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Lindi Mngaza is the fifth to be fired from The Apprentice |
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Written by Telly Addict
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 |
Lindi Mngaza has become the fifth candidate to be fired by Sir Alan Sugar from the current series of The Apprentice
Week five sees Sir Alan Sugar arrive at the house early in the morning to give the teams their latest task. All of the candidates have that 'just woken up look' apart from Raef who looks for all the world like he is strolling down the stairs as Noel Coward.
Sir Alan tells the teams that they are heading down to the farm to take on an ice cream making challenge. Alpha and Renaissance must make three new flavours of ice cream, and then launch two of those products into the untapped London market. The team which secures the most orders, by value, will win.
Sir Alan Sugar appoints the project managers as Lucinda Ledgerwood for Alpha and Claire Young for Renaissance. The teams are therefore made up of Alpha: Lucinda, Helene, Raef, Lindi, Lee, and Jenny M. Renaissance: Claire, Jenny C, Michael, Kevin, Alex and Sara.
Claire Young has everything to prove after she got the wrong end of Sir Alan's wrath in the boardroom last week.
Lucinda meanwhile has been seen by the others as something of a shirker, so this could be her chance to shine.
Claire and Renaissance head down to Bockingfold Farm in Kent where they develop three new flavours for an established ice cream business. It doesn't take them long to come up with ideas for their three taste sensations; Berry Mania, Scrumpilicious (basically cider and elderflower), and Chocolate Orange. However it takes ages for Claire, Jenny C and Michael to buy fifty oranges and taste the cider.
Meanwhile, Lucinda and Alpha are off to Downside Farm in East Sussex. It takes them a while to decide on their flavours but they eventually settle on Tantalising Toffee Apple, Cosmopolitan, and Avocado and Chilli. They set up a ice cream tasting in the village hall which rules out Cosmopolitan. Renaissance struggle to find tasters for their ice cream so have to settle for two guys in a pub car park - who needs market research anyway!!
The next day for both teams is all about sales, sales, and more sales. Renaissance come unstuck big-time with this, having pre-arranged only two appointments. However, they plug away, going door-to-door as they target likely businesses. This brings them numerous small orders of up to 5 litres a time but nothing substantial.
Alpha though reckon they have the sales sewn up. With six leads already scheduled they congratulate themselves on a job well done.
Once they follow up the leads though, it becomes apparent there is a flaw in their plan - three of the 'leads' actually make their own ice cream. Despite this setback, Renaissance do good business elsewhere. Their preparation gets them an all-important deal with an independent cinema chain; the order is for 100 litres. An appointment at a gastro pub also proves to be a go-er. But with a juicy sale of 130 litres in their sights, the team get carried away and give the cinema chain and the gastro pub exclusive deals.
As the day closes Alpha are well ahead on the sales stakes. With just ten minutes to go, Claire and Co. go in for a no-nonsense meet with the manager of Nobu, a trendy Hoxton bar and grill. They knock a few pounds off the price for a bulk order but offer no exclusivity clause. As the deadline falls, Claire shakes hands with the manager. They have just secured a 200 litre deal!
The next morning, the Alpha sales team are buoyant as they head to the boardroom. But a shock is in store when Sir Alan's aides reveal the figures.
Margaret reveals that Alpha have taken orders worth £1,273.64, but Nick's Renaissance figure trumps that, at £1,455.45. Renaissance are the week five winners, and head off on a helicopter for an afternoon on a country estate where they learn golf and archery.
Lucinda picks Jennifer Maguire and Lindi Mngaza to accompany her back into the boardroom.
Sir Alan is shocked that Jennifer and Lindi offered exclusivity on their sales teams, and tells them, "if I had known about this earlier, those sales would have been null and void".
While Jennifer comes under fire it is Lindi, as sales team leader, who must take ultimate responsibility for the failure of the task.
Lucinda, meanwhile, has gained a hint of respect from Sir Alan for the man-management she displayed in the task, with Sara and Lee particularly praising her leadership style.
Sir Alan has a difficult choice to make and turns to his aide Nick Hewer for help.
Then it is decision made, as Sir Alan Sugar tells a shocked Lindi "You're Fired"
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 April 2008 )
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