Just went through a re-watch (OK generally just to have a wee swoon at Ms Samra again - that aside) Every one has a go at Laura for getting zero orders in task 2 (exclusivity with Boots aside and yes WRONG) but this stella(r) Stella leading and controlling the boys to victory... One Hundred beach towels ordered - Total. And every one thinks she should be in the final?

Just asking did I miss something? Especially after the last episode?

Obviously people's opinions aren't formed about a candidate on a single episode and that alone, it's the whole series so far that should be taken into account.....

Liz should've gone, Laura was one of my favourites. The way Liz behaved after the Boardroom was nasty, and Stella shouldn't've had to put up with it.

Good point and as I said (because of the snow not just this one ep but in particular this episode - got a day off watched the Apprentice?????!!!??? to date in a day!) I have realised in one fell swoop rather than week to week (subliminally forgetting things) she has actually done v. little even compared to Baggs - now that is some going. Was only when I re-watched today that it hit me. Was a Stella/Liz fan before that - well Sandeesh- but for serious winners.

I should say the boys (well the three left) are actually really good on the re-watch just the wee things that add up. Which surprised me cause Jamie is smug, Baggs a tw*t and Chris a drone. Now thinking one of them will diffidently win this.

I assume you don't own a business 'cos employing the likes of Laura ahead of Liz would be business suicide. In just week two she conclusively proved that she a) had no control over her team b) threw a hissy fit when she didn't get her way and c) couldn't spot a good business offer when it slapped her in the face. Seriously. Think before you post.

In week one the boys were a complete and utter shambles I mean REALLY bad.

Stella took control over them and it was a joy to watch how she assertively managed them.

You beat me to it. Yes, the boys spectacularly imploded in that first episode; though it would have been difficult for them not to win the 2nd task - Laura’s team might as well have stayed in bed.

Stella did organize the boys well; she didn't stand for any of the testosterone fuelled posing from the first task and really helped them to focus.

In the real world you match people to jobs.

A job for which Laura would be ideal would not suit Liz and vice versa.

Perhaps you should have a bit of a think about the wider realities before you post?

Some of us have been saying that all along. She was lucky to win the second task, and she's not done anything impressive since. She's obviously not a bad candidate, but she doesn't stand out as a good one, either.

What's sad is that she's nearly always on the same team as Joanna, so it's hard for us to tell whether her victories were actually Joanna's.

Well I've had a lot of a think and I still can't think of a job in which Laura is more emplyable than Liz. I'm sure Laura has abilities that weren't evidenced on the show. Perhaps she is great with children and would make a superb au pair but from what we've seen on the show, her business skills are very lacking.

With the greatest respect I think that tells us more about the limits of your knowledge of the vast range of talents and, possibly more important, temperaments, that are required in various business situations.

In some jobs you need someone who is meticulous and in others someone who is given to flashes of inspiration. It's unlikely that the same person would be ideal in both types.

We have only seen a microscopic subset of the talents required in business and even then our knowledge of how the of the candidates would behave in normal situations where they have not been continually subjected to extraordinarily high pressure is woefully lacking.

I fully agree Jepson and as pointed out Laura could have some good talents however from what we have seen on the show Liz has proven superior to Laura in every respect. Even Liz's bitchy passive-aggressive moan at Stella wasn't as bad as Laura's many strops throughout the series.

I don't actually think that Liz is the best candidate but still beleive that it would be difficult to want Laura for a job that Liz has applied for too.

Also, given my psychology degree and previous learning of personality tests I do feel I am somewhat aware of the various traits that are suitable in business. If Laura applied for a job that required screening then I fear she would fail. She may be a delightful person and certainly the other candidates seem to think so but her high level of emotional reaction and her tendency to demotivate quickly are an achilles heel for anyone in any business.

Although thinking about it perhaps she would be a better actress than Liz so I take back everything I said about her not being as employable as Liz. If LordAlan is looking for an actress he may well have dismissed the wrong candidate.

To get the thread back on topic, I do feel there is a tendency on this show to read too much into winning/losing records. It's far more important to make decent contributions to the team, win or lose. Whilst Stella has won a lot she hasn't made too many key decisions or had flashes of brilliance.

Her 2 wins as PM were down to Laura scuppering the Boots deal in the beach task and Joanne super-selling in the crisp task.

In a show where people are fired for mistakes a candidate like Stella will always last a while. If the show was one where candidates were awarded points for outstanding achievements Stella would be lagging behind the likes of Joanne.

No I don't own my own business, thank God. I work for the NHS.

However in reply to your last line, I'll write what the hell I want!

I think the sequence from 23-20 to 24-50 on this weeks show should have killed her chances. She's phoning Gordon Ramsey for truffles while Laura is pointing out to her twice she needs a cheap supplier ...and Stella steams on. Stella's the one who most missed the point that price is key and after she's actually been told twice by two other team members . She ignores Laura and, judging by the look on her face after Liz asks to be consulted, she then ignores Liz's instruction to call her back before buying. She also claims £200 is the right price when she's the one who found the correct price - she's actually the only one who has pricing data to use and she ignores it and miscalculates 50/1000 x 2000 as 200.

Exactly. Furthermore, I'm peeved that Laura was blamed for wading in at £200: had Stella led the negotiation, they would have paid even more than they did as Stella had typically been asking for discounts around the 2% mark whereas at least Laura got about 20%! Stella was all-round terrible: stubborn, insubordinate, lacking in common sense and afflicted with an inability to grasp the simple concept of haggling.

She's the worst candidate left. Easily.

I think Stella was set on the wrong track by the information that white truffles were a rarity. That sidetracked her into thinking that the East End, as suggested by Laura, would not be realistic place to attempt to find the truffles and that the likes of Gordon Ramsey were the people who'd know where to get them.

This task certainly showed up Stella's flaws, and haggling plainly isn't her strength. But they've all shown flaws, and that won't necessarily count too much against her.

That said, it is true that if Stella had wanted to try to go below £200, Laura had effectively sold the pass.

I'm actually gutted Laura didn't let Stella lead as we would have seen her asking for £3 off...and looking really pleased on getting it!

Well, that will remain forever unknown!

Unless they used their phonecall to Liz as an excuse to try to bring the price down. Laura made a mistake, but they had a way out of it.

That's laughable.

We've seen so little that only an idiot would make a decision based solely upon it.


Then you are completely clueless about the vast gamut of personality types that are needed in business overall.


:yawn:

I'm afraid that when anyone tries to 'pull rank' on the internet by claiming degrees they lose a lot of credibility because any 'erbert can do that.

Particularly when the person in question has demonstrated their woeful lack of understanding of the range of types of people required by business.


Well, that would rather depend on what she was being screened for, wouldn't it?


Can I just give you a bit of a clue here as the lecturers on your 'psychology degree' seem to have missed some very important factors?

If you base your entire judgement of people on their behaviour when they have been artificially stressed to levels that are unrealistic over the time periods involved you are going to do a completely crap job unless you've testing people for jobs such as, for example, astronauts or in the military.

Certainly there are times of stress in business but in this process they are amplified to an almost absurd degree in order to promote the foul ups and tantrums that we see from a lot of the candidates.

Additionally, if, in real life, you were to base your assessment of a candidate on the results of something edited neither for accuracy or honesty but to make entertaining TV you really should be fired on the spot.


Well, make your mind up.

A lot of sales and marketing is about acting - I'm surprised they didn't mention that on your 'psychology degree'.

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.

That point I most defiantly am not arguing with. Still the fact remains total sales = 100 units! Poor in anyone's language (well unless you sell jumbo jets)