Don’t you just hate people that one minute will brag about something and then the next turn around and withdraw what they said and twist it to try and make themselves sound better. Shame for Natasha that what ever she said, could not dig her out of this one.
This weeks task was to create a fast food chain brand concept, menu and start trading…simple? Well for someone who has done a 4 year hospitality degree you would think so. Especially after boasting that part of her degree was to actually create her own restaurant and run it…. is that not exactly what this task was? Considering the above, I struggled to pinpoint a single positive aspect that Natasha contributed to the team.
According to Natasha in the boardroom after finding out they had failed the task she insisted that Construction Property Recruitment was her job not hospitality as she ‘doesn’t like hospitality’, despite the fact she studied it for 4 years, and only 24 hours earlier seemed very enthusiastic about it. I’m glad that her 4 years of study means that she is able to concentrate on front of house. This is obviously where the education system is failing, or rather where universities are making money out of people. But wait for it…there is another reason why she was unable to use the degree that she spent 4 years studying for, and that’s because it’s been a long time since she finished the degree. This is obviously the reason why she made no attempt to use any of it and refused that she couldn’t possibly cook so had to stay front of house, I’m pretty sure a 5 year old could box up nachos, and stick them in a microwave for a minute if shown (I am not condoning the use of electrical equipment by children or child labour for that fact).
When you consider the above it’s no surprise that Natasha was given the boot, of which I am very happy, but exactly why did her team fail? Considering it was meant to be a fast food restaurant this restaurant ‘Caracus’ did not live up to its name, it’s a bit hard when the name decided on, is actually the capital of Venezuela. If I had to wait 10 minutes for a fajita in a fast food restaurant, I’m pretty sure I would have left after 5 minutes too, especially if it had also been served cold. Although I realise Jim had his hands full with Susie and Natasha he really should have had more planning in place and better people management. Why did he not remove one of the girls from front of house and put her in the kitchen, it does not take 2 people to take orders and pass food orders across. Surely it’s common sense that if there is a bottle neck of orders then there needs to be a shift in staff positions. In all honesty I think Susie’s flapping was unnerving and added to the situation. With an average score of 4/10 and a fajitas that you can’t actually pick up to eat you can see why they failed. Let’s not even mention Jim’s shamble with maths and lack of business planning when quizzed by the industry experts, Dominoes, McDonald's and Lord Sugar. Profit margins per product, isn’t exactly a trick question, in fact it’s rather an important question to uncover whether or not the business will survive in the long run. Jim then had the guts to even highlight that fact that Lord Sugar had not actually paid for his food!
Thank the lord that Helen and Tom actually managed to create a decent brand that was simple, strong and contemporary. They not only identified a gap in the market – a 100% British restaurant, selling Mini pies, mash and mushy peas. They also managed to tailor it for the needs of both men and women. Although they did make one mistake, by naming the mash ‘Columbus mash’ after Christopher Columbus, who isn’t actually British! But that’s minor compared to the chaos that surrounded Jim’s team. When questioned by the industry experts Helen was able to provide profit margins for each product and delivered the food in 3 minutes, which gained her a rating of 7/10.
Both Tom and Helen are now through to the final along with Jim and Susie, how Susie has done this I have no idea. If I was to put money on it I would say Helen will and should win, however this years twist to the prize I am unsure if Lord Sugar will go for the best business plan or best business partner.
