Arts & Culture

The Apprentice Week Eleven: Interviews

23 March 202222 March 2022By
The Apprentice Week Eleven: Interviews

This week the four remaining candidates where summoned to 70 St Mary Axe in the heart of the City of London, to face the scrutiny of Lord Sugar’s most trusted advisors, who were ready to pick apart their business plans in individual interviews.

Each candidate will go head-to-head in interviews with the business experts as they battle to back their plans. 

Previously:

Aaron led from the front but failed when it came to flavour. Brittany and Kathryn battled with branding, and the pitch turned sour. Harpreet was head chief on the other team, but Akeem and Stephanie’s short-sighted brand cost them. Both teams left a bad taste in the boardroom, and Aaron and Akeem paid the price.

With one week until Lord Sugar makes his final choice, it was time for the remaining four to be interviewed with their business plans.

This weekly Apprentice round-up is a chance to get a closer look at each of the candidate’s business plans.

Harpreet: 

The Dessert Parlour boss, Harpreet, hopes to scale up her dessert parlour, which has already been running for five years.

“I do believe I am the strongest candidate in this process. That is simply because I have full belief in myself,” said Harpreet. “Even though my business is pretty successful so far, I have plenty of ideas to scale it up even further.”

Firstly, Harpreet was interviewed by Claudine Collins, who started to question Harpreet’s personal traits, “I have to say, you certainly don’t come across as someone I would want to work with.”

Next up with Claude Littner, who was concerned about what was written in Harpreet’s business plan like Claudine. “You have written in your CV that you are the owner of the whole business, but that is not exactly true, because you have got a 50-50 partner with your sister. You have basically lied on your CV.” Said Littner.

Mike Soutar felt confused about Harpreet’s current success rate with her dessert parlour, questioning why she has only got one store open when she aims to get to 100 stores.

Linda Plant started her interview by asking what Harpreet’s USP was. She struggled to find one, “once you delve into a huge competition, I believe you will be lost.”

Brittany:

Brittany wants to turn her love of fitness into a budding business idea… with high protein alcoholic drinks.

“The finish line is within touching distance. I have worked so hard to get to this point. I am in it 100% to win,” said Brittany.

Being interviewed by returning Claude Littner, Brittany seemed uneasy with her nerves and the fact she didn’t have a finished business plan.  

“To miss elements in your business plan is a serious flaw,” said Littner. “I’m not being funny, but this business plan is not a business plan.”

Brittany saw Mike Souter next, who had presented a batch of her drinks to try in front of him. 

“It tastes chalky and quite bitter,” said Souter.

Like Littner, Soutar also mentioned how Brittany’s business plan wasn’t good enough. Bringing Brittany to tears, as soon as Soutar bought out an example of one of his business plans and compared it with Brittany’s, it was clear that hers needed a lot of work doing to it.

Linda stated how much experience Brittany has – which according to her, is hardly any.

“I want to tell you something else. It is not new. It has been done before. It has been out since 2008 in America. I haven’t heard of it because it isn’t a hit,” said Plant.

Kathryn: 

Kathryn wants to expand her online pyjama business, providing matching sets for the whole family.

“I have already got a business that is making money, and it is on-trend. People want to buy my products, so we need to capitalise on that,” said Kathryn. “This investment will allow my business to grow to a much larger scale.”

Being interviewed by Linda Plant first, Kathryn was unsettled when the design element of her pyjamas was already seen on the market currently.

“You’re saying the pyjamas will be designed solely by yourself,” said Plant. 

With her first interview completed, Kathryn only had one word to describe how that went, ‘savage’.

Next up was Claudine, who was concerned about how Kathryn manufactured her products.

“Kathryn, you cannot say you are launching a sustainable and ethical business. It is coming from thousands of miles away,” said Collins.

Littner questioned Kathryn about her stock, “If you got more designs, you have got more headaches.”

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with being ambitious,” said Kathryn.

Having bought all the possible website names Kathryn could have, Mike fails to look beyond her business which has no website.  

“Ok, look. I will gift you the website addresses because you don’t leave anything to chance,” said Soutar.

Stephanie: 

Stephanie has launched a second-hand designer childrenswear marketplace.

“I am coming in as a start-up. I have only been fully functioning for a few months. There is a high risk, but it can be an incredibly high reward,” said Stephanie.

She was being interviewed by Mike Souter first. Like Kathryn’s first interview, Stephanie got shown other pieces similar to her business already on the market.

“One down. Three to go,” said Stephanie.

Stephanie got interviewed by Linda Plant next, who questioned her figures within her business plan. “Luxury children’s clothing, no way reflects billions of pounds. It is an exclusive, small market,” said Plant. “It is a pipe dream with no substance.”

Emotions ran high when Stephanie was interviewed by Claudine, who made comments about Stephine’s dad and how he is her biggest inspiration.

“What would your dad think about you being in the final four?” said Collins.

“He would be so proud. He would be the person fighting my corner, saying people should invest in my business,” said Stephanie.

“Stephanie, you are going to have an uncomfortable time with me,” said Claude. For her final interview, Stephanie was interviewed by Claude. He questioned her little experience in fashion or the pre-loved market, as he feels it gives her minimal credibility.

The boardroom:

After talking to his four advisors, Lord Sugar had to decide which two candidates would make the final. 

“Brittany, you are a very intelligent young lady, and you have got a very good job. One trait I have noticed about you is you still back your ideas, even if they are bad,” said Lord Sugar. 

Hoping Brittany will rethink her ideas in the future, she was the next candidate to be fired.

With Harpreet, Kathryn and Stephanie left to battle it out to be Lord Sugar’s next business partner. At the same time, each of them slates each other’s ideas. Sadly, Stephanie and her pre-loved market weren’t for Lord Sugar.

Harpreet and Kathryn head into the final. 

Next week: The Final Two

To catch up on all things The Apprentice, read here.