Terry tells it like it is: Week 9
It was a close call this week, but in the end I decided to fire
Nicky. It was a difficult decision to make, but I felt that she
simply didn't want it as much as the other two did.
During this whole process Nicky has played it as safe as possible,
and I didn't see much potential for her to think outside the square
and put herself on the line to let me see who the 'real' Nicky
is.
Nicky's team got called in because they lost, and in that
position you really need to fight for your right to stay as hard as
you can, and she just didn't demonstrate any of that 'fight'.
Nicky has shown herself to be rather one-dimensional at times - I
want someone who will question things and be willing to make their
voice heard, rather than just taking the politically correct line
all the time.
Having said that, this week's decision to fire Nicky has been my
toughest yet, and I'm well aware that it will get tougher and
tougher each week now.
We're getting down to the business end of things and, having got to
know these people on a personal level, as well a professional
level, it's not easy letting people go.
We've pretty much got the cream of the crop remaining now - we've
separated the weak from the strong, and I've now got a situation
where each of the people remaining are very talented business
people in their own right, and that that makes my decision that
much harder.
Each person I fire has a great future in front of them - but I can
only have one apprentice.
The advice I would give to the remaining contestants is to step
up and prove that they really want this job.
I realise this is a very difficult process and that at this stage
they will be tired, but I need to see who's going to get their
second wind and be resilient enough to bounce back from everything
that's happened so far and really deliver something that will
impress me.
When I was growing up I knew that I didn't want to be just
another number.
My father was involved in property development and so I got my
first taste for it from him and found that I really enjoyed it and
was fortunately rather talented at it.
With the assistance of my late brother Costa, we have built
something quite special in this business, and a lot of what I'm
doing today is in the memory of those two exceptional men - they
helped me gain my drive to succeed.
So the remaining contestants need to dig deep and find their
inspiration to perform to the best of their ability too.
I'm not getting any younger and I know that one day in the
future I'll probably hit the stage where I think, ok, I've had
enough of the business world - time to retire!
Life is short and you have to enjoy it while you're here, so maybe
the apprentice that I hire here will be able to take some of the
weight off me and allow me to slow down and have a little more
personal time.
But in the meantime, we're getting down to the wire and I look
forward to seeing how the contestants will perform next week.
