So what was the point in all the tasks and jumping through hoops for the last few months?

The Apprentice is just like a bloated version of Dragons' Den now.

I don't see the point of it in it's current format. Ricky should be able to get £250k from a bank.

I just said a similar thing on the DS headline. After many years of watching, I don't think I will bother anymore.
You're not telling me Lord Sugar doesn't see the business plans until Week12 and they have no bearing on his decision who he fires beforehand??!

There must have been some real business plan turkeys if Jade's was fourth best though...

I thought that, but tonight when Jade said her business plan was a call centre, Alan Sugar seemed to dismiss it almost immediately. Surely he wouldn't have put her through to the final if it was all based on the business plan.

Exactly. The whole thing's a total fix.

And, yet another recruitment agency? I'm pretty disappointed in Alan Sugar if that's what presses his buttons.

Also the two strongest candidates throughout have been Ricky and Tom, so old format or new format, one of those would have won - in fact, Ricky would have been a clear winner under the old format, he has been one of the best candidates across all series - Jim with substance.

Maybe it was the best of the women's and there couldn't be an all-male final?

Could be, or else Adam's business plan must have been horrific!

Of course it's about the business plan - would you invest money into a complete pile of crap just because someone had been the best performer on a few tasks of a TV show, but they came up with rubbish?

Eh, what point are you making?

We didn't have the situation like we did last year where there was one outstanding candidate; all of them had broadly similar track records in the competition. Maybe Nick had a slight edge, but I don't think you can honestly say he was vastly better than everyone else overall.

Its now just Dragons Den Mark II . The tasks seem to be totally irrelevant to those guys doing the interviewing and their opinions are all that matters in the end, and not the tasks it seems.

Just that the person the audience at home wants to win - someone with the best track record, someone who would be the winner under the old system - could come up with a stinker of a business plan, and LS shouldn't be forced to invest in that business, even if the person is the most winner-material. It is his own money after all.

Must admit when they had to state their business plans briefly at the beginning - I thought they were all pretty rubbish - especially Jade's.

I think they went out in the right order though - first out Jade, then Nick and you could see him really wavering between Tom and Ricky.

I'm still wondering why Helen managed to be the runner up with her stinker of an idea last year - Susan's was a far better bet than a concierge company....

Helen's definitely the worst of all in the new format. Think LS was surprised she came up with such a terrible idea. Hey, I really fancy a cup of tea and a cheese sandwich - I know, I'll ring the Concierge!

I don't think anyone should be too shocked it comes down to the business plan. Tom, from last series, was the worst winner (based on stats) but he convinced Sugar his time machine/coffee maker was great so he got the money. I looked on Amazon and they've sold out of his time machine/coffee maker!

But Helen was probably the best candidate ever if LS was looking for an Apprentice . I think she had the most wins and on one task raised the most money ever. Plus she had a great personality.

I mean look at all the business ideas rejected on Dragons Den. A lot of those rejected have gone on to prove they indeed had a winning idea.

This argument annoys me. Some of the plans to make the final have been rather poor and if he was firing on the basis of the business plans then Jade (and Helen!) would not have made it that far.

Not sure of that. I doubt if Jenna, Maria. Gabi. Laura or Katie would have come up with two plans that were politically unacceptable and enormous gambles, or Nick's dream. If anything, the shop keepers may have come up with something very solid, but perhaps on too small a scale. Why would he be at all interested in cold phone calling or hedge funds , and he could have rejected Nicks plan as unneccessary on day one ? Yet he kept them and didn't keep the more solid and viable plans that were likely to come from the shopkeepers wanting to expand or go onto the net.

He's still got the basic problem from last series . Novel ideas are untried and often silly and have no good figures attached. Most ideas are unviable. There's only been a nail file and Ricky with an established record in his business that have been fit to invest in so far - so he ends up with not much of a competition.

Of course he does which is why he saved Jade's neck when she was a dreadful PM. I couldn't even be arsed to watch it tonight - in fact no, that's not right I completely forgot it was on which is how it's gone down for me the last two series. Time to knock it on the head or revert it back to its original format.

I didn't watch it but from what I'm reading Jade's business plan was shit. So after all the big I am from her, she hadn't got a good business plan, which makes it even worst that barrow boy didn't fire her when he should have. Perplexed of the Black Country but that's probably why I couldn't be arsed/didn't remember to watch. For a final, the threads on here say it all; there's hardly loads of them.

I think it came down to education as well.

Tom has had it handed to him on a plate, while Ricky worked hard to get where he is.

I imagine there will be.

I'd love to know the business plans of candidates who don't make the final.

Well another show over...good luck to Ricky Anyway....nice to see his mother in the audience, bless her!!

To provide entertainment for the viewers in letting us watch them muck up tasks and make fools of themselves.

It also helps Lord Sugar to whittle down 16 people to 4 by getting rid of the nincompoops and the bombastic booliaks before he gets down to the final 4 sort-of reasonable people.