I had a vested interest Lord Sugar’s band of merry men and women; being a Scot I was intrigued to see what they would muster up to force upon our discerning people.
Before the candidates even set foot on the Caledonian Sleeper to Bonny Scotland, Lord Sugar dropped in on our stilettoed and brogued clad throngs on their “day of rest” at their humble abode.
We see our intrepid bunch bouncing around, playing the Nintendo Wii when Alan stands stoically in the hallway, looking less than impressed.
This week, the two teams were challenged to create “gourmet grub” in a mobile restaurant, with an emphasis on quality.
Gone are the glamorous scavenger hunts in the souks of Marrakech or the highbrow flogging in the cafes of Paris, our 11 remaining candidates hot footed it, nay, highland flinged it up to Edinburgh…apparently Scotland’s culinary capital (who knew?).
Why they chose this city over the likes of Barcelona and Paris is beyond me. I’ve only known Edinburgh to offer a slightly classier version of Glasgow’s deep fried Mars Bar, an equally cholestorel inducing fried Lindt truffle, (neither of which are sold on the street!). Needless to say Scotland may not meet Lord Sugar’s demands for no rubbish.
Lord Sugar took matters into his own hands this week. Adam was chosen as Project Manager of Pheonix and Jenna of Sterling. The teams immediately donned their chef hats and got thinking (it was amazing how many of them became culinary masters in a matter of seconds).
Alex instantly highlighted the plethora deep fried foods in Scotland (hello stereotype) however, after considering various international dishes (including a chicken salad wrap) Phoenix settled on Italian Meatballs. Sterling went traditional and chose a Scottish stew.
Food, glorious food
I was instantly worried for Jenna’s team due to the fact that as a Scot I have never had – nor heard of – Scottish stew.
With their unsurprisingly ordinary offerings decided, it was off to one of London’s fancy street food fairs. Both teams soon realised that there was definitely more to the foodie business than dishing up delectable delights (and no, I don’t mean Alan). The emphasis was on high quality ingredients and top class dishes. Enter Tom’s corned beef suggestion…hilarious.
Next up, sourcing gourmet food hotspots where they could position their mobile restaurants. Frankly, this is where Phoenix stumbled. Katie pushed for Hearts football club…and the pie and a pint crowd. Hardly the desired clientele.
When in Edinburgh, two top-notch chefs help cook up the teams’ recipes, but when it comes to mass producing the portions, Sterling’s Scot-Stew is beefed up with pricey ingredients, apparently costing more than what restaurants pay to make their dishes, according to Gabrielle.
Phoenix made their meatballs on the cheap and a similar error – calling them Utterly Delicious Meatballs. Alex’s Mateo’s Meatballs could have definitely misled the punters but omitting the name was yet another nail in the coffin.
Day 2 and the teams have one day to sell from mobile units; Sterling positions themselves in a tourist hotspot to flog their Scot-Pot. Phoenix head to Hearts Football Club to sell Adam’s Utterly Delicious Meatballs.
Laura and Ricky from Sterling bribe a piper to lure unsuspecting tourists to smell their casserole, for breakfast. YUM!!!! However a slow morning prompts their move to a different part of the centre…right next to another gourmet food restaurant.
Sales are off the boil, the casserole is simmering but the expense of their quality meat is not translating into sales. Nice move!
At Hearts FC, potential customers walk quickly by Phoenix’ stall. Due to rapidly losing trade, the touristy centre is targeted as Steven jumps on “The most famous tourist bus in Edinburgh” (not sure where he got that from!), to drive customers off the sight-seeing bus and towards their meatballs.
Nail-bitingly close decisions
Thinking outside the pizza-box Katie attempts to drum up trade on the bus dressed as a pizza, but to sell meatballs (inspired idea, I think not!). She certainly “missed the bus” on this one.
Two hours to go and as usual both teams go into panic stations. Sterling’s Scot-Pot sees prices driven down, eating into their margins. An ever-pensive looking Karen Brady bleats that this just isn’t good at all.
Phoenix go down the same path and with 30 minutes to go, desperation seeps in. The team even reverts to offering their porky balls to a squirrel, whose spritely retreat in the opposite directions speaks volumes.
And so to the Boardroom. The culmination of 2 days of catering and highland capers comes down to the slightly sterile conditions of Lord Sugar’s boardroom. The result was nail bitingly close. Adam’s Team Phoenix spent £90.25, made £388.29 and achieved a profit of £298.04.
Jenna’s Sterling spent a whopping £268.82, made £588.68 and achieved a profit of £319.78. A mere £20 separated them, however Sterling marched off with their Victory to a preened country pile where they zoom around on segways (clearly Lord Sugar is scraping the barrel here).
As for Team Phoenix, the usual boardroom barney and mud slinging ensued with each regressing back to their bickering nursery school days. Ultimately Adam chose Katie and Azdir to face the wrath of Lord Sugar’s death-like index finger.
After Lord Sugar had his seemingly arbitrary chat with his two henchmen it was ultimately Katie who got Lord Sugar’s heart burning (probably due to the fatty pork in her team’s meatballs) but sadly she just didn’t meet his exacting standards.
I feel this was perhaps the wrong decision; Adam’s backseat approach and lack of direction of his team should have sealed his fate.
Key learning – Lead rather than manage
Alex’s lack of backbone in this week’s episode speaks more about his failure to exert his own agenda rather than his leadership ability. Yes it is fundamental that a project manager can organise their troops and whip them into shape but if they can’t assert their own will and follow their own gumption then the former will never take effect.
Team leaders or Project Managers need some tenacity and resilience about them in order to make difficult choices that won’t always be supported by all their subordinates. If you can make day-to-day decisions whilst confident in your own knowledge and abilities, you are more likely to stick to your guns and follow through on gut instinct.
This won’t result in positive outcomes every time but at least a leader will build confidence in their subordinates and belief in their ability to take responsibility for their actions and own conduct. Alex take note — to gain that buy-in and support you need to stick to your guns and follow through with gusto!
Until next week…
- Roger Philby is founder and chief executive of talent management consultancy, The Chemistry Group.
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