Thursday 2 April 2009

The Apprentice - series 5, ep 2: Ignite burn bright as Empire implode

The girls’ Ignite team pulled off a fine maiden win of the series after the boys’ Empire team imploded disastrously and made a loss.

Sir Alan asked the teams to provide a corporate catering service to business professionals. Ignite chose Yasmina as team leader while the ludicrously-named Rocky stepped up for Empire.

Having a restaurateur in charge, rather than a sandwich chain owner, seemed to me to leave Ignite in a favourable position for the second week running.

But, unlike week one when they failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage, the girls looked far better organised straightaway in coming up with their Mediterranean food idea.

Empire ended up plumping for a rather vague Olympics 2012 idea with their food representing the five continents of the world and the five Olympic rings.

And they only made it worse when they decided it was a good idea to wear togas to the evening event and to make peanut butter sandwiches!

Poor Country Durham lad Philip was left with the hopeless task of selling to the client at the ridiculous price of £60 per head on Rocky's instructions after a brief conversation with Howard.

Philip had to back down to £15 per head in one of the most cringe-worthy scenes of the series so far - even Philip himself called it "hideous".

Not that Ignite were much better in selling.

Sir Alan's aide Margaret Mountford rubbed her brow as Kate struggled to remember the most basic details about their menu.

And while Empire did not manage to get any lunch orders as compared to the Ignite's two offices, they proved a hit when selling their food on the South Bank to tourists.

But this task was only ever going to go one way even though Ignite's lunch suffered from a lack of variation, had no salad dressing and even contained a hair!

On the evening, Empire wore their tacky togas and covered the tables in a gold sheet, making it look "like a brothel" to Philip who had easily the most awareness.

And Sir Alan's aide Nick Hewer, who followed Empire, said: "Generally speaking, the togas have not gone down very well.

"Some of the older women are more appreciative but the younger ones find it more of a turnoff."

Despite the cheapness of their food, the lack of any chicken in some of the chicken wraps and the serving of some of the largest bruschettas known to man, Ignite at least steered clear of the peanut butter.

Their presentation was better and, unsurprisingly, their kitchen was run with military precision by restaurateur team leader Yasmina.

In all, Ignite made a tidy profit of £651.43 even after their client paid a reduced fee of £500, down from £750, for the evening service.

Empire clearly did not take heed of the girls' over-spending in week one and splurged more than £800.

Much of it went on their horrific presentation, which lost them more money after their client halved the fee to £375 for the evening service.

It meant a loss of £160.76 and so while the girls enjoyed learning how to play polo at Ascot Park, Empire were summoned back to see Sir Alan.

Sir Alan rebuked all of the boys for their failure as Rocky brought back James and Howard to the boardroom.

In the cafe and again in the boardroom, team leader Rocky blamed James for a perceived lack of work-ethic and for having a big mouth.

James gave a passionate defence, thumping the table as he did so, which only served to rile Sir Alan even more.

Rocky, whose youth career at Middlesbrough FC was cut short by arthritis, pleaded for more time to learn from his mistakes, but Sir Alan considered the disastrous outcome - a loss - and fired him.

He said: "Rocky, you're only 21 but one cannot ignore a series of what I call immature mistakes.

"Your career at Middlesbrough was halted. You got taken off the pitch on a stretcher. This time you're off the pitch in a black cab."

In the cab, Rocky said: "I'm going to take it on the chin and make sure that I do very well for myself."

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