The Apprentice: Dr 'Dough'little is toast

Grievances asserting leadership indecision were levied against militant Melissa, resulting in Synergy dressed in health and safety compliant gear but with nothing to bake. Conflict dominated her management style as she berated Alex on his numeracy qualifications shortly after he provided critical numbers, rescuing the pitch to café brand ‘Apostrophe’. Alex had the last laugh, proudly boasting about his A* maths GCSE. Once again, long hours and night working pushed the boundaries of the Working Time Regulations, triggering complaints of sleep deprivation and (in Shibby’s case) no time to ‘break wind’. 

Synergy’s knight in shining armour was former Royal Marine Commando, Christopher Farrell who made up the lost time by running the bakery like a military operation. Proving the importance of a transferable skill set, Christopher impressed by ensuring the bakery ran efficiently and at optimum capacity. Christopher’s potential team leader skills shone through, winning him brownie points with the usually hard-nosed Nick Hewer.

Shibby’s medical precision failed to cut it as his various disciplinary offences included failure to communicate with his manufacturing team mates and general poor management of Apollo. Shibby and his pitching partners in crime, Laura and Paloma Vivenco (senior marketing manager) excelled in pulling in orders. The problem? Over promising and under delivering (by 984 bread rolls). The result? 600 hungry hotel guests left to share 16 rolls. Shibby’s recommendation of the Atkins diet went down like a stale rock cake but the unamused chef cheered up upon receipt of compensation to the tune of £130.

Discriminatory remarks flew in the boardroom in a frantic scramble for survival. Shibby provided guidance on sales technique to Recruitment Consultant Sandeesh Samra, suggesting she could attract customers by taking off her top.

Unsurprisingly, Sugar was unimpressed with ‘Dr Do-little’s’ improper use of expenses and misconduct and delivered the ‘business virgin’ the bad news of his terminal prognosis.

Paloma and Sandeesh have survived this time but they will need to take on board the constructive criticism offered by their prospective employer. Joanna and Stuart ‘the brand’ Baggs appear to have adhered to Sugar’s performance improvement plan and toned down their behaviour following Sugar’s final warnings. Stuart even became one of the top sellers in his team, so perhaps he is one to watch after all.

Stand by for continued carnage next week as it’s back to the drawing board to design an innovative product – any more book stand ideas Joanna? 

Daniela Cohen, Sheridans - Media Lawyers

This article was first published on hrmagazine.co.uk