People watching The Apprentice final were amazed by one major shortcoming in the contestants' business plans. Marnie Swindells and Rochelle Anthony were outlining their business ambitions to Lord Sugar in a big to secure his £250,000 investment.
In Thursday night's (March 23) concluding instalment of the BBC show, the two finalists were helped by a number of candidates who had been fired earlier in the series. They retured to help Marnie and Rochelle bring their business visions to life.
But as Marnie worked on her new boxing gym and Rochelle on her hair salon, viewers were left confused. They were seen brainstorming names on the hit BBC show.
Read more: Lord Alan Sugar's The Apprentice announcement over future of the hit BBC show ahead of finale
On Twitter, Alan Meikle asked: "If you'd written a business plan already would you not know your brand name instead of faffing about last minute?" The Bad Beard Dude agred. "You'd think if you're in a competition to get money to set up your business for the last twelve weeks you'd know the name of your business and it's logo etc."
Clive agreed: "How can you have a business plan but no idea of a business name?" Millie added: "You think they’d have thought about the name/brand/USP before now??!! They‘ve had weeks…."
Spoiler alert – if you don't want to know who won, stop reading now
Lord Sugar hired boxing gym owner Marnie as his latest business partner following the all-female finale. Swindells is a 28-year-old court advocate and gold medal-winning boxer from London.
After learning of her win, Swindells, who owns community-focused boxing gym BRONX, said: “What an incredible opportunity and moment for a girl like me to get to a place like this and have become Lord Sugar’s business partner. It feels strange to even say that, but I’m not going to stop saying it because I am so happy.”
The final of the 17th series of the BBC reality show saw Swindells and 35-year-old Bedfordshire salon owner Anthony take on the most important business pitch of their careers so far and attempt to convince Lord Sugar and industry experts that they were worth the investment. During the final boardroom, Lord Sugar’s aides, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell, shared their thoughts on the two finalists.
Of Swindells, Baroness Brady said: “Marnie, she has never run a business before, and she’s chosen a business that’s very competitive – can she stand out in this very competitive market?” Campbell advocated for the boxing gym owner, adding: “That being said, for an ambassador for a boxing facility, there is no-one better I would think than Marnie and what she stands for.”
After the two finalists presented their final pitches to Lord Sugar, the business magnate came to his decision. He said: “Marnie, it is such a crowded and competitive market. I’m thinking, ‘Is this £250,000 down the drain?’
“Rochelle, what worries me about you is why would your second and third branch be popular and make me and you money? It’s a tough one, but Marnie, you’re asking me to invest in something which is completely alien to me to be honest and you’ve never run a business before.
“Rochelle, it’s opening the second one and it really is a difficult decision as to what industry I should be in. Two very excellent candidates. But I’ve always been known to be a gambler, I’ve always been known to try new horizons so I’m going to try a new horizon…
“Marnie, you are going to be my business partner.”
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