finally :rolleyes:

I will only watch it if there's another Miriam in it. She was the most sane person apart from the guy who won it. The others were tossers!

here is the list of the candidates :rolleyes:

link

It'll be a bloke who wins again as the women all have daggers in their eyes. Next :yawn: ;)

Really enjoyed the first episode. :thumbsup: Obviously I was appalled by the women's tactic's ;) but that woman with the long, blonde frizzy hair who kept getting way too excited about everything has got to go. :)

iirc, sir alan commented that the girls were lucky to not get fired after the first task

As the second series of The Apprentice hits the small screen, Sir Alan Sugar once more demonstrates the unique style that has taken him from market-stall trader to electronics mogul.


As far as catchphrases go, it's as succinct and to the point as they come. When Sir Alan says "You're fired!" well, you're fired.

Sir Alan Sugar is a walking, growling, embodiment of The Great British Dream: abrasive, opinionated, hard-w**king, yet with a certain boyish Cockney charm not a million miles removed from one Derek Trotter Esq., of Peckham.

Born in 1947 and brought up in a council house in Hackney, east London, Sir Alan was the youngest of four children: "Not a ruffian," he once mused, "but plenty of talk."

Too poor to have a bicycle as a child, he built one himself from an old frame. That sort of personal drive soon began to transform his life. By the age of 12, he was rising at 6am every day to boil beetroots for a local greengrocer.

Four years later, Sir Alan's earnings, after school and at weekends, were far outstripping those of his father, Nathan, who worked in a tailoring sweat-shop.


Mr PC: Alan Sugar brought computers to the masses
Having started out selling car aerials and cigarette lighters, aged just 21, he launched his own electronics company, Amstrad - Alan Michael Sugar Trading in 1968.

The firm floated on the stock market in 1980. Amstrad hi-fis and the groundbreaking PCW8256 personal computer - an all-in-one affair comprising processor/screen, keyboard and printer - sold like hot cakes, bringing the wonders of word-processing to everyone from students to small companies.

Thus, Alan Sugar made his first million. In fact, he was worth close-on £600m by the age of 40, making him the 15th richest person in the realm.

It was the height of the Thatcher Years. As old certainties went out of the window, a new breed of commercial buccaneer swung into action.

Death threats

"The 1980s gave anyone the opportunity to succeed," he says. "The establishment was smashed, definitely. The old school tie went out the window. Anybody can do anything now."

But Alan Sugar's is not a tale of unalloyed success. There have been blips along the way. Big blips.

The stock market crash of 1987 slashed the value of Amstrad to £197m, including a record one-day fall of £400m, and the company's fortunes took years to bounce back.


Alan Sugar and Terry Venables after taking over at Spurs in 1991
Then there was his involvement with Tottenham Hotspur. Despite little knowledge of the club's history - he is alleged to have once enquired "Double. What double?" - Sir Alan became Spurs's chairman in 1991.

Hailed as a saviour at first, he invested heavily, paying-off £20m of debts. But his relationship with Tottenham's fans collapsed after he sacked manager, Terry Venables - "I felt as though I'd killed Bambi" - and Sir Alan sold his shares in 2001, after death threats to him and his family.

Besides this, Amstrad has sometimes backed the wrong horse. In 1990, an attempt to enter the video gaming market bit the dust when the 8-bit GX4000 machine flopped spectacularly when faced with the 16-bit Sega Megadrive.

Three years later the PenPad, an early type of electronic personal organiser, also foundered.

And Sir Alan has just announced the demise of the Emailer, a combined telephone and emailing device which failed to capture the public's imagination and caused him to write-off more than £6m of stock.

Charity

This, and falling prices for set-top boxes, led to a 12% drop in Amstrad's profits in the six months up to 31 December 2005.

Though Sugar's critics remain highly sceptical about his role as arbiter of good management style on The Apprentice, Amstrad remains an important player in the retail electronics sector.

With a 28% share of the company, Sir Alan is worth an estimated £700m. Much of his wealth, though, now derives from his extensive property empire.

Yet the core of Amstrad's current business, the provision of set-top boxes for British Sky Broadcasting, remains highly lucrative.

Indeed, Rupert Murdoch's satellite television empire would not have got off the ground at all if Sugar had not been able to supply the required satellite dishes at ludicrously short notice: "You can have 100,000 a month by March and I'll retail them at £299," he supposedly told Murdoch.


"You're fired!"
Despite his ferocious temper and generally feisty manner, Sir Alan Sugar is heavily involved in charity w**k.

He has long been a generous supporter of Great Ormond Street children's hospital and was instrumental in the resurrection of the Hackney Empire theatre, a classic example of Victoriana which he knew well as a child.

And he complains about his television persona, saying: "You don't get to see any of the light-hearted, friendly side because, as far as the TV producers are concerned, that doesn't put bums on seats."

The coming year will be crucial, not just for his own new apprentice, with Sir Alan planning to introduce an advanced Sky+ set-top box in the UK and Italy.

He is also looking to market a broadband internet phone, while closely monitoring Integra, the home beauty product developed by Tim Campbell, the winner of the first series of The Apprentice.

It seems there will have to be a calamity of huge proportions before Alan Sugar himself hears the words: "You're fired!"

/bbc story

Another cracking episode this week. :thumbsup: Much as I think Jo is maybe the most annoying person on the planet ;) I'm glad she didn't get fired this week as the woman who did really deserved to imo - her presentations were just painful, she was so rude. :o

:lol: @ all the crying.

look like this year contestants are less strong (emotionally) than last year :ermm:

:thumbsup: @ saira comments

Ahhh...I like Sir Alan already. :thumbsup:

how long before Syed run out of luck (excuse, lies, ....) ? :ermm:

Soon, hopefully :rolleyes:

It's obvious AS was a Gnat's knadger away from firing him this week. His days are numbered I think, especially if he makes another major boo-boo.

I'm really liking Ruth (the Badger) now, couldn't stand her to begin with.

AS (to ruth): are you w**king to get the job?

ruth: yep

AS: ok then

better Ruth than Sayd ... she play by the rule and she is doing her best (it look like she was having fun at selling flat)

/one of these days, AS will have enough to ask Sayd to stop interrupting him

Syed will go next time he's in the board room.. unless he's lucky enough to be in there again with someone worse than him. AS really doesn't like him!

Ruth's great, hope she wins. It'll be between her and Ansell, or maybe Paul.. I dunno. Don't really think much of Michelle...

Syed was so lucky this week.

I really like Ruth as well but I think Ansell might sneak it as he's not as brash as the others. :ponder:

the thing is it's always syed team who end up in the board room (lately) so it's hard to tell how the other group would deal with losing. :ermm:

I want Ruth or Ansell to win. Paul's starting to annoy me recently :ermm:

I don't like Paul at all :ermm:

by by Syed B) :rolleyes:

:unsure:

paul :ermm: and hansel :unsure: out

michelle :blink: and ruth :) for the finale week :ponder:

I was really surprised at Michelle, I didn't realise she'd been so successful, and coming from being a check-out girl! She still really annoys me though.

Didn't like Ruth at all last night, and I really can't see Sir Alan hiring her. Reckon he'll go for Michelle as he identifies with her background... just like with the guy he hired last year.

Interview - Ansell Henry on football and business

anyone saw the poster about an advert for the apprentice: Martha Stewart, starting wednesday (just after the finale of the sir Alan sugar one). but only on discovery: home and health channel (sky?) :ponder: :rolleyes:

Pissed off with BBC Breakfast this morning as they as good as gave away the winner :rolleyes:

:ermm: :unsure: :thumbsup: B)

US apprentice result ............................... depending if the BBC is gonna show it or not ..............probably not but just in case ........... link :blink:

They will be, they said after the UK one finished, "coming soon" apparently.