear relatively early in the final boardroom that she would not be fired, hinting that had Natasha been bought back, Tom would not have been in as much danger of dismissal. Meanwhile, Leon's excuse that he didn't speak French was criticised by Karren, especially since Melody (who spoke French) had managed to sell reasonable quantities speaking English, and Natasha had also outsold Leon despite only having a minimal grasp of French.
  • In his You're Fired! appearance, Leon revealed that he had previously worked for La Redoute, but claimed to be unaware that it was the large company Lord Sugar had arranged appointments with due to bad communication. He therefore did not volunteer information about the company to Tom, mistakenly thinking he had already been supplied with all the relevant detail. Leon decided against bringing up this point in the boardroom, fearing it would only give Lord Sugar all the more reason to fire him.
  • In absolute terms, this was the second-biggest victory margin in the show's history (until the following week), with a 19.5:1 margin in Venture's favour. In terms of cash earned, it was the largest margin for the show's history until it was exceeded by Team Evolve in Series 9 with a 22.7:1 margin.

Week 9: Biscuit

• Air Date: 29 June 2011
• Venture: Helen (Project Manager), Jim and Natasha.
• Logic: Zoe (Project Manager), Susan, Tom and Melody.
• Task: Manufacture a brand new, distinctive biscuit and its packaging, then pitch it to retailers. Most orders received, wins.
• Task Review: Venture's biscuit, created by Jim, was called "Special Stars" and featured a star-shaped chocolate lump on a flapjack, while Logic's biscuit, by Tom, was a two-in-one biscuit called "Bix Mix", which was made of a digestive biscuit with a core of butter biscuit, and partially coated in chocolate; on Logic, there was noticeable friction between Melody, Zoe and Susan from the start, causing numerous arguments throughout the day. This was especially noted in Asda, when an argument erupted just before the pitch. The retailers (Sainsbury's, Asda and Waitrose) felt that Venture's marketing message was unclear, but Jim pulled off a risky move by convincing Asda to commit to a large-scale marketing strategy, and Asda agreed to a large order of packs if they were granted exclusivity. Logic, on the other hand, ended up failing to secure a single order from any of the retailers, all of whom agreed that the biscuit was well-marketed, but produced far too cheaply for the high price.
• Result: Venture received 800,000 orders, while Logic received 0 orders.
• Winner: Venture – Outright win, from results.
• Reward: Country House Visit
• Brought into the boardroom: Zoe, Tom and Melody
• Fired: Zoe – For being project manager of the worst defeat in the show's history, failing on a task she was more than qualified to lead and for electing to handle the marketing than manufacturing, despite her background in the food and drink industry.
• The Apprentice: You're Fired! panel: Bob Mortimer, Perween Warsi and Karren Brady
• Notes:
  • Special Stars' slogan, "Anytime is treat time", was criticised as being contradictory by Natasha, Karren, one of the head Waitrose retailers and Lord Sugar. Jim suggested the slogan after the market research, and though Natasha opposed it immediately, she did not come up with an alternative suggestion, leaving Helen with no other choice but to run with it.
  • During the boardroom, Karren told Lord Sugar that Jim was "carried away" with one of his pitches when convincing Asda to commit to a large-scale marketing strategy, in response to queries about Special Stars' slogan. While Karren and Lord Sugar found this humorous, it helped secure Venture's win. Meanwhile, Lord Sugar was surprised as to the results of the task, as he thought Logic had done a much better job in their marketing, although he soon found fault with the biscuit afterwards.
  • Lord Sugar dubbed Zoe a "contender," and noted that while he had several reasons to fire Tom, including his horrendous track record and for being most responsible for the biscuit design, Zoe's failings either outweighed or exacerbated his mistakes on the task.
  • For the second week in a row, Lord Sugar made it clear that he did not see Melody as being responsible for the loss in any real fashion (even implying Susan should have been in the final boardroom instead), and did not seriously consider firing her. Despite this, he warned her that he was now having serious problems with her abrasiveness and continued refusal to listen to others, and that he would find it difficult to invest in her unless she quickly addressed these issues. Melody was in constant conflict with Zoe throughout the task, refusing to concede ground even after decisions on the product and target market had been made. This culminated in a loud argument on the shop floor of Asda; Nick was forced to intervene so the pitch could start.
  • For the second week in a row on You're Fired! two of the panelists agreed with Lord Sugar's decision with one of the panelists feeling that Tom should have been fired. The audience vote was openly split but only just went against Lord Sugar's decision.

Week 10: Flip It

• Air Date: 6 July 2011
• Venture: Natasha (Project Manager), Susan and Jim.
• Logic: Melody (Project Manager), Tom and Helen.
• Task: Sell a pallet of wholesale items, reinvesting profits in items that sell well. Most amount of assets (remaining stock and cash, minus purchases), wins.
• Task Review: Venture found early on that the umbrellas and nodding toy dogs sold the best, and purchased more for the following day; although Susan wasted the first day by trying to sell door-to-door in Knightsbridge, she took a successful gamble by buying bracelets from another wholesaler. Both she and Jim sold well, but Natasha handicapped them by refusing to allow further reinvestment until all items had been sold. At the end of the second day, when Natasha finally allowed Jim to reinvest, he bought a dozen umbrellas, but arrived where he was planning to sell at 18:00, at which point the task ended; he acknowledged that his effort was too little and too late. In Logic, Tom found the toy dogs sold well, but was ignored by Melody and Helen, who focused on a flawed strategy of selling to retailers. While they had success with the public, Melody did not reinvest the bulk of the profit from the first day in anything that had sold well, instead choosing a new line of travel accessories and digital picture frames, with moderate, untested success. Helen then wasted an afternoon travelling across London to buy duvet covers for a commitment made the day before, only to discover on the way that the retailer had already closed for business. In the boardroom, Lord Sugar fined Venture for ignoring the task rules with their failure to re-invest.
• Result: Venture's total assets were £751 (after deduction of the fine), while Logic's total assets were £728.
• Winner: Venture – By £23.
• Reward: None – Lord Sugar disallowed it due to Venture's performance; the treat would have been a helicopter trip to Goodwood and riding in vintage cars.
• Brought into the boardroom: Melody, Tom and Helen (the entirety of Logic)
• Fired: Melody, with regret – For not understanding the rules of the task, failing to heed Lord Sugar's warnings on listening to others, her overly abrasive and stubborn nature, and for being seen as an potentially poor business partner.
• Notes:
  • Despite Venture winning, Lord Sugar was so disappointed with their performance that he cancelled their reward; he identified that the problems lay with Natasha and made it clear that she would have been fired had Venture lost. This is the first time in the show's history that a winning team has had its reward cancelled. When Natasha attempted to direct blame on Susan, it resulted in a major argument at the house.
  • While this was Tom's eighth loss, he was judged to be the least at fault, single-handedly accounting for nearly half of Logic's sales and being the only person who pushed for re-investment in previous items. Lord Sugar was also impressed by Tom's much stronger defence this time; he pulled no punches in accusing Melody of missing the point of the task, and Helen of showing no knowledge of how a small business works.
  • As another first, Helen attempted to take over as project manager from Melody at the start of the second day, feeling that the team had no strategy after the bizarre purchasing decisions, but Melody refused to let her do so. In the boardroom, Helen said that, had she taken control, she would have opted to sell only to retailers. This was criticised heavily, since retailers are used to buying directly from wholesalers, and margins from such sales would be much smaller than those made to the public.
  • Both Melody and Helen's working backgrounds were highlighted as an issue, with Lord Sugar especially concerned that Helen's experience was mostly in administration rather than actually running a business, and that she showed no understanding of why her strategy of selling to retailers was a poor idea. Ultimately though, Helen's exceptional track record saved her, while Melody's performance as PM sealed her fate, and more so by her being unable to articulate what exactly her existing businesses did.
  • This is the only time Helen was on the losing team.
  • The panel on You're Fired! agreed that while Melody deserved to be fired, Natasha was much more worthy of dismissal. By contrast, it was noted that Jim was the best seller on Venture and it was heavily indicated had Venture lost, he would've been in no danger of facing dismissal.

Week 11: Fast Food Chain

• Air Date: 13 July 2011
• Venture: Jim (Project Manager), Susan and Natasha.
• Logic: Helen (Project Manager) and Tom.
• Task: Invent a unique cuisine and its outlet, open it to the public on the first day, then pitch the concept to Lord Sugar and experts from the fast-food industry the next day. Best score in four categories wins.
• Task Review: Venture decided on a Mexican theme of cuisine, calling it "Caraca's" (not knowing it was the Venezuelan capital) Logic decided on a British theme of pies, naming it "MyPy". Questions were raised about the profit margins that would be attainable with premium ingredients used in their pies. They also fell into trouble advertising one of their pies under the title 'Columbus' despite the explorer's Italian heritage. However, their run-through and actual service were virtually flawless, and Lord Sugar thought the food was very quick and of a good quality. All of the experts agreed Logic's pitch was of a good standard, despite Helen struggling slightly in the beginning. Venture's run-though was a total disaster and their actual service wasn't much better; mostly because the food was unappetisingly cold and very slow to come out. This was due to the fact that Jim had insisted on prioritising themed decorations over the food. Venture then did an average pitch, until they were asked about finance in which they had no plan whatsoever. Jim made a huge mathematical mistake when asked about how much money the company would make in an hour (thinking 60 times 7 was 4,800, when in actuality it was 420), which Lord Sugar said would still be a poor profit margin. The end result was a clear victory for Logic.
• Result: Logic scored an average of 7/10 in each category, while Venture scored an average of 4/10 in each category.
• Winner: Logic – For a better theme, service, food, and overall pitch.
• Reward: No reward – the following week was Interviews, so Tom and Helen were sent to the house to prepare.
• Brought into the Boardroom: Jim, Susan and Natasha (the entirety of Venture).
• Fired: Natasha – For contributing the least the task despite her experience in the hospitality business, losing the energy and enthusiasm she displayed earlier in the process, and for her poor performance as Project Manager from the previous week.
• The Apprentice: You're Fired! panel: Sarah Willingham, Mark Frith and Ed Byrne
• Notes:
  • Because of the prize being changed from a job with Lord Sugar to an investment with him, the eleventh week was reallocated to a business task, with the Interviews being used to determine the winner in the final week. The format would remain as such until Series 9, meaning none of the candidates fired in this process returned in the final week.
  • Lord Sugar pointed out that Venture's theme was a good choice compared to Logic's, but was ultimately destroyed by the performance.
  • Despite Susan and Natasha disliking each other, they both agreed that Jim deserved to be fired for being a poor project manager. Despite this, Lord Sugar ultimately fired Natasha for not getting involved with the cookery simply because she "didn't like" it, even though she had a hospitality degree. Lord Sugar likened this to a paramedic refusing to perform CPR.
  • On You're Fired!, the majority of the panel disagreed with Lord Sugar's decision to fire Natasha, feeling Jim should've been fired instead. By contrast, the audience of You're Fired! agreed, with Dara Ó Briain humorously stating "every time we do this it's Fired." owing to the fact the audience had agreed with virtually every single firing (apart from Glenn's firing in Week 7 and Ellie and Zoe's firings in Week 5 and Week 9, respectively, both of which were openly split but just and so went against them).

Week 12: The Final

• Air Date: 17 July 2011
• Finalists: Helen, Susan, Jim and Tom.
• Task: The four finalists each have to face a gruelling interview process on their own, with CVs and business plan scrutinised carefully by Matthew Riley, Mike Soutar, Margaret Mountford and Claude Littner. Lord Sugar decides the winner, based on feedback.
• Candidate Reviews: Helen received positive feedback from all four interviewers regarding her strong work ethic, employment history and record on the show. However they all saw a major flaw in her business plan, a personal concierge service which would help busy working people organise their day-to-day lives, with her lack of experience and contacts in that industry. They were baffled as to why she didn't create a business plan based on her background; she claimed this was because there was no business like the one she was offering, yet Matthew it would be equally easy to do some things without the service. Ultimately she was deemed to be an ideal employee, but not a business partner, as they felt she lacked the required entrepreneurial flair and she had no prior experience of running her own business. While the interviewers felt that Jim's plan, to create a business which would specialise in delivering training aids and employability skills to schoolchildren, was a good business for the current economic climate, they were concerned by the low profit margins and Jim's lack of market research, while having a lot of problems with Jim himself, as they considered him to be full of clichés and to be hard to get answers out of. Susan's business plan got a lot of praise, as it played off her experience in the cosmetics industry, but she shot herself in the foot with her outlandish claims, particularly the fact that she thought she could make a net profit of a million pounds in the first year; when prompted by Claude, she admitted it was a foolish mistake, though still claimed it, which deemed her as immature, while all agreed she had little experience. Tom got praise for his prior success in creating and selling nail files to major retailers, but was accused of being unable to focus himself properly, and the interviewers felt that his plan, to create a company supplying specialist products for people with back problems, was poorly written up.
• Initial Decision: Ultimately, while it was unanimous among the interviewers that Jim was the weakest candidate, there was no firm consensus on who was the best. Lord Sugar took on the interviewers feedback on Jim and fired him first, due to his poor plan and being unconvincing overall. Susan was next; her plan, while arguably the best of the four, was still flawed, and her failure to admit to unrealistic figures was proof to him that she needed more real-world experience.
• Fired (Before final decision):
  • Jim – For coming across as "clichéd" in the interviews, and for suggesting a plan more suited to a charity than a business.
  • Susan – For her inexperience, and for making unrealistic claims about the potential profits her business could make.
• Final Decision: The final two were Helen and Tom. While Tom's business plan was in need of heavy tweaking, and Helen did suggest scrapping her original plan and instead creating a chain of bakeries, in the end her lack of hands-on experience and poor initial idea counted against her, leading Lord Sugar to naming Tom his new business partner.
• Runner-Up: Helen – For proposing a business plan that did not play to her strengths, and having a background more suited to business administration and operation than setting up a whole new company.
• Hired: Tom – For his prior business experience, along with his innovation and creativity.
• Notes:
  • It was noted that in the very final boardroom, Tom explained to Lord Sugar how his business idea came around and what inspired him to do so, and this ultimately turned out to be one of the major factors for him winning. Tom was notably commented as being a "candidate to watch over".
  • Lord Sugar noted that Helen's poor business plan was rather "disappointing", considering that throughout the process, she had been the overall best candidate. Meanwhile, despite Susan's unrealistic claims about her financial model, Lord Sugar predicted that she would go on to do great things in the future.
  • On You're Hired!, Lord Sugar said that if the prize had been a job in one of his companies, Helen would have won. He also suggested during the same show that he may look forward to doing some form of business with Susan in the future, later investing in Susan's existing business Tropic Skincare in April 2012.

Criticism and controversy

Leon Doyle

On 12 June 2011, it was reported that contestant Leon Doyle was arrested after being mistaken for a hit and run killer reported on Crimewatch after the police were tipped off. At the time though he was on holiday and was released without charge when the real culprit Brett Kingsley was arrested.

Melody Hossaini

Candidate Melody Hossaini became the target of an online campaign of abuse during the airing of the series who thought wrongly she was Muslim. She was branded a "bitch" by the bullies who thought she was Muslim and failed to respect their faith with other comments including "You don't deserve your surname." and "Melody is a bitch for eating sinful food". In reality though Hossaini practices the Zorostrian religion which places an emphasis on good deeds, thoughts and words.

Glenn Ward and Zoe Beresford

At the end of the Freemium magazine task in Week 7 and in a clip shown in the You're Fired! episode that week, Lord Sugar revealed that he had seen many engineers fail at business in the past, and that was the example he had also seen in contestant Glenn Ward over the previous seven weeks who he fired in this episode. This provoked much anger among the wider engineering community and the press immediately following the episode – James Dyson was commonly held up as a prime example of an engineer/inventor who also had been a hugely successful businessman.

It was also revealed that Glenn had been in a relationship with fellow candidate Zoe Beresford during the filming of the programme. Former candidate Edna Agbarha, who was fired in Week 6 after being brought back into the boardroom by then-Project Manager Zoe, was reported to have accused her that the relationship was the only reason that she was brought back instead of Glenn and that it "clouded her judgement." Glenn later revealed he and Zoe had split up after dating, much to the latter's devastation. In the same report, Glenn became image conscious of Zoe and they used to argue because he did not like her going without makeup or heels and that she was under pressure to look good.

Ratings

Official episode viewing figures are from BARB.

Episode no.	Airdate	Viewers (millions)	BBC One weekly ranking
1	10 May 2011	8.79	4
2	11 May 2011	8.30	7
3	18 May 2011	8.10	5
4	25 May 2011	8.62	4
5	1 June 2011	7.59	1
6	8 June 2011	8.62	3
7	15 June 2011	8.40	5
8	22 June 2011	8.78	2
9	29 June 2011	8.98	1
10	6 July 2011	9.42	1
11	13 July 2011	9.73	2
12	17 July 2011	10.24	1

Specials

Episode no.	Airdate	Viewers (millions)	BBC One weekly ranking
The Final Five
	7 July 2011	5.29	12
How To Get Hired
	15 July 2011	N/A	N/A

External links

• The Apprentice (British series 7) at BBC Online