Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Yes, it’s back!! The Apprentice – the BBC’s stab at reality TV with a ‘business twist’, returned last night. Once again, we’ll be keeping you updated on the progress of Britain’s 16 brightest business prospects oevr the next 12 weeks. This year however, I’m not alone – I’ve got my very own blogging version of Margaret and Nick in the shape of Marie and Joey from our Financial Services and Food & Drink teams who will be adding their thoughts to the mix each week.

Oh yes they're back - just 12 weeks to find Britain's most hopeless business brain (image from CoventryTelegraph.net)

First up then is Marie’s summary of last night’s opener….. Accountancy firms must surely be breathing a huge sigh of relief this morning at their near-miss with Mr. E. Hunter. Their loss was clearly The Apprentice’s gain however. Edward, the ‘first to leave’, appeared to be acting out a mid-life career crisis (at the grand old age of 25) on national TV. Clearly in some sort of denial stage, he was desperate to demonstrate that he was “over” all things profit and loss and that he was more than just an accountant.

Edward Hunter - more than just a Profit & Loss man

And so it was he left last night as a result of not, erm, managing the finances and making enough money. That said, not knowing what an orange looked like did indicate that he possibly had bigger problems than having a near-pathological dislike of the dark art of bean counting.

The fact Ed also suffered from ’short man’ (his words not mine) syndrome clearly hadn’t helped him in the role of PM. ‘Roll with the punches’ was his mantra and I suspect he has had to, quite literally, over the years as his peers have showed him exactly what they think of his Napoleonic management style. That said, his stature and associated psychological scars it clearly brought surely made him a strong candidate for the Lord Sugar “You remind me of me when I woz young” treatment at some point, had he managed to make it through.

On the one hand, I could only applaud Lord S for not only immediately recognising the obvious lack of potential in Edward but for also resisting the delicious temptation to keep him in as obnoxious, ‘good TV’ fodder. On the other, strangely I was left wanting more of him – surely we could have done with a couple more weeks before the immortal words were uttered to him. I can only assume the producers have plenty more where he came from. Like the winning team’s PM, Melody, for example. Her ‘tutors’, Al Gore, Desmond Tutu and The Dalai Lama, have a lot to answer for that’s all I can say.

And now for the awards for Episode 1, courtesy of Joey…..

(Annoying) Ones to watch: Top contenders include ‘God’s-gift-to-women’ Sales Manager Vincent Disneur who opened with “I’m not that bad looking, I’m one of a kind”. True to his words, he was. Anyone who matches fuchsia socks with brown shoes can only be described as one of a kind. Al Tutu Lama’s mate Melody is another, thanks to her existential utterance “Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon”

Clark Kent looky-likey award: Tough one to decide and a toss-up between man of steel (apparently) Tom Pellereau and ‘handpicked’ Souperman, Jim Eastwood.

Souperman Jim tried his best to haul the boys out of trouble (image from BBC.co.uk)

Armed with a pad and paper, Tom certainly played the reporter part well with his meticulous note taking in the boardroom (a first I believe). His comment that “underneath these glasses is a core of steel” surely hinted towards his true identity

Catchphrase of the week: Did Lord Sugar makes the right choice with this week’s fire-ee? As much as I’d like to see Ed Hunter stay for another week or so, I think he repeated “roll with the punches” enough times to last a whole series. So probably a good idea he’s gone.