Let me say up front that I don't rate Jason and certainly don't think he has any chance of winning. He is also lying in a bed largely of his own making. And yet ...

He dug his own hole with some appalling performances in the first couple of tasks, since when it seems clear to me that all his PMs have ensured he is put in a position where he can do the least damage (which has been the kitchen in 2 of the last 3 weeks). That's understandable, but he's also getting no opportunity to shine. I very much doubt we'll see him voted in as PM again - Sugar will have to name him - or even as a sub-team leader. He's effectively been black-balled, but even though he has limited talent he at least tries his best.

That's not how you treat an employee who's struggling in the real world. You either give them the chance (with some support) to shine at something they can be good at, or you performance manage them out of the organisation. You don't just sideline them and give them menial tasks.

While I understand that PMs don't have the time to manage the situation sensitively because they are driven by the need to win a task and can't afford to take a risk which could lead to defeat, it does mean that poor Jason is effectively resigned to his fate. In some ways I feel sorry for him, because of all the candidates he seems one of the most honest and the least likely to play political games.

Compare him to say, Natalie, who I know some here rate but to my eye deliberately hides on tasks and then becomes overly aggressive when pressured in the boardroom. It's not the behaviour of a professional businessperson. I've had plenty of occasions where a colleague or superior has said or done something really silly or annoying - screaming shrilly and hurling around loaded accusations (as she did with Zee) regardless of whether they are right or not is not how things get done in business, and you can be sure Sugar will have noted that.

Anyhow, just some random thoughts.

Oops deleted my comment - got my Jason and Jordan mixed up

I like Jason he seems a nice guy and the other candidates seem to like him too outside of the tasks. He does seem to get ripped to shreds once on task, with the beer task he had Zee (super salesman, not!!) screaming in his face, and on the 'Farm Food" task once he dared to show his face outside and tried some street selling we had Myles (I think) shouting for him to be sent back inside.

He obviously has no or very little business sense, proven by the fact he's never actually had a job, he's not very street wise, again probably because he's spent all his adult life in Universities.

But he obviously has a great business plan, whether he has the skills to use it is another matter. Would I want to be his business partner, no I wouldn't, would he be good on a lads night, yes he probably would.

Candidates I think I'd happily spend a night in the pub chatting with: Jason, possibly Myles, er, that's about it.

Candidates I'd actually consider going into business with: well, let's see what their plans are. But it would take a lot to make me want to work with either Luisa or Natalie, whereas if Jason had the right plan and simply needed some guidance, I can actually see that working.

Jason's surname is Leech. Not the most attractive sounding surname, is it!

Once again your talking sense, Jason's a nice guy, and obviously has some sort of good idea, I just get the feeling that you'd have to work hard for your £250k investment in him.

Not raw enough

In some ways he's a bit like Tom, who needed someone with a hard commercial edge to keep him focussed. Of course, Tom had an attractive existing product with his nail-file, while Jason is completely unproven. Some investments would be just a case of handing over money, setting ground rules and then letting an entrepreneur go out and create magic - others (like Jason) would be quite high maintenance. So even if he has the best idea in the world, Sugar will have to weigh up whether the cost in terms of time as well as money is worth it. (Not that it would necessarily be Sugar's own time, but it would need a chunk of time from a senior business manager in his team to support Jason.)

I wonder what his plan is, tours of ancient Greece/Italy?

Looks like he gets his chance to shine next week, if he doesn't he's gone I think

What would that involve? A trip to the British museum?

I'm hoping his plan is reviving dead languages,and an online educational tool to help you learn Homer and Virgil without ever having to read them.

The other candidates have no reason to give Jason a helping hand - they are there to win not help someone else!
Using him as labour is entirely sensible if they don't think he has any other quality to exploit. On the one US apprentice series I watched they called it "busy work" - stuff that needs doing but doesn't endanger the task

"Busy work" is spot on. I'm not suggesting they should offer Jason charity - merely that he is now in a position where it is difficult for him to shine. And, of course, he is in that position largely because of his terrible efforts in the first two weeks, so it's hardly bad luck that he is where he is.

My point is that once your fellow candidates have lost confidence in you, it's very difficult to dig yourself out of that hole.

I was thinking more about tours to ancient battles like Marathon, or taking you to more unusual historical sites etc.

Wild guess mind you, as they said last night on YBF it would be funny if he came out with a cockney accent and wanted to sell car stereos...lol

Now THAT would be funny ...

You know what? If his idea is a Tussauds type tour of ancient Greece (like the Jack the Ripper type yoke), he may be onto something. If not, I'm so applying next year with that idea.

Jason going all cock-er-ney would be awesome.

I have such a soft spot for Jason, esp as he always seems to work with Luisa as no one else can stand/ignore her! He reminds me slightly of Tom who won in 2011!

When he leaves the show i'm sure a few companies might take interest in him cos he stands out clear to be a very nice guy he don't get involved in the tit for tat give him a job and he is doing it too his best.

He should be the new Mr Bean!

In a couple of years there will be a vacancy for an over-educated, bumbling buffoon. Mayor of London. He's a shoe in, just needs to f*ck someone's wife.

They keep giving him this busy work and then they can't bring him into the boardroom as he hasn't contributed to the task failing - cos he hasn't contributed. It's Catch 22.

Seems like a nice guy but why would any the contestants want to try and make the other candidates shine? They are there to prove themselves and win the money, not help others get closer to it.

They actually let him do quite a lot of negotiation in Dubai last week I thought. At some point he was part of the negotiations for all three items his subteam bought, and actually appeared to buy the coffee pot single-handed. Jordan also was very keen for him to do individual sales on the product design task, despite his disastrous showing the week before, just to give him another chance.

He has very definitely been pushed to the edge of things, but it's been better than it looked like it might be in Task 2. Moving him away from Alex/Zeeshaan I think helped.

I like the fact that everything just goes over his head. In the boardroom LAS asked him what he'd done etc on the task, he said his piece and then shut up, he even mentioned "he doesn't like and doesn't want to get involved with all the bitching and arguing". Good on him, his make or break will be as PM, but even then if he totally screws up like Tom did, there's no guarantee he'll go.

His main problem is he doesn't seem to have a quick business like brain, and comes across as bumbling and slow, but leave the guy alone, he puts his head down and gets on with the job at hand, much like Tom.

Fair comment, especially about Dubai, where I think he was given a very specific role to play which he played quite well. The most noticeable thing is that he is never given sub-team leadership and has been shunted into the kitchen in both the farm shop task (by Luisa, I think) and this week (by Francesca). I doubt he volunteered for both, but he does turn it into a positive by just getting on with it and not constantly bitching about why his talents are being wasted in the backroom.

I think he's very inexperienced in business but is probably less of a fool than he was made out to be in those first two weeks. He is undeniably great comedy value, though.

It's easy to forget that Jason is actually 1-0 as PM, although that was way back on task 1 and not in any way down to his leadership skills. With Alex now the only remaining candidate yet to be PM, I think we can be sure that Sugar will force the issue and make him PM again sooner rather than later - it's pretty unlikely his teammates will vote him in as PM.