Raef and Michael decided to play director, and despite having done a better job, they lost the task, with Raef being fired for being full of hot air in The Apprentice UK Series 4 Episode 9. The other team didn’t get along and didn’t do at all well, but because they hit people over the head with their ad, they were free to go.
Michael tells us he’s absolutely worn out. He should just lay down and go home instead of by some miracle surviving each week.
Teams will be renting out luxury cars. There is no team shuffle this week. That’s… new. Michael will be the project manager for Renaissance. Lee will lead Alpha.
Each team must pick two cars, which vary in rentable value from £600/day to £2,750.
Michael is not happy. He abhors cars.
Michael wins the coin toss and picks the Ferarri 360. Lee picks the Aston Martin, which costs the same to rent as the Ferarri. Michael picks the Spyker C8 as his second choice, which rents for £1,200/day. Lee opts for the Zonda, one of the rarest cars in the world, which rents for the highest rate and can’t be rented by the hour.
Lucinda wants to try a raffle. Probably a violation of the rules, but perhaps a good idea if Sir Alan’s okay with it.
Michael has forgotten what cars he’s chosen.
Alex is looking forward to selling this product, though Lucinda is less convinced by her ability to sell. Unwilling to give in to the fact that the raffle was Lucinda’s idea, Alex takes full credit for that, and Lee joins the boys club once again and backs him up. She is getting tired of being ignored (again).
Claire gets her first rental, two hours for the Spyker for £250. She then gets a second one for three hours for £375.
Lee and Alex are working on renting the Zonda. The more affordable Aston Martin sits while Lucinda is creating raffle tickets. Lucky for them, even though Michael’s trying to rent his Ferarri, there’s nobody there paying any attention to him.
Lucinda’s done with the raffle tickets and looking for some help selling the Aston Martin. Despite the fact that she’s the weakest salesperson, asked specifically to not be left alone to sell, and got Lee’s okay on that point, he refuses to leave the Zonda (as Alex suggested).
By mid-afternoon without much indication of any prospects, Lee manages to close a deal for a one day rental of the Zonda with a 10% discount to £2,475.
Michael has found a new location for the Ferarri: a fruit and veg market. After looking around, he realizes what he should have realized in the first place. None of these people can afford it. Just as he’s about to leave, though, he notices a man in a suit and tie, and he makes a pitch to him. He has a sale, but there’s a catch. This man’s smart enough to ask about insurance. Due to the thoroughly ridiculous £5,000 deposit, Michael loses the sale. Unwilling to take the hint, he decides to follow the man as he leaves.
Lucinda is ready to start raffling. Kinda. Lee tells her to just make the judgment call of whether to raffle or not based on how many people are going to buy tickets. She’s apparently supposed to be able to guess that. He’s upset that she won’t just make a decision (not that he will make one either). She decides to abandon the raffle. Then she starts selling the Zonda, or at least that’s what she’s calling it.
The teams head to their marquees. Unsure of what she’s doing, Lucinda decides to shadow Lee. He doesn’t understand why she needs to shadow him. I don’t get it either since nobody would even talk to him.
With it written on the back of his hand, Michael’s hoping to not forget the Spyker again.
Claire gets another three hour sale, but she’s having difficulty going for days.
Somehow, Lucinda manages to get a sale for one hour of the Aston Martin at £65.
With time running out, Alex manages to get another day deal for the Zonda.
In exchange for a couple bottles of champagne, Michael closes a one day deal on the Ferarri with minutes to spare.
With 60 seconds remaining, Alex gets a call from someone they met earlier in the day. They run to him and need to get his signature. They basically need him to sign without reading what he’s signing.
Sir Alan asks Lucinda if she feels like she got shoved aside so Lee didn’t have to deal with her.
Renaissance made £2,114. Alpha made £11,815. The big ticket risk paid off, and this disaster of a team wins again.
Helene is taking Lucinda’s approach: she’s not a salesperson and therefore can’t be blamed for not selling. She blames the salespeople for not selling enough.
Sir Alan can’t figure out where either Helene or Michael would fit into his organization. He does give Michael a little bit of credit as he turns his sights on her.
Helene wants Michael gone. Claire doesn’t really gives an answer, saying that Helene didn’t sell but that Michael contributed the least to the task. Michael believes he’s shown glimmers of brilliance.
Sir Alan wants to get rid of a no hoper. He asks for some more time to discuss with Nick and Margaret. During this, he brings up getting rid of more than one, which would certainly make sense because both Helene and Michael need to go and have needed to go for weeks.
Claire is obviously safe. Michael’s luck has finally run out. Helene escapes, but she’s now the one on borrowed time.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Apprentice UK Series 4 episode 11.