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  • Leon Doyle
  • Alex Britez Cabral
  • Melody Hossaini
  • Felicity Jackson
  • Edna Agbarha
  • Susan Ma
  • Ellie Reed
  • Helen Louise Milligan
  • Natasha Scribbins
  • Vincent Disneur
  • Jim Eastwood
  • Edward Hunter
  • Gavin Winstanley
  • Tom Pellereau
  • Glenn Ward
  • Zoe Beresford
Jim Eastwood

Jim Eastwood

Started work in his father's fish and chip shop

Age: 32
Career: Sales and Marketing Manager
Lives: Northern Ireland

Boardroom Appearances countcount

The Final: Jim believes that children are our future…

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Jim started his pitch confidently, lovingly staring at the business plan and cooing, ‘It’s amazing, it’s brilliant’. Margret Mountford tackled Jim on why he constantly talks in clichés and mixed metaphors. Asking him to answer a simple question without any type of ‘blarney’, Jim opened his mouth, strengthened his gaze and then… couldn’t.Ìý
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Jim’s pitch involved E.learning for young entrepreneurs, schools and Lord Sugar’s brand name. When asked if he was trying to ‘curry favour’ with Lord Sugar, Jim answered with a long, convoluted speech, entitled ‘What does Lord Sugar mean to you?’ Two hours later, it turned out, Lord Sugar means a lot to Jim.Ìý
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When Lord Sugar’s aides met to discuss the candidates they immediately praised Jim’s sales ability, but also suggested he may be a bit ‘slippery’. Nick warned Lord Sugar that Jim’s pitch was ‘one long, seduction letter’ and Lord Sugar worried that Jim had written his business plan to make him happy. The love affair was short lived and Jim was the first of the final four to be fired.Ìý

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Episode Eleven: Nacho, nacho man…

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Jim admitted that he ‘wasn’t going to take no for an answer’ when it came to selecting a Project Manager, which was handy, as he received very little resistance from Natasha and Susan when the subject was raised.
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Deciding that his fast food restaurant would have a Mexican theme, Jim got his countries mixed up and set about trying to think of words that rhymed with ‘maracas’. ‘Caraca’s’ opened its doors with a lot of comedy sombreros, but with very little thought put into its business plan and food process. Initially, Jim didn’t seem too concerned, muttering ‘Lucky customers’ to himself, as he sprinkled cheese over uncooked nachos. ÌýHowever, Ìýwhen he received the feedback from his customers, Jim decided to try another approach.Ìý
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When it was announced that Team Venture had lost the task, Jim laid the blame with Susan and Natasha, by saying he couldn’t find a solution to their constant arguing, whilst describing himself as ‘Mother Theresa’. It turned out that divine intervention was around the corner and absolution was found; the two stopped arguing with each other and turned on Jim. Jim wasn’t fired and is in the final four – hallelujah!

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Episode Ten: Jim goes Blarney…

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Based in Covent Garden with a stash of umbrellas, Jim set about doing what Jim does best, charming his customers into helpless submission. His successful sales patter included ‘This is actually the Dutch national umbrella’ and ‘Come to papa’. However, better than the mass sales that he seemed to draw in, Jim also managed to win the heart of Nick Hewitt, who also found himself the victim of Jim’s mind bending charm skills, admitting in a suspiciously robotic fashion, ‘I quite like him now’. Ìý

The only one not susceptible to Jim’s charms was Project Manager Natasha. Insistent that they replenish their stock, Jim tried to re-buy stock on several occasions, but was told to ‘Stay where you are’. ÌýFinally snapping, he did his best Jack Bauer impression and undertook an epic mission to the wholesalers to pick up 23 umbrellas. Unfortunately, the round trip meant that he had no time left in which to sell them, leaving him dry but distraught.
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In the boardroom Nick praised Jim’s sales abilities, but questioned whether he had ‘Kissed the Blarney stone or swallowed it whole’. Team Venture won the task, meaning Jim has made it to the final five.

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Episode Nine: Jim’s blockbuster biscuit…

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Baker Jim was packed off to the biscuit development factory with the hope of creating the perfect biscuit for children. His first offering was a popping candy flapjack, but after Karren Brady nearly choked on it, the product was discreetly binned. Onwards and upwards, Jim ran a focus group asking mums and children what they wanted from their biscuits. When a young entrepreneur suggested the concept of ‘Shooting Stars’, Jim joked, ‘I’ll take credit for that one’. Much nervous laughter ensued.

Jim searched the depths of his soul for a slogan and suggested, ‘Any time is treat time’. There was concern that the slogan was contradictory and aimed at the wrong market, with Natasha stating, ‘They’re not dogs’. But after no alternative could be found, they agreed to go along with it anyway. Jim’s chocolate star and flapjack treat, ‘Special Stars’, went into production and even the baker admitted, After a few shaky moments at the supermarket pitches, Jim decided to lead the last presentation himself. Jim’s pitch included ‘television advertising’, mass market opportunities and at one point the entire cast of the Harry Potter films. Ending with the line ‘Go big or go home’, the supermarket executives were left with a dropped jaw and a feeling that they’d gone two rounds with Voldemort.

However, once again, Jim’s Jedi tactic worked and in the boardroom it was announced that his pitch had secured an 800,000 unit deal, propelling Team Venture to success. Jim went off to enjoy his treat and think about making ‘Biscuit – The Movie’.

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Episode Eight: Easy Peasy

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Placed on Team Venture, Jim found himself on the sub-team once again, but this time, before he knew it, he was packed off on the Eurostar to Paris. Claiming he could speak a bit of French, Jim proved he could order a ‘small pea’ if the need arose and set about conducting market research into French shops and shopping habits.Ìý

Trailing the streets of Paris, Jim asked the public what product they found most appealing and then reported back to Susan that the rucksack/car seat seemed to be the most popular choice. Settling himself outside a bistro, Jim refused to be put off by a mere language barrier and when booking appointments he decided to opt for the universal rule, ‘When in doubt, speak English, but with a fake French accent’. It seemed to do the trick.Ìý
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Jim’s first appointment was a bit hit and miss with the shop owners looking more confused than impressed and he admitted to Susan, ‘It was like pushing treacle up a hill’. Not deterred, he clawed revenue back by selling 100 units of the mobile phone carriage. There was a brief moment of madness when, up against the clock, Jim ran through the streets of Paris frantically looking for a mobile phone shop. However, Ìýin the boardroom it was revealed Team Venture had won the task and secured a boardroom sales record. Jim was allowed to go and enjoy his treat, seeing how many ‘small peas’ he can keep on a plate whilst flying a plane.
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Episode Seven: Get a grip replacement…

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When Lord Sugar announced that Jim was to be Team Venture’s Project Manager, he confidently accepted the role and stated, ‘People need leadership, there are people that are happy to follow’. This turned into quite the mantra for Jim, as he decided that the over 60s were to be the target market and ‘Hip Replacement’ was to be the magazine name.Ìý

When designing the cover for ‘Hip Replacement’, Zoe worried that they were ‘straying off the concept’, but Jim stuck to his guns, replacing the font with his own handiwork and hitting back with, ‘I’m working to make it a bit classier’. Name, demographic and design in the bag, it looked like Jim could have afforded to put his feet up when faced with the advertising pitches, but alas, no. The team voted Jim as the one most suitable to do the pitch. Stubborn as a mule, Jim refused to compromise on the price of the advertising space during his first pitch. This was to be a mistake that was later to come back and haunt him.Ìý
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Jim’s team lost the task and two major points were raised. Why did Jim not compromise during the pitch and why did everyone think the name ‘Hip Replacement’ was a good idea? Jim decided to bring Susan and Glenn back into the boardroom because of Ìý‘contribution and cowardliness’. Jim defended, argued and gave a bizarre speech about ‘shooting Bambi’ and although the local deer park have banned him from their grounds indefinitely, he was allowed to go back to the house.Ìý

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Episode Six: Are the ‘craics’ starting to show?

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Jim didn’t put himself forward for the role of Project Manager, but wholeheartedly backed Zoe when she insisted that she’d take the helm. Teamed up with Tom on yet another sub team, he was tasked with finding useful domestic rubbish that could be sold for profit.

Complete with truck, loudspeaker and a trusty Tom by his side, Jim’s tactic was to loiter outside their front door and announce the contents of their front garden through a loud speaker. Sadly it didn’t yield many results and the boys tried a different approach. Melody sent the boys to a builder and told them to charge him £250 to remove his rubbish. Jim showed his impressive sales streak and closed the deal at £260.

Unfortunately, when he returned to remove the rubble the customer had added to the load, leaving Jim to turn a shade of orange and gasp, ‘the deal was one and a half tons’. He reluctantly removed the rubbish and when it was revealed that his team had won the task, he went off to calm down with a relaxing Spa.Ìý

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Episode Five: Jedi Jim strikes back…

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Jim’s unique powers of persuasion took on a whole new level during the task. Under the supportive eye of Project Manager Vincent, Jim helped by coming up with the name and marketing idea for a brand of dog food.Ìý

‘Every Dog’ was received as a beacon of light by team Venture, with the exception of Tom, who thought the name was a bit too general for pet owners to warm to. Jim went on to audition the dogs, take the brand pictures, help edit the commercial and generally be the ‘Batman’ to Vincent’s ‘Robin’.Ìý
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When Lord Sugar asked who had come up with the name ‘Every Dog’, Jim proudly put his hand up, until it was announced that the name was the main reason why the team had lost the task. Although it was expected that Jim might make an appearance in the boardroom, he argued, praised and used an uncanny amount of mixed metaphors to avoid it. Before he knew it, Vincent was falling on his sword by refusing to bring his chum back into the boardroom. Vincent was fired and Jim was left to prove the old proverb ‘Every dog has it’s day’, again. Ìý
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Episode Four: Massage in a bottle

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Upon being moved over to team Logic, Jim and his new team decided to base their beauty treatment stand in a shopping centre outside Birmingham city centre. Having lost out on the spray tan to the other team, Jim set up his stand to sell treatments, hot shell massages, and ‘winges’, a fake fringe for every occasion.Ìý
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When Felicity’s sales team finally got around to plugging their treatment room on the third floor of the shopping centre, Ellie and Melody found themselves a little overrun. Jim, by his own admission, rushed in to ‘save the day’ and showed a skill for massaging, telling his client, ‘Can you feel the heat? You’ve got to be made of leather not to feel that’!Ìý
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In the boardroom, Jim tried to pitch himself as ‘the cavalry’ for stepping in at the last minute to help massage the customers. He was quickly shot down by Nick, who pointed out that his ‘brave’ episode had actually only resulted in a profit of £14. Jim wasn’t brought back into the boardroom and won’t be changing his title of ‘soup man’ to ‘massage man’ any time soon.Ìý

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Episode Three: Jim ‘meats’ the butchers…

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After showing strong support for Susan to head-up newly formed team Venture, Jim took to the phones to find leads. With steak firmly on his mind he made it clear to his intended target exactly what he was going to do, ‘I’m going the buy steak, shake your hand and leave’. With a firm three point plan in place he took charge of the sub-team and set about his mission.Ìý
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When faced with the butchers, Jim ignored the size of their cleavers and set about hammering the price of the steak right down. Jim’s Jedi sales tactics left the butchers with smiles on their faces, their pockets lighter and so speechless that the only word they could muster was an astounded ‘unbelievable’!
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After helping secure many of the products for team Venture, it was revealed that the team had won the task on a profit of £8. Jim went off to enjoy his treat from Lord Sugar - let’s just hope he was hungry enough to eat a whole cow’s worth of cut-price sirloin steak.Ìý

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Episode Two: App’y and he knows it

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Jim put himself up for Project Manager with the rest of the boys but when Leon was selected he offered to give him his full backing. It was onwards and ‘onwards’ from there on.

After coming up with the name ‘Slangatang’, Jim was selected as one of Leon’s ‘top sellers’ and asked to help pitch their App idea to the online professionals. When he rescued the pitch after Vincent ‘dried up’, he was duly patted on the back and praised by the other boys.

He even went on to write the description for the App, which the boys said was ‘perfect’. However, when the boys lost the task on downloads, the description for the App was brought into question by Lord Sugar, who said, ‘it wasn’t clear’. Leon decided to bring Jim back into the boardroom, but when he argued against the decision Leon changed his mind and brought Glenn back in instead.

When asked by Glenn if Leon was right to change his mind, Jim replied, ‘The PM has made his decision’. Naturally.

Jim was on losing team Logic.
App Downloads after 6 hours: just under 3000
Total downloads after 24 hrs: 3951

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Episode One: Lunch deal…

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Jim voted for the team name Logic, under duress, saying, ‘he wasn’t in love with it but could see the logic’. ÌýHeading up the soup team, Jim, with a very limited budget of £40, set about making some impressive deals with the grocers. Despite trying to acquire budget tomatoes from a non-tomato seller, he managed to seal the deals and motivate the soup team by telling them, ‘we are going to make soup like we’ve never made soup before’.

Karren Brady highlighted Jim’s input and told the boys that they were lucky that Jim had secured the deal on the vegetables. Edward also attempted to praise him by claiming that he had ‘hand picked him’ because he knew he was the man to lead up the soup team. James may have earned the name ‘soup man’ but it’s yet to be seen if he has any other special chowders hidden away.

Jim was on losing team Logic. Their total profit was £432.13.

About Jim

Jim started work in his father's fish and chip shop chipping potatoes from the age of nine and went on to maintain top sales performances as a Sales and Marketing Manager. Jim, who was All Ireland cycling champion as a teenager, admires Richard Branson and describes himself as "driven, self-motivated, resilient and an eternal optimist."

Check back for weekly updates on Jim during the series ...

I'm charismatic, creative, consistent with impeccable integrity


Catch Up

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