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Private Notes
Mary turns her attentions to poor service in the `fast fashion' sector. She needs a chain that is willing to let her show them how to give their shoppers the service they deserve. Up steps Chris George, MD of swiftly expanding fast fashion chain Pilot. Pilot has 44 shops, with more in the pipeline. Mary's mission is to transform the chain's worst performing store in Essex into a haven for shoppers, and to then challenge Chris to roll her ideas out across the rest of his empire. But with a team of disenchanted shop girls and an MD who hires shop managers without meeting them first, she's not going to have an easy ride.
Mary Portas goes undercover in the world of sofa superstores, revealing an industry that puts sales commission - and not shoppers - first. We've all seen the adverts for Bank Holiday sofa sales, but do the superstores really offer a good deal? Mary's covert cameras reveal the sales techniques well-known superstores use to persuade customers to buy. Mary is invited onto the premises of CSL Sofas, a northern chain run by Bentley-driving, go-getter Jason Tyldesley. Almost as soon as she's through the doors, Mary deftly picks apart Jason's idea of customer service, tears up his price-match promise and takes in hand his Rotherham store, along with its team of raucous sales guys. If she can prove her novel ideas work, Jason is willing to put his hand in his pocket and roll Mary's ideas out across his chain.
Mary explores the infuriating world of mobile-phone retailers. Mary plans to start a revolution in the phone shops. Her secret cameras reveal them to be one of the least user-friendly retail environments on the high street. Staff bombard you with technical information that has little to do with finding the right phone for you - and you can't even try before you buy. The worst offender, Mary thinks, is Fonehouse, a national chain run by CEO Clive Bayley, who thinks his customer service is a cut about the competition. Mary quickly bursts his bubble and persuades him to give her control of his flagship store in Angel Islington, London. So can she show him what good customer service is really about? But getting her ideas rolled out across the chain won't be easy, because she'll have to convince a group of successful franchisees as well as CEO Clive that customer service is worth spending serious money on.
Mary wants to start a revolution in the world of estate agents. Buying a house is the most important purchase of our lives, but Mary thinks estate agents have been letting us down in a big way. Last year complaints rocketed by 40% and Mary's secret cameras show why. Estate agents are caught with their trousers down as they pull out all the oldest tricks in the house-selling book; multiple viewings, misleading particulars and lack of specialist knowledge are among the long list of things that drive us up the wall. But Mary wants to stop the rot. She hooks up with north London chain Martyn Gerrard and persuades boss Simon Gerrard to let her loose on his sales team in a bid to make them more customer focused. But, before long, tensions rise as Mary realises that she and Simon have very different views on what good customer service really means.
The retail guru works with four businesses to help improve the quality of their customer service. At a family-run convenience store in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, she's shocked to see how staff behave when they don't know they're being filmed. Too much clowning around means out-of-date food is being left on the shelves, so Mary takes supervisor Dean and his team to a Michelin-starred restaurant to show them how to work well together. She also wants owner Keshu to rethink the products he stocks and give his savvy daughter Ash more responsibility.
The retail guru heads to the Suffolk seaside town of Lowestoft to take on her biggest challenge yet. She's working with Godfreys, a family-run department store that customers are deserting, resulting in a dire financial situation. Owner Jim has shared management duties between his stepchildren Laura and David, but with a massive overdraft, the store's future is in doubt. Determined to turn the staff into product-knowledge experts, Mary organises a trip to Spitalfields Market and devises a customer-service test in an attempt to give the team the confidence they need.
Mary Portas heads to south-east London, and London Fashion Week, to help Gemma get her struggling clothes boutique Diosa back on track selling urban fashion to young women
Mary takes on a struggling car dealership in Aylesbury, urging the blokes who run it to undergo a culture change to appeal equally to women and men
In the first episode of the third series, Mary takes on a struggling bridal boutique in Surrey. The married owners are fighting for survival, with mounting debts and piles of unsold stock. Mary is in for a big surprise when she meets the team, but can she bring in enough brides to turn things around?
Retail expert Mary Portas continues her mission to banish bad customer service from the high street. This time she takes on a hair salon in Kent, Shobie and Co, where staff are at war with the owners and swearing on the shop floor is driving customers away. Can Mary unite the team and save their business?
Retail expert Mary Portas continues her mission to banish bad customer service from the high street. This time, she visits City Hardware, a family-run DIY store in the heart of London. The shop is stuck in the 1960s and Mary is in for a shock when she uncovers their attitude to customers. Can she persuade this male dominated world to embrace the 21st century?
Mary wants to turn around the fortunes of The 157 Store, a menswear outlet near Portsmouth that's struggling to attract customers and keep them happy
