The Apprentice 2011 Results: Zoe Beresford Fired by Lord Sugar

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Zoe BeresfordZoe Beresford became the latest candidate to be fired in the Apprentice after being tasked by Lord Sugar to create a new brand of biscuit.

Each team had to produce,  package and presentation their biscuits to leading supermarkets.

Mixing the teams up, Lord Sugar appointed Helen, Natasha and Jim to Venture, with Zoe, Melody, Tom and Susan on Logic.

Helen, with her background in food retail became project manager for Venture, whilst after a clash between Susan and Zoe over who has the best relevant experience to lead Logic, Zoe was elected project manager by the rest of the team.
Helen’s team went for the children’s market with an after school snack called ‘Special Stars’, a star shaped chocolate covered flapjack. However Natasha and Helen clashed on the strapline, with Natasha objecting to the phrase ‘Any time is snack time’ for the after school treat.

Zoe’s team had problems deciding on a product, with four alternatives being presented to a focus group. Eventually Zoe decided on Tom’s complicated idea for one biscuit within another, with one half coated in chocolate. The group came up with the name ‘Bix Mix’ for their brand name, with a tag line of ‘to snap and share’

In the boardroom it was revealed that Zoe’s Bix Mix failed to secure a single order while Asda requested 800,000 units of Special Stars from Helen’s team.

Going over the failure of the task,  Zoe and Melody clashed in the boardroom, with Lord Sugar saying the pair were getting personal as opposed to focusing on the business side of the show. Bringing back Tom and Melody back to the boardroom with her, Zoe told Lord Sugar the product that Tom created was to blame for her flop in the task.

Lord Sugar told Tom: “I don’t see you asserting your authority. You’re always talking about what you could’ve done.”

He told Melody: “There always seems to be arguments with you and your colleagues but you always say you’re not to blame.”

Finally, on Zoe, Lord Sugar commented: “You are a good contender, but as team leader you should have been in the factory. I’m looking for someone to come into business with, and if someone can’t actually perform in the business they are in, I’m not going to go into business with them, you’re fired.”

Lord Sugar warned: “Someone who is supposedly an expert in the business has failed.”

Speaking after her exit, Zoe said: “The product wasn’t good enough, if I could go back and change it I would be in the factory but I was swayed by them.”

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One thought on “The Apprentice 2011 Results: Zoe Beresford Fired by Lord Sugar”

  1. This episode was one of those tasks where there was a clear opportunity for all the candidates to shine and contribute. The results even with the time constraints looked just average especially when you consider the whole biscuit market, both nationally and globally. Nevertheless, both teams made an item, packaged the item, branded the item and made presentations and well done for that. However, there was no sparkle, no example of excellence where a £250,000 prospective investment becomes a reasonable investment in a candidate and a business venture.

    The 800,000 order placed by ASDA needs careful thought. I like Walmart, I really like Walmart’s excellent ASDA but their credibility, their own standards from an intelligence perspective has to be questioned on how an order of the magnitude of 800,000 units with a retail value of some £1.6 million could be made in such circumstances. If The Apprentice show is not careful the various companies with their chosen employees as representatives may start making showmanship their real motive as opposed to real and actual management processing of orders. I would not place an order of £1.6 million if I managed the excellent ASDA stores; I may go to say £0.3 million maximum on a trial basis for this particular item. This point is worth consideration because serious shows can become comedies if orders are seriously unbelievable.

    Overall, as I predicted earlier, I did think Zoe was one of the weaker candidates and now Lord Sugar is left with a good set for his possible “Star”. Continuing best wishes.

    Best Regards,

    DINESH R MAKWANA (DREAMWORDS AND INORBITS)

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