Azhar Siddique has become the latest person to be fired from The Apprentice 2012.
Azhar was given the boot by Lord Sugar in a task which saw the remaining candidates told to turn £150 of start up cash into as much money and assets as possible.
Lord Sugar sent the candidates to Essex, where they had to buy and sell goods before reinvesting any profit in more stock.
Nick took charge of Sterling while Jade led Phoenix, her first time as project manager.
Back in the boardroom, it was time for Lord Sugar to reveal the total assets that each team had at the end of the day:
Phoenix had £422.61 cash in hand and remaining stock valued at £415.60, meaning total assets of £838.21
Sterling had £681.30 cash in hand and remaining stock valued at £273.90, meaning total assets of £955.20
Reflecting at the Losers Cafe, Phoenix’s Project Manager Jade was very aware of her own responsibility for the failure of the task, “It’s hard when you talk about who is accountable, I’m the PM so probably me.”
Back in the boardroom, Lord Sugar explained that he believes they lost the task because they were pricing their products too low and therefore not making as much profit as the other team. Tom admitted that he was in charge of costing but that the girls had advised on the costs for the beauty products, an area he was unfamiliar with.
After clashing on the task, Jade quickly decided to bring Azhar back into the boardroom with her, but found it trickier to name a second person she feels was responsible for the failure of the task. She eventually picked an astonished Tom, apologising but claiming that she didn’t know what else to do.
Lord Sugar deliberated with Karren and Nick, with Karren informing him that she feels Azhar, “huffs and puffs his way through tasks”, and that Tom was a huge asset to Jade, “let me tell you if she had not had Tom by her side she would have been in all sorts of trouble.”
Back in the boardroom, Jade admitted that she made an error bringing Tom back with her, “Do you know what, it was a mistake and I apologise. I was put under pressure and I wasn’t prepared that I was going to have to do that, I was so confident that we’d done a good job.”
Jade moved the focus on to Azhar, “Azhar just kept butting in on the phone and wanting to speak to me about strategy all the time, but no solutions.”
After Lord Sugar asked the candidates who they think should be fired, he wa ready to deliver his final verdict:
“Tom – Look it’s quite clear you shouldn’t be sitting here in the boardroom today so I will say that you’re going to go back to the house and I will see you on the next task.
“Jade – I think that you show a lot of enthusiasm but I get the feeling on this particular task that you could have controlled it a little bit better. I think the mere fact that you brought Tom back in here when, in fact, he was a great help to you on this occasion, is a difficult thing for me to accept, to be perfectly honest with you.
“Azhar – people are saying about you that you’re just standing around, moaning all the time that this is going wrong, that is going wrong, you don’t seem to come forward with any solution to what should be done.”
Giving the final decision, Lord Sugar added: “Jade – as the Project Manager, you were responsible really for the whole strategy of this task, margins, profits and location, and for that reason I’m struggling. But I do admire your enthusiasm, and on that basis, I’m going to have to say that Azhar – You’re Fired.”
As he is driven away in a black cab, Azhar reflected: “I do feel robbed, I was wrong to be fired… I think there are people in this process who are playing a game, playing a strategic game, and I think they wanted me out of the process because they saw me as a threat, they saw me as one of the stronger candidates, and obviously they’ve got their way.”
continues next Wednesday on BBC One.
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