Arts & Culture

The Apprentice: Set Sail into Week One

13 January 202213 January 2022By
The Apprentice: Set Sail into Week One

Lord Sugar is back in business with 16 new hopefuls and one amazing opportunity on the 2022 series of The Apprentice. 

With Britain reopening after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lord Sugar is back and readier than ever to invest on The Apprentice. But before he can decide who will be his next business partner, the latest set of candidates must prove their worth in a number of ambitious challenges. The stakes are higher than ever as the 16 hopefuls will be whittled down over the next 12 weeks until only one remains. In this series, the candidates are under the watchful eyes of Baroness Karren Brady and the winner of series one, Tim Campbell. 

Before we begin the voyage, lets meet the candidates:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYTkMxhL1M9/

Aaron Willis,  38, Flight Operations Instructor and wants to start his own security business. 

Akeem Bundu-Kamarak, 29, Strategy Manager for a financial firm and Founder of a sustainable sportwear brand. 

Akshay Thakrar, 28, Owner of a digital marketing agency called Sai Network. 

Alex Short, 27,  Owner of a commercial cleaning company. 

Amy Anzel, 48, Owner of a beauty brand.

Brittany Carter, 25 , Hotel Front of House manager and wants Lord Sugar’s help with creating the first alcoholic protein drink.

Conor Gilsenan, 28, Sales Executive.

Francesca Kennedy Wallbank, 26, Owner of a sustainability company. 

Harry Mahmood,  35, Regional Operations Manager and Owner of bath bomb business. 

Harpreet Kaur, 30, Owner of a dessert parlour. 

Kathryn Louise Burn, 29, Owner of an online pyjama store. 

Navid Sole, 27, Pharmacist who wants to create a successful pharmacy business. 

Nick Showering,  31,  Finance Manager and hopes to create a company in the drink industry. 

Sophie Wilding, 32, Owner of a boutique cocktail bar. 

Shama Amin, 41, Owner of a children’s day nursery. 

Stephanie Affleck,  28, Owner of an online children’s store.

“You don’t get furloughed. You get Fired!”, said Lord Sugar.

Week One saw the eager candidates get their sea legs on as they were sent down to Portsmouth. Lord Sugar gave them the ultimate advertising task, in which they had to market a new cruise liner. Before heading back into the boardroom, the 16 hopeful business partners had to develop a brand, television advert and a social media tease, which within two separate groups would have to pitch to industry experts. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYZ6e2yIhzD/

The Boys team: 

Akshay stepped up to be the project manager in week one, which could go very wrong if his team was to fail. They were looking to advertise to an older demographic for their cruise liner, achieving this by making their cruise liner symbolise luxury and tranquillity. On the other side of the team was sub-leader Akeem, who would take the lead with the brand and the social media team. 

The Girls team:

Kathryn took the lead as project manager , and the sub-team leader was given to Amy. For the girls’ team cruise liner, they decided (after multiply clashes) to focus on friendship with a demographic aged between 30-40. Tensions grew as egos started to get in the way of their ideas, with project manager Kathryn refusing to change her name choice of ‘Bouji Cruises’ – or did she mean Boujee?

Below the deck, both groups started to create a logo to begin to make a brand of their cruise liner. Plain, simple, and some could say a tad dull, the girl’s logo looked more corporate than ‘Bougie’. 

“I think their logo is interesting. It is not bright enough, not bold enough and is definitely not bougi….” Said Campbell. 

Under the supervision of Akeem, the boys hit heavy waves with their … questionable… logo. Some could say it symbolised tranquillity, and others could say it looked like an upside-down rotting banana. As the boy’s logo turned a yoga pose into a wave.

“They have kind of come up with this half-man, half rotting banana, and there is no brand name, which is completely ludicrous that they haven’t included that”, Said Brady.

Brands completed, television advert directed, and social media teases made. It was down to tomorrow, where Bouji Cruises and Sea Quality will go head to head with their pitches. As the teams came together to show what they were working on the day before. 

More confusion grew over the wave-like banana, now being compared with other questionable things.

One cruise worker said: “People will refuse to spend money when the logo looks to the way it does”.

For Kathryn’s team, there was still confusion over the word Bouji. One cruise worker said: “Have you ever heard of a booze cruise, as that is what I get from the word Bouji”.

Let’s clear the confusion up.

*Boujee: Aspiring to be a higher class than what one is. 

The Pitch: 

A room filled with cruise employees and a panel of industry experts.

Up first… Bouji Cruises: “What is a Bouji experience?” Clayton Lindsey, Experience Director. 

After the pitch, it became clear that there was uncertainty over the name, which put Kathryn in the firing line, as the group became split over their brand identity. 

Next…Sea Quality: Trying to distract the panel by the logos looks, the boys pitch focused on how their logo represents nature, freedom and calmness. “How are you hoping the consumer will connect the brand indent with the brand name when the name isn’t on your logo?” Said the leader of marketing and branding. 

Because of this, tensions began to grow between Harry and Akshay. Harry started to criticise his project manager for his lack of control within the pitch.

Back to the boardroom:

Bougie Cruises:

“I think you have a good name for Tom Cruise’s next child. I don’t think your social media tease is wonderful, but it does have the name on there and what you are selling.” Said Lord Sugar. 

Sea Quality:

Thinking their brand showcased luxury, health and wellbeing. Lord Sugar has other thoughts. 

“What is that? Is that your logo? What the bloody hell is that? As for your social media ad, do you actually turn into a terd? It is not selling me a cruise!”

With the help of the industry experts, the Bougie Cruises team had won and was rewarded by a campaign reception at their new luxury house.

Lord Sugar said: “The girls won because, unlike theirs, your campaign was very disjointed.”

For those apprentice fans, you will know where the boys were heading. It was back to the La Cabana Café where the boys sat awaiting the decision of Lord Sugar. 

“If there has to be anyone that is to blame for the failure of the task, it is Akshay. He has taken no responsibility or accountability for anything,” said Harry.

Back to the boardroom, Lord Sugar wasn’t holding back. 

“It is the worst logo I have ever seen. And you advert it doesn’t show the full experience.” 

After a clash of egos and each candidate passing the failure onto one another, Akshay, Akeem, and Harry had to stay within the board room, leaving the rest safe for another week.

Akshay – “You seem too full of yourself. I don’t think you as good as you think you are….”

Akeem – “You was given a task to do, and I just cannot understand how you did it so wrong.”

Harry – “You did come up with ideas, but you didn’t know when to stop. You kept pushing and pushing and was just considered disruptive.”

And the moment you have all been waiting for: “Harry, I really don’t like disruption, and for that reason, YOUR FIRED!

With Harry being the first candidate the be fired from Lord Sugar’s boardroom, 15 candidates remain. And the search for Lord Sugar’s next business partner has begun. 

Next Week: Say cheese as the candidates create a brand-new electric toothbrush.

READ MORE: Society Spotlight: City’s Legal Tech Society