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“It was a walk in the park... with people shooting at you. And throwing grenades.”
Whoever said nice guys finish last had clearly never met Tom Pellereau. Or maybe they had and were referring to the 8 tasks he had lost this series. Or they were basing it on the old format of The Apprentice (you know, when the name of the show actually made sense). But who cares? For Tom, the slightly hesitant, occasionally bumbling but always likeable inventor, has been made Alan Sugar’s new business partner.
I always liked Tom, but I feared that the ‘nodding hindsight man’ (not Lord Sugar’s best line) might not be winner material. But Sugar had made it clear that he was looking for something different this series, and he proved to be a man of his word when it came to his final decision.
Owing to the nature of this year’s final, the contest remained open to the very end. No-one ever comes out of the interviews very well, as Lord Sugar’s pit bulls take it in turns to systematically tear the candidates’ CVs to pieces. Or if you’re Claude you use the whole things as an excuse to vent the frustration that has built up from a long, loveless marriage. Or so it would seem.
The returning - and far classier - Margaret Mountford was on top form. Watching her trap Jim in his own web of clichés was great to watch, even if the irony of Lord Sugar and his cronies then continually talking about the Irishman’s ‘blarney’ was lost on them. To be honest I was glad to see the back of Jim, as his ‘thoroughbred’ speech was troublingly reminiscent of Stuart ‘field of ponies’ Baggs and his messiah complex reached new levels as he promised that all he really cared about was the ‘future of the children’.
Susan was similarly exposed during the interviews. For all her boasting about having set up her own business, she sure as heck didn’t know how to run one. Her predicted profit for her first year’s trading was unfathomable; no matter how hard she insisted she would sell to the ‘mass market’, as if endlessly repeating it would make it true.
Despite being the eventual winner, Tom didn’t fare particularly well either. His solution for back pain in the workplace seemed expensive and a bit frivolous. Worse still, Mr Notebook-Calculator had made a lot of errors with his figures and failed to even mention the chair he had invented in his business plan – aside from that he was right on course.
Then there was Helen. After twelve tasks, ten wins, one awful joke and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of sales, she was ruined by a terrible business plan, for she too had been struck down by Susan Syndrome. Sure her concierge-service-of-sorts had limited scope and a lot of competition, but she, like Susan, was going to go for the mass market and she had the smart idea of becoming the market leader. Shrewd moves. But again, saying these things doesn’t make them true.
Lord Sugar was rightly disappointed by Helen. After all, her performance in the series made her the worthy winner, in fact not employing her would make the whole process kind of pointless ...
So, when Helen mentioned another business plan, I was on the edge of my seat. ‘This is it,' I thought, ‘here comes the pay-off she’s been promising. She’ll make Sugar a billionaire!’ And Tom was just going to sit there! "What it is... is a chain of bakeries... that specialises in fresh bread... and cakes..." So... Greggs then? A collective sigh of disappointment went round the boardroom, and Lord Sugar sunk back in his chair.
But Tom was far from an unworthy winner. As he recounted how he was able to get his own product into Wal-Mart, the biggest store in America, Tom showed exactly the kind of ingenuity and business instinct that Lord Sugar bangs on about.
You couldn’t help but feel happy for Tom when he went out into the car park and had a little fist pump to himself, after Lord Sugar pointed his finger of fate one last time and uttered those immortal (but technically incorrect) words once more: "You’re hired!"
You can read Matt's Apprentice blog from the beginning right here.
I am so pleased for Tom! After looking like an under-dog all the way through, he began to shine in the last few weeks. I agree Helen's business plan was disappointing - aside from that, she has been for me one of the best candidates in the last few years.
I think you're being unfair to Jim: he came across as a really genuine Northern Irish bloke, and him talking about horses I feel was more about taking the mickey bliss out of what other candidates had said before than anything else.
I would also say he really does care about the future of children. After all, he takes time out of work to go and take part in the Young Enterprise charity, which does a lot of work in schools across Northern Ireland.
And the reason Margaret Mountford could 'cut through the cliches'? Because she's from Northern Ireland too.
Tom was a great winner, and the new format really did help him come through to win.
Am I the only one who thought the entire 11 weeks before were a bit redundant?
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