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Why Stuart Was Really Fired...What Didn't We See?

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    CaroUKCaroUK Posts: 6,354
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    And if you watch You're Fired - he says that he is 22 now... more than once.... and how much he has grown up in the intervening year (and Ed Byrne and Dara extracted the urine from him because of it
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,718
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    I think the BBC were probably mindful of his young age and didn't want to f*ck him too badly.

    This is an article from the Star (I know I know...treat with extreme caution)

    WINDBAG plonker Stuart Baggs’s millionaire dad made his fortune flogging air beds.

    Stephen Baggs, whose company Vortigern Ltd sells outdoor leisure items, lives in luxury on the Isle of Man so he can avoid paying UK tax.

    And last year the Apprentice hopeful’s father annoyed the locals after a cringe-worthy interview on telly – much like Stuart’s smug appearance on Lord Sugar’s BBC1 show.

    Last week we revealed Stuart, 21, has been disowned by Manxmen for his big mouth. And the same fate befell his dad after he boasted about his wealth on his yacht in ITV1 show Martin Clunes: Islands Of Britain.

    Stephen bragged about owning a yellow Porsche and said he was planning to buy a matching Ferrari.

    The businessman also insisted: “We would not have got where we are today paying UK tax rates.”

    But residents accused him of putting off visitors to the island.One posted a web message saying: “Thanks a bunch Mr
    Baggs of money! You did us no favours whatsoever!”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_PEjBL--5g&NR=1

    Steven Baggs interview, best place to start around 4:35
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    trollfacetrollface Posts: 13,316
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    brangdon wrote: »
    She lost because Stella and Laura agreed a stupidly high price for truffles. If it hadn't been for that, they'd have won. Liz had understood the importance of price, and had told them to phone her before making the deal, but they didn't.

    That's one of the reasons they lost. But that is actually a rather good example. Jamie had a pricing strategy - which was the most important thing in that task. Two people on Liz's team had picked up on the idea that they had to get all the items to such a degree that they actually bought an item at a price so inflated that they'd have been £50 better off had they not bought it at all and incurred the fine.

    Yes, that's down to Laura and Stella, but it's also down to Liz for not realising and emphasising to her team that the task was about pricing, not about buying all the items.
    It wasn't a great win, but she was a better PM than Paloma.

    She might have been a better PM than Paloma. What she wasn't was demonstrating that she was a good leader in her own right.

    I was responding to the assertion that she had a good record at being a team leader. She doesn't.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,060
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    There was nothing else on my CV. I am 21 (and as such don't have a string of previous employers) and my CV included details of my education and my company only. It was a single sheet of A4.

    That's odd, you're profile says you're 22, yet you still say you're 21?
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    brangdonbrangdon Posts: 14,109
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    trollface wrote: »
    TYes, that's down to Laura and Stella, but it's also down to Liz for not realising and emphasising to her team that the task was about pricing, not about buying all the items.
    They knew they needed the lowest prices. Laura actually reduced the asking price from £270. The mistake was entirely down to them.
    She might have been a better PM than Paloma. What she wasn't was demonstrating that she was a good leader in her own right.
    I've pointed out several things she did right. She was as good or better than any of the other final 7.
    I was responding to the assertion that she had a good record at being a team leader. She doesn't.
    She has a deserved win, and a loss that wasn't her fault. It's a good record.
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    JepsonJepson Posts: 3,221
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    brangdon wrote: »
    She has ... and a loss that wasn't her fault. It's a good record.

    That's a matter of opinion.

    Some will say she failed to correctly identify the importance of price whereas Jamie recognised that. (Assuming she didn't say something to her team about that which was edited out.)

    I'm neutral because I still believe that that task had far too many random elements to make it meaningful.
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    trollfacetrollface Posts: 13,316
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    brangdon wrote: »
    They knew they needed the lowest prices. Laura actually reduced the asking price from £270. The mistake was entirely down to them.

    Jamie had a pricing strategy from the outset, as well as setting out how his team should negotiate. Liz spent 2 hours finding the objects and planning a route which meant they could get them all in the time they had. In a task that was about pricing, it's not a surprise that Jamie's strategy won the day.
    I've pointed out several things she did right.

    You pointed out 2, actually, one of which I had already mentioned and which wasn't down to her managerial skills. And I pointed out things she did wrong. Doing 2 things right does not make her a good leader.
    She was as good or better than any of the other final 7.

    Stella's 2 for 2 as PM. Just saying.
    She has a deserved win, and a loss that wasn't her fault. It's a good record.

    The loss of the treasure hunt was her fault as much as anybody else's. And her win would have been more deserved had it been more down to her good leadership rather than, as it was, being down to liking sequins.
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    JepsonJepson Posts: 3,221
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    trollface wrote: »
    In a task that was about pricing, it's not a surprise that Jamie's strategy won the day.
    The task was not just about pricing. It was about getting the items and pricing.

    Had it just been about pricing there would have been no need for the £50 penalties.
    And her win would have been more deserved had it been more down to her good leadership rather than, as it was, being down to liking sequins.

    Just another random aspect of the task.

    It was serendipity that they found a supplier who was more interested in an off the cuff reaction than a more businesslike approach.

    Had the person in question taken the view that they wanted someone who was looking at things from a professional POV (as, indeed, Liz may have been at the same time as expressing her personal opinion) then the other team might have got the deal.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,291
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    I think Lord Sugar fired him in that way because he was angry that Stuart had made a fool of him. He fell for everything Stuart said & then fired Liz. Liz & Joanna should have been in the final.

    I`ve been disappointed in the last 2 weeks of The Apprentice. I`ll watch tonight`s episode but I`m definitely unhappy with the final two. Lord Sugar has lost the plot. :eek:
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    thenetworkbabethenetworkbabe Posts: 45,624
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    trollface wrote: »
    That's one of the reasons they lost. But that is actually a rather good example. Jamie had a pricing strategy - which was the most important thing in that task. Two people on Liz's team had picked up on the idea that they had to get all the items to such a degree that they actually bought an item at a price so inflated that they'd have been £50 better off had they not bought it at all and incurred the fine.

    Yes, that's down to Laura and Stella, but it's also down to Liz for not realising and emphasising to her team that the task was about pricing, not about buying all the items.



    She might have been a better PM than Paloma. What she wasn't was demonstrating that she was a good leader in her own right.

    I was responding to the assertion that she had a good record at being a team leader. She doesn't.

    Jaimie's pricing strategy though seems not to have been followed - even by Jaimie - if you look at the clips at where he starts his negotiation. Its not followed through because bidding 30% of what the person has just said is a pointless waste of time as they will either stay where they are or reduce by a small amount and you will end up meeting much higher anyway.

    Its difficult to see how Liz could have made the point much more clearly that price was key than by telling her team that price was key and to get everything as cheaply as possible. It shouldn't have needed an arbitary unobtainable target to make the point. With the truffles Liz identified it as a key costly item, she confirmed a price with the team and asked for a final say on any deal. Its not her fault that her subteam found an obviously expensive supplier, bought at twice the price and ignored her instruction to confirma price before buying.

    Only one person failed to get the point. Liz and Joanna got it and did pretty well. Laura pointed out the error in choosing the truffles supplier straight away, but ended up in a conversation about how low she could drive a request for £270. Picking the suppier, ignoring Laura, insisting on that sale and not consulting her PM, seems all to have been Stella's work.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 26
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    The task that Liz won as team leader, their performance outside landing the best brand of dresses was poor. The other team ran a better operation in almost every respect. The task she lost, basically nobody in her team managed to negotiate anything particularly well, including Liz. Even that old guy at the end just felt sorry for her - 'how can you negotiate a better price if you have to rush off?' she basically told him she had no alternatives - contrast with Jamie 'if I don't get my price I'm going to salfords'. Her one other stroke of brilliance was copying Stuarts team in the DVD task.

    Well, and the pitch for the baby vest, but like I said Louise Woodward could have pitched that.

    She had a lot of qualities but I just don't see any indications that she could operate/strategise at a higher level. (ie entrepreneur not projct manager)
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    JepsonJepson Posts: 3,221
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    The Brando wrote: »
    contrast with Jamie 'if I don't get my price I'm going to salfords'.

    I think it might have been 'Southall'.
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    DixDix Posts: 79,142
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    johnny_t wrote: »
    Can't believe that I'm defending Stuart here, but on last week's show, Stuart was asked several times if he had really started the company and whether he had had any parental help, to which his answers were Yes and No respectively.

    I assumed that they knew this to be untrue and were preparing to take him to the cleaners about it this week.

    In the absence of any come-uppance about it, and instead banging on about some very minor technicality that was trumped up to being in the same league as shooting the pope, I can only assume he was telling the truth....

    If LS thinks Stuart has potential then I'd say it's true, as I checked into LS holdings yesterday, and he could buy into Stuart's business easily. All Stuart has to do is fix the missing part of his Licence and he's in business. :)
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    DixDix Posts: 79,142
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    ArumLily wrote: »
    I think Lord Sugar fired him in that way because he was angry that Stuart had made a fool of him. He fell for everything Stuart said & then fired Liz. Liz & Joanna should have been in the final.

    I`ve been disappointed in the last 2 weeks of The Apprentice. I`ll watch tonight`s episode but I`m definitely unhappy with the final two. Lord Sugar has lost the plot. :eek:

    Hi, wanted Liz and Joanna in the final too, but when I checked Lord Sugar's companies, discovered that Joanna wouldn't have fit in that well, as her basic knowledge wouldn't be good enough. Pity she didn't research what exactly his businesses are all about, then she could have sold herself into them, or into one of them if she wanted to stay with Cleaning, as he could advertise her very well across the whole country. :)
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    DixDix Posts: 79,142
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    reply to the OP, as I can't seem to do it another way. humph!










    Rivalry between Viglen and Stuart's company. Stuart ought to look at the small print to see what part is missing off his licence, as it has to do with the Licence, and why he got a grilling over it. Also if LS was going to buy into Stuart's business, then the Licence had to be complete, which also explains why LS cut up rough.
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    chewstickchewstick Posts: 610
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    personally i think the BBC owe Stuart an apology. they tore shreads off him in those interviews, totally unfair and totally unjust IMO. This guy is only 21/22, yes he may have over embelished on his CV, you telling me no one does that?? 3/4 quarters of Britain may as well rip their CV's up right now.

    I personally feel Lord Sugar went into that final 5 knowing his final two. watch the interviews again and regardless about what you feel about Stuart....you tell me there was no venom attached, One guy wouldn't even shake his hand, personally i would have walked out there and then, remember this is all staged, they would have had nothing to film. He was over familiar with Margaret. i'd put that down to the fact he was possibly nervous, he must have been briefed who he was going to be interviewd by and completely lost it in an instant, in his words, "i haven't had many interviews'.

    it doesn't change my view though, the right two got to the final, mainly because of there actions and friendly attitude towards others, there is no substitute for being decent in this world

    i still say though Stuart was unfairly treated
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 851
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    1. Bluewave Communications. Yes he has done well to set up a business. However, ultimately it's clearly small fry, and moreover no 18 year old could get funding for that.

    just had a quick dig, cos i am nosey like that. from this 20 minute read up, i would point my finger at him being a mere reseller os ISP services. no big investment needed.
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    trollfacetrollface Posts: 13,316
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    Jaimie's pricing strategy though seems not to have been followed - even by Jaimie - if you look at the clips at where he starts his negotiation. Its not followed through because bidding 30% of what the person has just said is a pointless waste of time as they will either stay where they are or reduce by a small amount and you will end up meeting much higher anyway.

    I think he misspoke there, because the pricing strategy he and the rest of the group were following was starting in at 70% of what they were asked for, not 70% off.
    Its difficult to see how Liz could have made the point much more clearly that price was key than by telling her team that price was key and to get everything as cheaply as possible.

    She could have not concentrated on getting everything as much as she did and had an actual pricing strategy. Setting out the strategy is the team leader's job. Liz set out the strategy of getting all the objects. Jamie set out the strategy of getting everything as cheaply as possible. Jamie won. This is not a coincidence.
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    Mykey38Mykey38 Posts: 1,164
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    trollface wrote: »
    She could have not concentrated on getting everything as much as she did and had an actual pricing strategy. Setting out the strategy is the team leader's job. Liz set out the strategy of getting all the objects. Jamie set out the strategy of getting everything as cheaply as possible. Jamie won. This is not a coincidence.

    I think they both had a strategy to get everything and to pay as little as possible. I didnt see Jamie or any of his team walk away from a purchase because of the asking price.
    Jamie and his team failed to get all the items and although Liz and her team did get everything they might have been better not getting the truffles as they paid over the odds, way over in fact. Liz did ask her team to phone her before they committed to the purchase. The fact they didnt is not something you can blame to Liz for.
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    brangdonbrangdon Posts: 14,109
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    trollface wrote: »
    I think he misspoke there, because the pricing strategy he and the rest of the group were following was starting in at 70% of what they were asked for, not 70% off.
    If that were true, they'd never get a discount more than 30%, and sometimes they did. They got over 50% sometimes.

    Basically, his advice was largely ignored, by him as much by anyone.
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    thenetworkbabethenetworkbabe Posts: 45,624
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    trollface wrote: »
    I think he misspoke there, because the pricing strategy he and the rest of the group were following was starting in at 70% of what they were asked for, not 70% off.



    She could have not concentrated on getting everything as much as she did and had an actual pricing strategy. Setting out the strategy is the team leader's job. Liz set out the strategy of getting all the objects. Jamie set out the strategy of getting everything as cheaply as possible. Jamie won. This is not a coincidence.



    The pricing strategy is another Sugar piece of logic. Jaimie doesn't say 30% off. He says 70% . It would be odd if he did say 30 because there's always a possibility of getting more off - so an arbitary 30% is worse than Liz's approach of reading the situation and bidding as low as seems fit. A strategy might have been to identify sellers who might be expected to be cheap - but we don't know if the boys had one or just lucked out turning up to people ,or in areas ,where the sellers were desperate, gullible or could be browbeaten.

    The boys get 7 items - i think its 2 the girls get cheaper. Buy the Truffles for 100 and the boys don't win and its nearly equal who bargained better. The boys might also have paid more or less for the three they don't get. They would also have been under massive time pressure to get all 10 - which would have reduced their negotiating time and might have meant going places where they wouldn't have found the sellers they did.

    It turns out the way it does, because the penalties for failure are set where they are and support failing to get the goods, and because some girls buy one item at twice the price they knew was realistic. There's no way of judging that not getting goods is a winning strategy - and neither team discover that it is till the end. The boys try and get everything too, and its very difficult to see what else more Liz could possibly do to stop her subteam buying those truffles at too high a price - apart from leaving Stella at the house.
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    BillyBattyBillyBatty Posts: 7,009
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    Steven Baggs interview, best place to start around 4:35[/QUOTE]

    Thanks interesting to see Brand senior. He doesnt seem that obnoxious in this clip
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    BillyBattyBillyBatty Posts: 7,009
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    Jack1 wrote: »
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_PEjBL--5g&NR=1

    Steven Baggs interview, best place to start around 4:35

    Thanks interesting to see Brand senior. He doesnt seem that obnoxious in this clip though
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    JepsonJepson Posts: 3,221
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    The pricing strategy is another Sugar piece of logic. Jaimie doesn't say 30% off. He says 70% . It would be odd if he did say 30 because there's always a possibility of getting more off - so an arbitary 30% is worse than Liz's approach of reading the situation and bidding as low as seems fit. A strategy might have been to identify sellers who might be expected to be cheap - but we don't know if the boys had one or just lucked out turning up to people ,or in areas ,where the sellers were desperate, gullible or could be browbeaten.

    The boys get 7 items - i think its 2 the girls get cheaper. Buy the Truffles for 100 and the boys don't win and its nearly equal who bargained better. The boys might also have paid more or less for the three they don't get. They would also have been under massive time pressure to get all 10 - which would have reduced their negotiating time and might have meant going places where they wouldn't have found the sellers they did.

    It turns out the way it does, because the penalties for failure are set where they are and support failing to get the goods, and because some girls buy one item at twice the price they knew was realistic. There's no way of judging that not getting goods is a winning strategy - and neither team discover that it is till the end. The boys try and get everything too, and its very difficult to see what else more Liz could possibly do to stop her subteam buying those truffles at too high a price - apart from leaving Stella at the house.

    As I said at the time, the outcome of the task was all but random. It is a shoddily designed task.

    In reality, if it is important to get something for the lowest possible prices (and whether that is important is dependent on the price of the article, the maximum difference in price between suppliers, the costs of purchasing and the cost of employment of the people doing the buying) then you contact all the suppliers and see what deals are available.

    They would only have had a chance to contact a small subset of the possible suppliers and seemed to only try and negotiate in person so, as you say it was all down to luck as to whether you happened across the cheapest/most amenable to discounting.
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    billiobillio Posts: 3,695
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    Stuart had many faults, but his firing was rubbish .. A minor, minor technical point. Anyone will tell you to make things sound a bit better on your CV. Stuart should have answered better but he is nit a criminal, and a bit of ordinary respect would be nice.
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