I promise I'm not just picking on you, Jess, but can I ask what the original idea you thought y'all were going with was?

Well, Roxie. We were like ships in the night as I do not recall speaking to you on more than perhaps one occasion throughout the task. I don't recall any team spirit whatsoever, everyone was very much independent and unless I had asked questions about who was doing what I doubt I'd have ever known.

George was a good PM imo. He always listened, asked the team for any suggestions, made sure that each member played a part in the task and knew what they were doing. The only thing I would say is that it could've been more organized in advance so we weren't rushing to get it all posted at the last moments of the deadline.

It's fine, David!

The idea that I suggested, and the team adapted was one where the customer would play an active part in the construction of their meal. Whether it be choosing from fresh vegetables or spice levels and meat, the consumer was effectively (with restrictions) building the meal that they wanted to eat.

The reason is, a lot of people weren't here at the same time. I really think however it turned out amazingly!

Other than our organisation towards the end, George led a very respectable PM performance. He was always reachable, fair and indeed tried his very best throughout. I thought George did very well.

I came up with the idea of the exotic theme and having four different cuisines (essentially being from prime British tourist destinations). I felt very passionate about this idea as the traditional British family is so obsessed with visiting all these extravagant, exotic holidays, so I thought this concept essentially brought the holiday to the family - 'bringing the holiday to the local high street'. Why go abroad when you can experience the tropical holiday at home? The idea behind the rotary plates was Naruto's which I thought was a fantastic idea. And it was Arran's idea as to which four cuisines our concept should include.

The only people that I didn't speak to were Roxie and Tom (for obvious reasons, as he didn't show his face) so I'd hardly say it was 'a lot of people'. For the problems I believed that we faced, I thought that we did do a sterling effort. It just could have been so much more.

The way you've worded this makes it sound like we were all massively against the idea of being PM. I can't speak for the others; but I do recall saying that I would be PM if nobody else was up for it, although I wouldn't have been around on Saturday so I didn't think it'd be the best idea for the team. Just clearing that up.~

This has gone quiet?

Oh nvm there's a page two.

A fairly positive appraisal of George as a PM overall it appears, although I did get a slightly different response from a team member who is not able to be here right now...

Inspired, whose idea was it to go down the 'ethical foods' route? Was this a unanimous decision, or were there people less enthused about the idea than others?

I apologise if I worded that in a confusing way. I can't remember exactly what was said, I just remember that out of the four of us there, I was the only one who actively wanted to do it.

I feel slightly confused by Jess's statement as we decided very much on the first day what our idea was going to be - the exotic holiday idea with four cuisines from prime British tourist destinations. Our idea was essentially the same throughout the process.

Yes to refute George, I had already informed Niall of my midterm Monday so I couldn't possible be PM, but I still gave 120% and George would attest to that. But to be PM I had to be completely focused on the task and I couldn't do that. Also, this was my first task on any DS apprentice so I needed to experiment how tasks go.

Also Aptitude, I have heard that inactivity and absences appear to be somewhat of an issue in your team. Can anyone give me any further insight into these issues, and what impact it had on the team and the finished product as a result?

That would be because you weren't around at this time, Roxie. We had discussed the idea I stated upthread and I had gone off for a while to research the plausibility of it. It wasn't until I returned, with no prior warning, that I was told that an idea had been set in stone.

We had come up with an idea before you had come. We then switched to yours once everyone liked it.

In regards to the first statement we all know who that is and it was because he was against the whole idea. George handled him really well.

The idea was brought up by George initially, he suggested it and I think Shadi added quite a bit to it as well with some of his "background knowledge" (without sounding pretentious) and Mitchell was pretty much against it although came up with no better ideas apart from wanting to copy Subway, so we went with George's as the rest of the team were on board for it.

I wanted to do the idea of a full on vegetarian restaurant but most of the others were against that because it didn't target the "majority" so we sorta added to it and came up with this.

It was decided on before I got to the group chat. When I came there, it had already been chosen as a concept. And I did express my concern last night to George about the lack of direction or a theme when it came to our restaurant but we tried to make up for that by having a diverse menu that kind of makes us a diner which pleases all tastes.

No Stacey I wasn't in the chat when you guys were deciding on the theme. I had actually come after the meeting was adjourned and the theme was decided. So maybe it was Steve?

Tom, for whatever reason and I wish him the best, wasn't around for the duration of the task. I sent him a private message over DS at the same time I messaged Roxie to inform him of my Skype details but I didn't hear back.

Arran had internet issues this afternoon, which meant that myself and Naruto feared we'd need a Plan B. Thankfully, Arran was around although with limited internet which therefore I feel hindered the way our pitch flowed. Also, as a result of this Emma's work for the task was not posted in the task thread before the deadline - as only Arran was given the correct links.

I was active for the most part, I'd say. I may have been away for a few hours here and there, but, upon my return I always ensured that I'd catch up and make sure that I was aware of what was going on: if only because I hadn't been PMed to tell me the latest developments as I thought I would have been.

Oh right. The first day itself is very much a brainstorm I would have thought, so maybe we should have clarified with you before and discussed it further. Apologies for that, we should not have things in stone too soon. I think it was that the whole team went on board with the concept so we all thought it was fine to continue.

And regarding the inactivity Lord Sugar - it did not make much of a difference I feel. Everyone met their deadlines on the final day - and yes we could have fine tuned our ideas with more time but nevertheless we had sorted out the concept and the basic gist of all the other parts of the restaurant on the first day. Again yes we may have set things in stone too quickly but we did get everything done and efficiently I feel.

I think Tom was very inactive as he didn't really come on. But the main issue for me with all this, was that some people didn't update their progress, because it would've much more productive if when people went off that they asked people for their opinions.

Tom wasn't here at all. Roxie was away for a bit due to personal commitments but not too long. Apart from that, people were just not on at the same time or were absent from group discussions. It did have an impact, as i don't think communication after the first night was very well. Everyone was just doing their own thing, only talking if online or asking for something.