Everyone loves a wedding. Don't they? Sir Alan certainly hopes so, as he tasks the teams to sell weddings dresses and wedding-themed products on behalf of London businesses at the National Wedding Show...
Lucinda leads Alpha with Claire, Lee ("that's what I'm talkin' about!") and Raef. Helene ("I used to model in bridal shows") leads Renaissance with Sara, Michael and Alex. Both teams visit 4 bridal shops to endear themselves to the manufacturers, although only Alpha send 2 people (Claire and Raef) to see all the frocks and 2 to see the sub-products. Renaissance just split into two pairs based on geographic location.
First up is Ian Stuart, a four-time Wedding Dress Designer of the Year, who deals in top-range frocks. Michael is unimpressed by Stuart's stuff, claiming a lot of the dresses are "ghastly". Helene decides to go with mid-range brightly coloured frocks, which are increasingly popular thanks to Katie Price and other no-taste celebs.
Alpha rely on Claire and "anti-marriage" Raef's opinions, with Raef adamant they should go for Ian Stuart's pricey range, saying: "high risk, but high gains. On my head be it." Both teams want to sell the wedding lingerie and honeymoon-themed beachwear, but Lucinda's team Alpha impress the manufacturers the most, leaving Helene deflated and having to settle for novelty wedding cakes – which was Michael and Sara's first choice, anyway.
Now with products to flog, both teams travel to the Birmingham NEC for the Wedding Show, setting up their stalls before the customers arrive. Lee ("that's what I'm talkin' about!") does very well, effortlessly selling the low-value novelty items, but while Alpha's wedding dresses are popular... nobody wants to actually buy one. Well, not for £2,500! As Sir Alan's assistant Nick comments: this is Birmingham, not Knightsbridge.
Renaissance do better shifting their mid-range dresses with Alex, but the cakes aren't selling at all. It doesn't help that Sara and Michael's both give it the hard-sell and unwittingly make a lot of people uncomfortable. "You're going to spend £200 on a traditional cake and it's going to look dull. It's a real shame. You're going to regret it!"
Luckily for Alpha, their expensive dresses begin to sell as customers return for late-purchases just before the event closed for the day. Phew!
Back at the boardroom the next day, Nick and Margaret reveal the winners and losers. Alpha's Lee ("that's what I'm talkin' about!") netted £647.24 and Claire's 3 dresses fetched £5,105 – making a total of £5,752.99. Margaret broke the news to Sir Alan that Renaissance sold no cakes and Alex's sterling work selling mid-range dresses mustered £1,925. It's a clear and decisive win for Alpha (whose gamble stocking expensive dresses paid off), so they're taken to a spa for relaxing treatments – like standing in a red room and yelling. Lee was in heaven.
Later, Renaissance return to the boardroom for a grilling by Sir Alan. He's disappointed to see Alex back on the losing team (for the sixth time in eight tasks), but Helene admits Alex was the driving force behind what little money they made. Alex is allowed to leave.
It comes to down a choice between Helene, Michael and Sara. Michael agrees that they lost the task on product selection, even though he was instrumental in pushing for the novelty cakes and didn't try to persuade Helene that buying mid-range dresses was a bad idea.
Attention soon turns on Sara, who proved to be a poor seller on the day and made Helene cringe at her lack of people skills. "You worked very hard, but you speak at people. You don't read body language."
Sir Alan lays a lot of the blame on Helene for poor choices that ruined their chances from day 1, and he's increasingly annoyed by Michael's tiresome insistence that he has more to prove, but decides to fire Sara – "... in the past 8 weeks there's been a lot of suggestion you don't actually do anything. Now you've alienated customers; that's the feedback I've got.... Sara, you're fired!"
Let's take a look at the candidates:
Alex: The bloke's invincible! He's played it safe for a long time, but I have to admit he didn't deserve to go -- based on his efforts in this task, anyway. But, as Sir Alan said, if you've been on the losing team 6 out of 8 times, something's not right. How much longer can the pretty-boy pull the wool over everyone's eyes?
Claire: A part of me likes her can-do attitude, but I bristle whenever she opens her gob to yak on about how brilliant and knowledgeable she is. But she was one of the big achievers in this task, so respect to her for that. She stands a good chance of getting to the final.
Helene: I thought she was doing okay at first, but those unfortunate choices of product came back to bite her. It might have been a different story if she'd personally inspected every shop before deciding what to stock. I can't see her lasting long.
Lee: A professional barrow-boy; sometimes endearing, but often irritating. He did well flogging stuff, but his constant scream of "that's what I'm talkin' about!" is beginning to grate on me. He needs to tone it down and act the part.
Lucinda: Surprisingly good as the project manager for the second time! Could she make it to the final now? I do quite like her, even if she is a bit odd. She seems to manage people well and makes sound choices. But will Sir Alan employ someone a bit left-field and introverted? Maybe not, but she's improved massively since those early weeks.
Michael: I think his time's about run out. He's good at pleading his case in the boardroom and gaining sympathy, but he really needs to impress after a few weeks making dumb mistakes and embarrassing slip-ups. He talks the talk, but can't walk the walk.
Raef: His dress gamble paid off (at the last minute) and he remains the slickest candidate of the lot, but also isn't averse to dressing up as a bear to get a few sales. Sure, he can be a bit of a prat at times, but he's still my favourite and one of the wittiest people there, with a bit of integrity. I could imagine him winning.
Sara: It came as no surprise to see her get fired, or that she decided teamwork isn't her forte during her cab ride home! Too bland and lacking in basic people skills.
Who's your favourite of the remaining candidates? Anyway, it's the always-brilliant filmmaking task next week, where the teams have to create their own TV adverts. And it looks like Alex fancies himself as a bit of a Spielberg...
14 May 2008
BBC1, 9.00 pm
