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Lord Sugar exposing his favouritism this week?


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Old 09-05-2012, 23:15
boddism
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I think its blatantly obvious now that Lord Sugar has his teachers pets.

Purely on performance alone, Tom deserved to go this week. Even he himself admitted it.

THe person who was responsible for the failure of the task is, in theory, the one who should go each week. Yet this week and the week before, the fault lay clearly at the fault of a particular person, but NEITHER of them went...

Lord Sugar likes to protect his faves??
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Old 09-05-2012, 23:16
Aleksis
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I don't think Tom was a pet fave, Sugar made some unnecessary speculation on Tom's motives for being in the competition.

He was right up Adam's arse in the boardroom though. He was the real pet fave this episode.
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Old 09-05-2012, 23:16
floopy123
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I think Tom has been rigged to win. I think he's like Tom from last year! TWO TOMS! ARGHHH!!!
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Old 09-05-2012, 23:17
Gothic-Dude
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or maybe it was because Tom has shown he is stronger then Laura in past performances.

Tom had a bad week, but he has shown to be a much better all rounder then Laura has.
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Old 09-05-2012, 23:18
MrJamGd
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I disagree about Tom, it was chance whether his gamble would pay off or not and Lord Sugar likes gamblers.
Really don't like the other woman though, always deflects blame from herself
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Old 09-05-2012, 23:18
TXF0429
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Tbh, its the age-old question - Do you fire someone who's done 80% of the work, but made a few mistakes along the way or do you fire someone who barely contributed, but consequently made no mistakes?

The right decision this week for me.
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Old 09-05-2012, 23:33
wonkeydonkey
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I disagree about Tom, it was chance whether his gamble would pay off or not and Lord Sugar likes gamblers.
Really don't like the other woman though, always deflects blame from herself
yes I agree, absolutely. I thought Tom's gamble was a reasonable one, and so did LS obviously. And the other team were lucky to get away with their terrible hosting of the corporate team.
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Old 09-05-2012, 23:45
chrono88
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he obviously likes Adam and wants him to stay as long as possible
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Old 10-05-2012, 00:14
boddism
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he obviously likes Adam and wants him to stay as long as possible
Which shows serious misjudgement of public opinion as Adam is v unpopular.

I can see why Lord Sugas likes him though.

Adam and Tom for the final??
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Old 10-05-2012, 01:11
DavetheScot
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Tbh, its the age-old question - Do you fire someone who's done 80% of the work, but made a few mistakes along the way or do you fire someone who barely contributed, but consequently made no mistakes?

The right decision this week for me.
That doesn't really reflect what we saw. Laura didn't "barely contribute". She was forthcoming with her opinions, and was trying to sell. I think her problem was that, like Adam, she was unfamiliar with art and didn't really know how to approach selling it. Adam decided to blag his way through (I agree with Laura totally on that) and it actually worked for him. Laura thought that a softly-softly method was the way to go, and she was wrong.

I don't think her firing was unfair; she made a mistake in her approach to selling, as Tom did in his approach to selling himself and his team to the artist and in his gamble on the big horror pics (it would have won them the task if they'd sold one, true, but it was never likely to happen). There was a case for firing either of them. Based on the task alone, Tom was probably the one to go. But Laura had been very lucky not to be fired in the junkshop task (where there really was no doubt that she should have gone) and couldn't expect another chance.

That said, I think Lord Sugar's comments on her were rather harsh. She did contribute on the tasks, and the suggestion that she was all talk and no action just doesn't reflect what we saw. She was the first to think of an idea in the bathroom product task, she was quick to put herself forward in the exercise task to devise the routine and to demonstrate it and she usually sold well on selling tasks.
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Old 10-05-2012, 01:12
DavetheScot
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Which shows serious misjudgement of public opinion as Adam is v unpopular.

I can see why Lord Sugas likes him though.

Adam and Tom for the final??
Never forget; Lord Sugar liked Michael Sophocles. That stands forever as a comment on his judgement of people.
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Old 10-05-2012, 02:41
Tissy
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Which shows serious misjudgement of public opinion as Adam is v unpopular.

I can see why Lord Sugas likes him though.

Adam and Tom for the final??
I actually think he is growing on people as the weeks go by, even the audience on YF tonight appeared to like him more than they did at the begining.
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Old 10-05-2012, 02:43
Rutakateki
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That doesn't really reflect what we saw. Laura didn't "barely contribute". She was forthcoming with her opinions, and was trying to sell. I think her problem was that, like Adam, she was unfamiliar with art and didn't really know how to approach selling it. Adam decided to blag his way through (I agree with Laura totally on that) and it actually worked for him. Laura thought that a softly-softly method was the way to go, and she was wrong.
I think it might have been wrong for the show, but I honestly think she had the right approach. She has a customer-centred approach, which is the right way to sell art. I also get the impression, reading between the lines from her comments on YF!, that she spent time talking to customers about the artworks, then left them to think about the decision, and while she was away talking to other customers, more aggressive sellers moved in to capitalise on her groundwork. I don't think her actual sales figures reflected her competence at selling. I'd trust her to sell me something, because I sense that she's interested in selling the thing that suits the buyer, rather than what suits her.

Adam is the opposite of this for me. He could probably sell me some tat easily, but I wouldn't trust him with anything costing over a tenner. He's clearly a blagger.

It was obvious that LS wanted to get rid of Laura- I think she would have gone last week if Jade had brought her into the boardroom instead of Tom.
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Old 10-05-2012, 05:32
Ænima
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I just have to laugh at how much he loves Adam. The man is a total dweeb but Sugars ridiculous bias towards working class muppets who are salesmen means he will get much further than he deserves.

Good news for Adams sake that the show is less about business strategy now and more about selling cheap tat and being lucky.
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Old 10-05-2012, 08:49
BinCat
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I think he made the right choice in firing Laura, Tom took a risk and it didn't work, sure, but Laura didn't actually appear to do anything useful to help the team, and hasn't really been a strong candidate in any of the past weeks either.

I thought he might have made it a double firing though, he hasn't done one of those yet this year has he.
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Old 10-05-2012, 09:06
slouchingthatch
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We're at the stage where Sugar based his decisions on the process as a whole, not individual tasks. Of course he has his favourites - he has read their business plans and seen them all in action, so he has a good sense by now of who might be investable - just as he did with Tom Pellereau last year despite his poor task record.

When will people understand that the outcome of the process has little to do with task performance? You can have a very attractive business to invest in but be a moderate performer in tasks, and they will always win out over a strong weekly performer with no business plan (e.g. Helen Milligan).

Tom has proven himself to be a strong all-rounder and fully deserved to stay. Yes, he made a couple of mistakes and his high-risk strategy back-fired - but equally if he had closed one sale he would have won the task by miles and Sugar would have praised him for his vision and courage. I suspect that extending his existing wine investment business makes for a very attractive investment. He's bullet-proof all the way to interviews, I'd say.

More thoughts over on my blog, if anyone's interested:
http://slouchingtowardsthatcham.com/...-8-street-art/
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Old 10-05-2012, 09:11
4smiffy
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I don't think Tom was a pet fave, Sugar made some unnecessary speculation on Tom's motives for being in the competition.

He was right up Adam's arse in the boardroom though. He was the real pet fave this episode.

I agree with you. I think Sugar likes a risk taker and Tom took a risk, which admittedly didn't come off, but if it had.......

Sugar obviously loves Adam! Personally I can't stand him.
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Old 10-05-2012, 10:05
RAINBOWGIRL22
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I think a few things went in Tom's favour:

1) He took a risk
2) they did not lose the tast by a massive amount
3) he didn't bring Adam back into the boardroom

Right decision IMO.

A top salesperson should be able to sell anything to anyone!
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Old 10-05-2012, 10:16
Miriam_R
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I think Tom and Adam are both quite liked by Lord Sug, but for different reasons. I would think Tom is seen to be the more business savvy candidate on a broader scale than Adam just because he seems to be more than just sales and likes to be very detailed in thought as well as practise. I tend to feel (and this is just personal opinion) that Adam has to wing things more whereas with Tom I tend to think he knows what he's doing before he does it whereas Adam does it and just hopes it works out (and if it doesn't he's still tried it nevertheless). Sugar prob likes that Tom has the ability that he has at his age, and likes Adam because he will see him as that grafter that works hard, straight talker and can achieve in a situ that he wouldn't be expected to.
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Old 10-05-2012, 13:14
slouchingthatch
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I think a few things went in Tom's favour:

1) He took a risk
2) they did not lose the tast by a massive amount
3) he didn't bring Adam back into the boardroom
Also - and this is important now we are quite a long way into the process - Tom has impressed on several previous tasks, effectively earning him a get out of jail free card, and rightly so. Laura hadn't banked anywhere near as many brownie points.
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Old 10-05-2012, 13:16
slouchingthatch
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I think Tom and Adam are both quite liked by Lord Sug, but for different reasons.
Tom has certainly demonstrated that he can be both a clear thinker and also decisive - good traits for a potential investment.

Adam certainly does wing it, and for sure Sugar can see some of himself in it, but unless he has a fantastic business idea it's hard to see Sugar taking a punt on it. Sugar's an experienced and sensible businessman - he's not going to invest £250k on a wing and a prayer. He wants a safe bet, ideally in a business he understands and can add value to. That's why Tom Pellereau was such a good fit last year.
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Old 10-05-2012, 13:17
KieranDS
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Tom didn't deserve to go OP. He's a very strong candidate. Laura was riff-raff and deserved to go.
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Old 10-05-2012, 13:21
slouchingthatch
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Tom didn't deserve to go OP. He's a very strong candidate. Laura was riffraff and deserved to go.
I wouldn't go so far as to say riff-raff, but Laura was never a strong candidate. I'm sure she runs her bridal shop very well - and there's a lot to admire in that - but Sugar is looking for an investment with scale, and Laura never struck me as someone who has 'big ideas'.

Tom, on the other hand, has a very investable business already with a good turnover, and has proven several times he is strategic (in a good way!), makes his own decisions and has a good business brain on him. Be interesting to see what his business plan is - I'm betting it will be much better thought through than any of the others. He's been my tip to win since week 2, and I see no reason to change that voew despite last night's defeat.
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Old 10-05-2012, 21:37
brangdon
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THe person who was responsible for the failure of the task is, in theory, the one who should go each week.
That's never how it works.

I don't think her firing was unfair; she made a mistake in her approach to selling, as Tom did in his approach to selling himself and his team to the artist and in his gamble on the big horror pics (it would have won them the task if they'd sold one, true, but it was never likely to happen).
Several people were interested in the big horror pictures. It seemed to me that they could have sold one, had they been better salespeople. I don't think it was a mistake to pick that artist at all.

The real problem is that the wrong team won. Gabrielle's mistakes seemed more serious than Tom's.
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Old 10-05-2012, 21:56
BMLisa
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I think whilst Tom made a couple of mistakes, and took a big risk, he didn't actually make the glaringly obvious mistakes that Gabrielle's team did.

He was unlucky not to get pure evil and I think he took a reasonable risk which I think LS admired.

Gabrielle's team performed far worse over the whole task.

Neglecting to flatter an artist enough and taking a calculated risk are hardly on a par with neglecting to find out your clients basic requirements for a commission and then neglecting to pay your client any attention.

I don't think LS could fire Tom when he was effectively the only person in two teams who secured a corporate commission.

Laura looked out of her depth all the way through which was probably reported by Nick, and she performed extremely poorly in a task where you'd expect Adam to be far more out of his comfort zone.

It was the right decision.
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