I don't think that's a fair conclusion based on what we saw. At no point did Stella come in at only 2% below what was offered. What happened in each negotiation that we saw from that subteam (except the tikka, where Laura's tactics somewhat worked), was an initial price, then Laura coming in well below, getting completely shut out due to her poor technique, haggling herself back up to near the initial price, then Stella mopping up the end.
Those piddly £1 discounts are in fact a necessity. Unless you get a discount on the initial price offered, however derisory, you get a scadding great fine. We saw it happen to Simon in Series 3, and they explained it at the start of this episode. I feel sorry for Tim in series 1, because he did the same thing as Stella did this episode, and it never got explained why he was doing it.
I think Stella should have taken a lead on the negotiations, because Laura was crap, because it doesn't appear that she does anything all episode beyond mop up at the end, but the poor haggling is all Laura. Stella's major fault was driving the team with a grim determination into the most expensive retailers possible.
We clearly watched a different edit. In the edit I watched, Stella explains away and justifies her poor haggling skills by not wishing to come across as 'rude' or unprofessional. It's saying something when the overall conclusion is that Laura not only outshines her but saves the team from an even greater loss than it would otherwise have been.
Stella barely participated in any of the haggling in the edit. It's almost entirely Laura. Stella excused her poor performance on not want to be aggressive, but that's not necessarily a comment on her haggling, more her performance as a whole, in taking a back seat. It seems to me that Laura took the reins, and messed up. She was the one who muffed the tartan deal by just reeling off a list of numbers, each getting a "no". She's the one who came in at £200 on the truffles deal. And she also took the lead in the tikka deal, where she got a minor discount, but nothing special.
Rinse, wash repeat! Am actually staggered she won. Has any winner done so little over the course of the show?. Don't get me wrong I can see exactly why she has done well in her job and rose up the ranks - and good for her a stand out for hard work and a steady hand in that environment. God if I worked in the company she is in I would employ her. Knees up Mother Brown and gets lost, £1 of a roll of tartan, forces Laura to go to a restaurant to by truffles (Laura then takes the flack) and a hundred sodding towels. What am I missing?
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That is not the point in this series though.