Richard will walk this, regardless of how anybody here perceives his character.

First and foremost, Lord Sugar likes money - and Richard's the only one I see putting forward a credible business plan. Judging by his business field, it's likely to be a digital marketing agency of some sort - proven and established type of business in which Richard has a track record of success. Again, ticking all of Sugar's boxes.

Look at recent winners,Mark Wright / Ricky Martin - he is winner mould identikit.

No wonder the others are gunning for him.

It certainly seems that way, but then it all depends on his business plan. He could do a Mark/Ricky and win, but he could also go down the Neil/Roisin route and fall when the business plans are revealed despite being such a strong candidate. Either way, I'd be amazed if he doesn't at the very least get to the interview stage.

It depends on his Business Plan, if LS like it then he'll win.

Richard is the kind of candidate I usually can't stand, but for some reason I quite like him. I think he has quite a good sense of humour and isn't afraid to look silly in the tasks

I like Charleine too, her rivalry with Richard seems quite good-natured. I reckon they get on ok outside the tasks.

And the most unlikeable candidate IMO is definitely Jenny Celerier from series 4

I agree and I like him after this week too. He wasn't afraid to look silly to try and get people into their shop. He's in my top 4.

He's too smarmy really. A proper greaseball.... possibly no less so than some of the other guys in there but maybe it's just his face. Like a fat faced even more effeminate Jack Whitehall.

Richard rocks, so what if he's smug, he's smugly endearing.

I don't particularly like him but he was funny last night. At least he made some effort to try and attract some customers.

He's growing on me, maybe he's taking the feedback about him seriously?

In the first week, he seemed like a bit of a nob, but he started growing on me after that. In a way, he seems like one of the more 'normal' people on the show, in that he's not some bullish, clichéd Alpha male type, or really bitchy like some of the women have been. He seems intelligent, and is able to laugh at himself and the situations they get into, like when he got left behind after the handyman task, or when Charleine kept asking to talk to David instead of him.

Charleine, by contrast, I find to be a total mentalist.

Credited by Sugar for the victory....gotta love it.

Credited by Sugar for the victory....gotta love it.

Charleine had gone from quite a good prospect in the first few weeks, to a complete head case. Makes you wonder now about the "fight"

Couldn't fault Ricardo last night. He was spot on that this task was as all about the bottom line and his penny pinching got sir Alan all excited, and won the task. Selina would have failed without him, and what an awful character she is. Who on earth says 'i don't like children'. It's like saying I don't like people. Vile.

Selina called Richard a 'breath of fresh air'...and then Richard later said Selina's breath stank...lol

I reckon they're shagging, Selina wouldn't condemn him, despite the accusations of enslaving Vana.

I imagine quite a lot of people don't like children. It's not compulsory.

Substitute it for old people/short people or some other kind of human being. Even if she feels that way it's not something that is going to endear you to a prospective employer.

Unless her prospective employer is a playschool assistant then I don't think someone's feelings on children is relevant at all. Furthermore, in a cold, most clinical way, I imagine many employers would rather their female employees didn't want children.

^^ was thinking the same thing

Might be, but he again showed a very nasty streak in his character. People go on about Selina and Charleine, but Richard is just as bad at that as they are. The task win would not have hinged on good or bad manner, I would think.

And I don't believe that the win was due to Richard alone, as the other team was a total shambles and if they had upped their game (gotten nothing deducted and I think the t-shirts alone were 175 pounds in costs) then they would have won instead.

BIB it helped to win the task but I thought the show was supposed to be about business acumen. I know. It is far from it but that is the pretence. For this type of business the key is customer satisfaction. That way your clients will spread the word and you will get repeat business. You need to make a profit, obviously, but if that leads to refunds and clients being annoyed you won't get new clients. Soon you will have no business at all. Based on real-world business practice, his strategy was completely wrong and Sugar's praise unwarranted.

I don't like children either. They're bloody annoying.

Richard's penny pinching wouldn't have resulted in negative feedback. Kids like burgers, and most parents would prefer to offer their kids a barbecue than a sugar-laden afternoon tea so that was a sound strategy for attracting repeat business. You don't need to throw money at kids to enable them to have a good time, and creative people need to be reined in, otherwise they'll overstretch both money and time.

I like Richard. He and Brett are the two I would employ if I wanted a job done, and I'd be happy to work under either of them. They are prepared to get their hands dirty, yet can also manage people and delegate. I enjoy working in any capacity with confident, positive, hard-working, decisive, goal-orientated, self-motivated people with good communication/inter-personal skills, and a smart, clever approach to tasks. There's nothing wrong with someone having a bit of self-confidence and looking smug when they put their butt on the line and it paid off.

Richard is the kind of person I'd employ to help me achieve things quickly, yet I wouldn't want to be anywhere near him whilst those things were being achieved.

I agree with some of what you are saying such as that you don't have to throw money about to make a party a success. But in this case the penny pinching led to much of the dissatisfaction. The food seemed a bit shonky and not that well received (although this was only hinted at, I admit). It certainly took a long time and this was mentioned as something that annoyed the parents. The cake was a joke and would certainly have been seen as a poor effort. Also, Richard's refusal to get the sparkly stuff for the gift bags showed penny pinching, arrogance, and dishonesty. While it may not have made a difference getting those things may have led to the woman being happier to at least take the bags, if not necessarily buy them.

All these things (and there were some others) directly would have led to the parents being less happy with the service. In the task this would mean affecting the refund, but more importantly in the real world would have led to no positive review / word of mouth. I am not saying all the negative feedback would be down to him but a good deal of it would be. But hey he squeezed a slightly better margin from some burgers and cake so Sugar is fine and dandy with that. That's how you build your reputation it would seem. Short term gains with a whiff of conman.

I am not sure I would go along with your description of Richard but it's all subjective anyway so fair enough. You like him and rate him and to be fair you are not alone in that, whatever I may be saying. The smugness and arrogance though is, in my opinion, always a negative trait. It doesn't matter if you did a good job, people who act like that make enemies and lose perspective. A bit of grace in victory is priceless in business or any other field.