So Who Won?
Ruth's team made more money than Michelle's and so The Badger looked the winner. But as Sir Alan said there's more to it than money.
The things that let Ruth down were her lack of creative thought and unwillingness to listen to others regarding her event. The things she did well were ticket sales, her decision to contact everyone they'd already worked with on the series, and looking as though she was having fun.
Michelle let herself down by selecting Syed at all, and then pairing him with Paul, a match made in sales hell. She also hung back from the sales — she should have led from the front and Sharon could have organised the event. She also did nothing until the last moment on the sales front. She did well to select Sharon as the event organiser. She also did well to reshuffle her sales team when it became obvious nothing was getting done.
In the boardroom Sir Alan was complimentary about both the Badger and Michelle. Then finally, he turned to Michelle and said, "You're hired."
Was The Right Apprentice Hired?
That's a difficult question. The problem is we don't know exactly what projects Sir Alan had in mind for the winner.
If the projects weren't sales related and were more to do with strategy and organisation, Michelle was the right person. If the job was to take the Amstrad sales organisation and shake it up so it really delivers, Ruth should have gotten the job.
If I was Sir Alan I would have given Ruth the job. Because if she's really that good at getting a place's sales figures up, wouldn't he want her to do the same at Amstrad?
Whatever happens, The Apprentice has been great entertainment. Now for the next series the BBC needs to pick better candidates. I think part of the way to do that is to provide a prize fund as well as the £100,000 job.
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