The Apprentice 2011: Does anybody know what a cloche is?

Quentin Pain is founder and chairman of accounting software specialist Accountz gives his take on the third episode in the new series of The Apprentice.

Another week, another victim falls at the hand of Lord Sugar’s sword. This week it was the turn of Gavin Winstanley, a 27-year-old managing director from Liverpool who runs a small chain of opticians.

In his VT Gavin describes himself as being “the best at everything he has ever done”, and if he won The Apprentice, Lord Sugar wouldn’t have to teach him anything as he already knows it all. Quite a statement for someone who hasn’t even left their twenties.  Unfortunately for Gavin, he might want to rethink that statement as tonight’s episode clearly suggests this is not the case.

The theme of this week’s task was all about buying. With the boys still smarting from two consecutive losses they were keen to set the record straight and show the girls they mean business. Arriving at the newly refurbished Savoy hotel in central London, they were tasked with finding ten items and negotiating the sale for the hotel. The team that managed to get the most items at the cheapest price was the winner. The teams were mixed (much to the relief of some of the boys, as another loss would have severely crushed some of those already over-inflated egos), with Susan Ma named PM of team Venture and Gavin throwing his name into the mix with Logic. Both candidates had strong arguments for why they should lead their respective teams and both were well backed by the rest of the contestants. Then the fun and games began...

While Susan’s team took a methodical approach to buying, assigning everyone an item to research, Gavin’s approach was less organised. In truth this task was lost for Logic within the first five minutes. Under Gavin’s guidance the team trawled through phone book after phone book trying to identify where items could be found as well as struggling with some of the understandings of some of the items. For a group of so-called talented, brilliant and well educated people, not a single one could identify what a cloche was. Instead of using an element of common sense – we are sourcing for a hotel, maybe we should ask someone with hotel experience (duh!) – they decided to hedge their bets on good old-fashioned luck. Clearly after today’s experience none of them will be popping down to their local B&Q for a set of cloches this weekend. And this is where we see tonight’s first lesson: when in doubt, don’t be afraid to ask. One of the worst things you can do in business is assume. In this instance they assumed they knew what a cloche was when in fact they didn’t. Don’t be afraid to ask: it saves time and money and, in this case, possible careers.

Ultimately the cloche was just the tip of the iceberg and team Logic’s task failed because of Gavin’s failure to manage and organise the team. Too often did we see scenes with him stuttering his words, becoming flustered and not giving clear instructions. In essence this was a simple task to organise. Assign each person an item to find, give them an allotted time to do their research and then go out and buy. Too much time was spent wasted, and this is where Gavin’s shortfall lay. In any business, organisation is key. Staff must know what is required of them and when it is required of them. A good manager will know how not only to deliver this but also see it through. Gavin was not confident in his approach and was let down by a basic lack of organisational skills.

Despite his shortcomings, Gavin was not the only one at fault. Vincent was given the task of sub-managing the second team within Logic and although he did manage to secure most of the haul for the team, he did this in a way that was not to the liking of the girls. They found his approach intrusive and domineering. Granted the task would have completely failed without him; however, a good manager knows how to manage his staff and in this instance he monopolised the task, so much so the girls felt it was his way or no way. Zoe was also brought back to the boardroom as she had no sales. Her argument was she was the PA and didn’t feel right speaking up when she felt something was wrong. As Lord Sugar pointed out, if you’re heading toward an iceberg, you shout turn; you don’t wait to sink and then say I told you so.

Although these points were enough to see Logic finish last, with Gavin getting the boot, this task was made a heck of a lot harder than it should have been. The one thing that really irritated me and perplexed me is how not a single one of either groups considered the basic logistics of the task. I’m not sure how many of them are familiar with London but I can’t believe that not one would have worked out that buying items from Mayfair probably isn’t the best place if you’re looking for a bargain. Also, thinking you can get from North West to South East London in under 20 minutes is sheer stupidity no matter if you’ve been to the capital or not. Again Lord Sugar pointed this out and was met with dumb expressions. Any task of this nature would have been successful if simple organisation and logistical planning were used. Logic lost this task but it doesn’t say much for the winners, who only won by £8.

Quentin Pain is founder and chairman of accounting software specialist Accountz.