Lord Sugar fires another 'Apprentice'

[dutchman]

Laura Moore became the latest contestant kicked out of The Apprentice tonight, after failing to impress Lord Alan Sugar in a bartering battle against the boys.



Moore, Stella English and project manager Liz Locke faced off in the boardroom after they came up short in a buying challenge, where the two teams were asked to pick up ten unusual items for the cheapest price.

The girls' team managed to find all ten items, but their failure to get any real discounts on their products and late arrival in the boardroom cost them the task.

Stuart Baggs, Chris Bates and project manager Jamie Lester only picked up seven items out of the ten, but the fact that they managed to get all their products at a discount and their prompt return to the boardroom meant that they nudged their way to victory.

The boys' expenditure including fines was £1,002.50, while the girls spent £1,094.40 on their products and a late arrival fine.

The boys, who were shocked to have won the task, earned a trip on the Eurostar for a weekend in Paris as their reward.

Sugar criticised Locke's team for failing to grasp the purpose of the challenge, claiming that they had viewed it as a "treasure hunt" rather than a test of their negotiation skills.

English was blamed by her PM and teammates for their failure in the task as they argued that her corporate background restricted her from making ruthless deals.

Speaking about English, Locke said: "I think you give off a negative cold persona to people which gets their backs up... I think you're extremely corporate and it's something everyone has said."

However, it was ultimately Moore who paid the price for her poor performance in previous tasks and ended up getting the chop from the reality show.

"I think you've had a lot of chances," said the millionaire boss. "The minute you said 200 [in a deal for truffles] that was it, it was dead in the water. And that is my decision; you're fired!"

Speaking afterwards, 22-year-old Moore said: "It wasn't a shock to me to get fired, to be honest. I accept Lord Sugar's decision [but] at the same time I don't think Stella is going to be the next apprentice. Had I not gone, definitely it should have been her."

The Apprentice continues next Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.